How to Identify Termite Droppings (Frass) and Damage

Three checks. Uniform: every pellet about the same size and shape, six-sided, like coarse sand or ground pepper. Granular, not fibrous: sawdust and carpenter-ant shavings are stringy, powderpost beetle frass is flour-fine, and deathwatch beetle pellets are smaller than termite pellets. Placement: a neat pile on a sill, baseboard or floor directly below wood, with a small kick-out hole above. All three together point to drywood termites.

Not by itself. A pile of frass shows drywood termites have been in the wood above it, but pellets can sit for a long time after a colony is gone. Photograph it, save a small sample, sweep the spot clean, note the date and check again in a few days — new pellets may indicate activity, though building vibration can shake old pellets loose. Only an inspection that sounds and probes the wood confirms whether the colony is active.

Drywood termite droppings, or frass, are tiny, uniform six-sided pellets that look like coarse sand or ground pepper, in colors from tan to dark brown. They collect in small piles directly below infested wood — on sills, baseboards or the garage floor.

Frass is uniform — every pellet about the same size, with six flattened sides. Sawdust and carpenter-ant shavings are irregular and stringy, often mixed with debris. A neat pile of identical little pellets points to drywood termites.

No. Drywood termites kick out frass through small holes, so you see the pellets. Subterranean termites reuse their waste inside their tunnels, so instead of frass they leave mud tubes on the foundation. Different sign, different termite.

Save a small sample and note where it was first, then it's fine to clean up. Avoid spraying the spot. Those details help identify the type and find the source, which is what an inspection needs.

A lot — they work silently inside the wood for months or years before surface signs appear. That's exactly why frass, mud tubes and hollow wood matter: by the time they show, there's usually an established colony to deal with.

Photograph the spot and save a sample before cleaning up. Sweep the pellets away completely, note the date, and check the same spot a few days later, the interval the University of California suggests; new pellets may indicate activity, but building vibration can also dislodge old pellets. Pellets alone cannot confirm whether a colony is active or how far it extends; an inspection is needed. Pellet color is not a reliable clue, because it varies with the type of wood and other factors. For mud tubes, break open one small section: cream-colored workers inside mean the tube is in use, but an empty tube does not prove the colony is gone, because termites often abandon sections of tube while foraging elsewhere. Old damage still matters, because it tells an inspector where the house is vulnerable.

Pellets point to drywood termite activity, but do not by themselves confirm a live infestation. Confirmed drywood infestations are treated in the wood itself. When the activity is limited to areas an inspection can find and a drill can reach, the treatment is localized injection: a termiticide foam is put straight into the galleries through small drill holes, in one visit, with you still at home. Whole-structure fumigation is reserved for drywood activity that is genuinely widespread or hidden beyond reach. Pellets never point to bait stations, because drywood termites never travel through soil.

On any flat surface directly under infested wood. The common spots are window sills and the floor beneath them, along baseboards, on the garage floor under the door header or the framing, on a patio slab beneath a patio-cover beam, and in the attic on top of insulation or stored boxes. The pile matters less than what is above it: the kickout hole in the wood overhead is where the colony actually is, and finding that hole is what an inspection is for.

Finding pellets without termites is normal: drywood termites stay inside the wood and only their pellets reach the room. Clean up the pile, mark the spot, and look again in a few days. New pellets suggest an active colony, though building vibration can shake a few old ones loose, and pellets alone cannot tell you how far the infestation extends, so a fresh pile is worth an inspection.

Photograph them where they are, sweep a few into a bag for identification, then do the pellet test: clean the spot and check it again in a few days. Pellets outdoors under a patio cover, fence or eave point to drywood termites in that wood; pellets inside point to the framing or trim above the pile. Pellets alone do not show whether the colony is still active, so new pellets after cleanup are worth an inspection.

Tiny: the University of California describes drywood termite kick-out holes as less than 2 millimeters across. The termites push their pellets out through them, so the hole is in the wood directly above the pile. Inspectors look for these holes along with pellets, shed wings and feeding damage when they map a drywood infestation.

Yes, which is why texture matters. Powderpost beetles leave frass as fine as baking flour or talcum powder, deathwatch beetles pack their galleries with very small pellets that are smaller than drywood termite pellets, and false powderpost beetles leave a coarser powder packed tightly in their tunnels. Drywood termite pellets are larger, granular and almost pepper-like, with ridges on their sides, according to the University of California.

Usually because the kick-out hole is high above the surface. Mississippi State University Extension notes that pellets dropping only a few inches form a neat pile, while pellets falling from higher up bounce and scatter and are easy to mistake for dust or debris. Scattered grains on a sill or floor are still worth checking against the six-sided pellet test.