How Do Little Worm Infestations Get Inside Your House?

Little worm infestations can get inside your house. These are small, red worms that live in moist areas, such as soil and garden mulch. They aren’t typically harmful to humans, but they may cause significant damage to the structures inside your home and may cause other problems such as foul smelling deposits in furniture and cabinets. They’re a common occurrence during the warm summer months when moisture is abundant outside.

Watch out for the Red Wigglers

The most commonly found species of worm are the red wigglers. They live underground and are one to two inches long. They have no legs, but can still move by excavating themselves forward and backward (or side to side). Red wigglers are white with three black stripes running down their bodies. They are sometimes confused with other types of worms that also share the name “worm,” such as night crawlers or carpet worms. The other species of red worm is the albino red worm. These are smaller, have a white color, and have a shorter lifespan than the other types of red worm.

How Do Worms Get Into My Home?

Finding a small, red worm infestation in your home is an indication that something isn’t quite right with the damp areas of your house. The worms burrow into the dirt or mulch outside and lay their eggs there. They’re usually only found in garden soil, but sometimes they get into mulch. Mulch can be found in many yards that have gardens or trees around them. They also inhabit leaves and needles, both of which are ample inside and outside homes.  Here are the four main culprits:

Your outdoor garden is a main culprit

The most common way of getting this worm infestation is from your outdoor garden. If you have mulch or dirt from an outside area that is not kept completely clean, the little worms can easily move into other locations where people are more likely to find them. Garden soil and mulch can be carried inside by people’s shoes if they don’t remove them before entering.

Pets can carry them into your house

Pets also run the risk of transferring the worms from outside areas into inside living spaces since they like to dig in the dirt as well. When it rains, worms like to move around, and they may find their way into your home unnoticed. They’re unable to climb up a smooth surface such as glass, so if they fall onto an object that is lower than the ground, they’ll just crawl along it until they get to the ground. If you have a stick or other flat object lying on the floor, it’s possible that one of these worms could be on top of it.

Firewood might be responsible for your worm infestation

Another way that worms can get inside your house is through firewood. If you’re burning wood in your backyard, the worms may find their way there. They’re hard to spot sometimes because they don’t stay in one place very long as they scurry around looking for food. However, if you keep your yard clean and don’t burn any of the mulch or dirt that’s near your home, this is less likely to be a problem for you. You can also transport them inside if you bring an infested woodpile into your yard.

The Foundation

Avoid taking woodpiles outside for this reason. Lastly, worms can enter your home through the foundation. If there are cracks in the foundation of your home, they may be able to get inside through them. They could also get in via the windows if they’re open or no screens are installed on the outside.

Signs That You have Worms Inside Your House

Even if you don’t see the worms, you should still keep an eye out for other signs that they’ve been in your home. Despite being tiny, these worms mean that your house may be under attack by them. If you see any of these signs, contact a professional to help with the removal of the worms and to make sure that they don’t continue to infest your home. The most common signs include:

You see small, red worms inside your home.

These are on surfaces like countertops, walls, floors, or windows. If they’re in large numbers or a lot of them are crawling around on your floor, this is a good indication that you have a serious problem.

You see worm larvae.

These are the small worms that you may not be able to see because they’re covered in dirt or other debris. They’re less than an inch long and look similar to adult red worms.

You get a bad odor coming from your home, or you notice a foul smell in your house.

This could be caused by rotting wood, mold, mildew, or something else entirely. Clean up the mess immediately if this is happening so you can have it cleaned up as soon as possible and prevent further infestation inside the home.

You notice your home is damp inside.

The worms themselves can’t leave the soil that they live in, but they can make your home significantly wetter than normal since they love living in moist areas.

You notice other bugs that come in to hunt the worms.

This is especially common with cockroaches, which will crawl right into the home looking for their prey. Other insects that eat worms include ants and beetles.

You notice that your home is infested with mold and mildew.

As worms eat away at the dirt, moisture will build up, which can cause mold or mildew to grow. This isn’t good for anyone in the house since it can make you sick from all of the spores in the air. It also means that you have moisture on the inside of your home, which is not a good thing for its overall health.

Final Thoughts

Worms have an interesting lifestyle. They can often be found on the sides of roads, in wood from trash cans, and in dead leaves that fall to the ground. Hopefully by now you’ve learned how they get into your house and what signs you can look for in order to prevent them from entering again. If you need help getting rid of worms, it’s best to contact a pest control company nearby.