Termite and Wood Boring Insects - someone, help! (Termites?)

When I closed the back door, a clump of mud? full of live termites (white and long, not the workers or winged ones) fell off the bottom. I haven't taken the door out to check yet, but assume termites have been working at it for long. The door is wood, but lined with metal both inside and out, so no activity could be seen.
1) I have a limited budget, but recognize I need to deal with this soon and effectively. Is there anything (reliable) I can do on my own? If not, give me guidelines please.
2) Do I need to assume that because they made it to the door, the house is infested? (this HAS been a particularly wet month, and the townhome is only 5 years old)
3) Could door be fixed or it needs to be replaced?
4) Can I find if there is damage in door frame (wooden) without starting to drill wholes all over?
5) The door opens to a wooden deck with concrete studs (pretreated for termites, as previous owners said) Do I assume that it is infested?

Correction: Today I did identify a couple of worker termites as well. And they are still there, inside the door, possibly in the frame as well. This is an outside door, elevated some 12 inches, but I can't see any tunnels (partly because the deck doesn't let me see under the door, but also because there is no way a tunnel can make it from the outside in whithout being broken every time the door closes) In any case, I just have to get rid of them!

Many tend to have carpenter ants rather than termites. Both are attracted to areas where there are moisture issues. Moisture issues should be eliminated. The only way to know the extent of the damage is to tear out the door frame. For infestation, it is best to call a professional exterminator for proper identification and recommended treatment.

I think I will call an inspector. Is there normally a charge for the inspection and estimate?
Do you know how can I definetely tell carpenters and termites apart? Most pictures I saw show carpenters as bigger, chunkier, and with more amber/orange and red tones. ALL the ones I have seen in the door are totally white, some worker heads are slightly amber.

And yes, you are right about the moisture problems. However, this is an outside door, no way I can stop the amount of rain we are having this month in Texas. On top of that, there is a skimpy excuse of a roof eve/soffit on top of this door (it is about the same width as the door, and about 8" deep), but because the townhome association has so many restrictions, it would cost a silly amount to change the design and truly protect the door.

Companies like Terminix will give you a free inspection
Get from at least three different companies and let them know that you are shopping

You can tell the difference between termites and carpenter ants by looking at them, they look nothing alike

Termites are smallish white and have a two segmented body

The ants are fairly large and thick usually black or reddish and have a three segmented body

Thanks for that info, you confirmed it is, as I thought, termites. And for what I learned here, I am lucky it was termites, as the carpenters' control can be even more difficult.
In these few days I have read just about every posting in this forum, and I have educated myself on this, at least the theory. Thanks ocoee and twelvepole for your guidelines, I enjoyed reading all your advise (to me and others) Really, thank you for your dedication, thanks to you rookies like me can at least get an idea of what they have in their hands. I am a single mom of two, and I could really do without the termites, but with your information at least I feel that I may be able to handle this.
I have bad news about my back door intruders. You know how the Q & A takes some time in this site... Well, after my 1st posting I read as many previous ones as I could, and went to sleep (2 am or so), and 1st thing I did next morning was... apply a strong bug spray on the spot! Thinking what a clean, proactive person I was, I went to the forum again, and found out that I had just disturbed the termites, I wouldn't even have a sample for the State Agriculture Extension! So now they are not there anymore, not one... And it feels like a time bomb that I know is ticking somewhere there, but I have no clue exactly where.
Read about microwaves and acoustic to find them without tearing everything apart. What do you think? Does that really work?

Don't know about microwaves or acoustics but they used to have dogs that did that sort of thing

An inspector may still be able to find them call a few companies out for free inspections


Depending on the species of carpenter ants they can range form a simple nuisance to a wood destroying organism

Here in central Florida they are just a nuisance and easily controllable

News on the termite situation. They are back at my door.
I checked the perimeter of the house for more tunnels and noticed that there are wholes drilled in the slab foundation (and patched with concrete) every 50''. This is a townhome (2 dwellings), I went to my neighbor's to see if they had that too, but no, it is only in my home.

From reading the posts, I guess previous owners either had a termite problem (and didn't disclose it *!?#$!) or did a preventative treatment. Yet, the distance of the holes doesn't match all reccomendations I read about (10"-12") What do you think? If there have been problems before, do I have any recourse? Can I find out what was done or who-- maybe there is a data bank by the industry... Does it matter what was done before?

FYI I purchased the townhome in 2004, the real state agent didn't mention a check on the termite subject, although it is a huge issue here, and yes, I am a 1st time owner and had no cue...