Monthly Maintenance Reminder: Pests & Insects

There is something truly satisfying about having guests over. You get to feel proud as a homeowner when your guests shower you with compliments on your taste in furniture and interior design. Few things feel as gratifying as having pleasant company over for dinner or just a casual meetup. But not all guests are equally welcome and some are better off left at the door.

Insects and pests are quite common all across the country. They love to find ways of being an absolute nuisance, be it while you eat or when you’re trying to sleep. Whether it’s mosquitos stinging you in the middle of the night, flies that want a seat at the dinner table, or spiders that live rent-free in the corners of your room — these uninvited guests are a major nuisance and cause plenty of discomforts.

This is where pest control comes in to help you fend off the invading insects and animals looking to be a part of your household. You love having guests over, but rats and mosquitoes are not the kinds of company you want to share snacks with.

Common Insect and Pest Problems You May Come Across

The Dangers of Pests and Why You Should Get Rid of Them

Unfortunately, there are countless pests and insects that can make their way into your home and cause all kinds of trouble. Some are minor nuisances and aren’t dangerous in any way. For example, daddy longlegs is among the most benign arachnids out there. They are not poisonous, they don’t bite, and their only crime is thinking they can live in your home without asking. But, since many people are terrified of spiders, even these friendly little guys need to be dealt with.

On the other hand, bigger pests can cause a lot more than a small fright and can be very dangerous to your health. A survey conducted by Harris Poll in 2017 showed that around 37% of Americans found at least one rodent living in their home. So, it’s safe to say that rats are a widespread problem across the country and rodent control has their work cut out for them.

Most Common Pests You Will Find Lurking in Your Home

Even if you happen to be an animal lover and don’t think rats are all that scary, this does not mean they should remain in your home. Large rats can chew on wooden furniture and interior features, with some homeowners finding their outdoor decks damaged as a result of persistent gnawing. They also get into your kitchen pantry contaminating your food, leaving behind droppings, and carrying diseases. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists rats and mice as two of the most common and potentially harmful types of pests.

Other pests and insects registered as common by the EPA are mites, ticks, bed bugs, lice, and even larger mammals that carry the danger of rabies, such as skunks, raccoons, and badgers. Yes, raccoons can be very cute, but they are still quite dangerous if not for their bites and scratches, then for the parasites and diseases they carry. So, it’s always good to be on the safe side with mammal pests, no matter how adorable you think they are.

Finally, there are the cockroaches, which aside from being terrifying, especially the larger ones, have been linked to several health risks.  They can also cause food contamination, potentially infecting your food, and spreading sickness 

What Is Pest Control and Why It’s So Important

Reasons Why You Need to Consider Pest Control in Your Home

Pest and insect control is an umbrella term that encompasses many methods of getting rid of pests and taking preventative measures to keep them out. Since there are a large number of pests that vary depending on geographical location, climate, and the surrounding nature, there are many pest maintenance methods out there for homeowners to utilize.

One of the most effective methods of home pest control is extermination. These are often performed by professional exterminators who specialize in flushing out any pests stowing away in the darkest corners of your house.

An exterminator is tasked with several responsibilities to control the pest population in your home. First and foremost there is figuring out how the pests made their way in. For small pests, such as insects, the answer is typically an open window, small cracks in the exterior walls, or the front door which you regularly leave open. For bigger pests such as rats, mammals, and reptiles, the entry point tends to be a hole in your foundation, such as a large hole in your exterior wall cladding or deteriorated insulation.

How Do Pests Get Into Your House?

Once the entry point and the area where the pests are nestled up have been discovered, the exterminator is tasked with upholding the namesake of their profession: extermination. Using a variety of traps, insecticides, and other methods, the specialists dispatch the pests and get rid of the little homes or colonies they may have created. A perfect example of this is wasp hives, which they commonly build inside walls. Once the hive has been located, it must be removed by a professional.

In the case of bigger pests, the exterminator may not need to kill them at all, and animal control agents will need to be contacted instead. They capture the animals by causing as little physical harm to them as possible and then transport them back to their natural habitat. There is a special division of animal control called wildlife removal, which specializes in this specific task and can remove the animals from your home and take them back to the wild completely unharmed.

All About Pest Control and Why It’s So Important

With the unwanted guests now out of your home, you will need to close off their entryway and develop preventative measures that will keep any more pests from entering your home in the future. For pest and insect maintenance, it is advised to place some traps, such as electric fly killers or chemical solutions which can be sprayed on window and door thresholds that ward off insects.

Long story short: pest control is a miniaturized war against unwanted wildlife breaking into your home. And while we are slowly developing more humane ways of keeping pests out of our homes, some harsher measures may need to be taken. But if you wish to save yourself the trouble of hiring an exterminator or pest control, there are some smaller measures you can take which lower the risk of a pest invasion.

Ways to Keep Pests and Insects Out of Your Home

Most Common Ways of Keeping Pests On the Outside of Your Home

Don’t want to have the blood of a thousand mosquitoes, flies, and spiders on your hands? If not, then there are ways you can improve the insect control in your home which will prevent insects and other not-so-welcome guests from entering your home so you won’t have to dispose of them.

Why It’s Important to Hire a Professional Home Inspector

Pest inspection should be one of the earliest steps in your pest control plans. You should have a professional home inspector come in and check your home for any signs of pests. You can find rat droppings or some ants roaming about without professional help, this won’t help you in pinpointing where the pests are centered and where their entry point was. For this, you will need professional pest control services to survey the area and give you the precise locations where the pests are concentrated. 

Practical Methods of Pest Control

Keeping Pests From Entering Your Home

If you wish to take some additional steps to prevent pest infestation, there are some things you can do to protect your home without professional assistance.

Check the exterior walls for cracks and crevices which may have been the result of foundational problems or the pests digging through them. To fix this you will need some caulk or steel wool which will go into the cracks and prevent the pests from getting in.

Loose mortar and weather stripping must be replaced if it has gone through lots of wear and tear over the years. This could be the entryway for pests in your home. Fix the mortar and weather stripping, successfully blocking entry to prevent future infestations. This kind of home maintenance needs to be done regularly as pests love to find new and creative ways of intruding on your home.

Put screens on vents, chimneys, and other openings in your house as you would with the windows. While most homes will have insect screens already installed on the doors and windows, these are not the only ways that pests can get into your home. Vents and chimneys are more than wide enough to allow for tiny insects and pests to enter your home. This proactive form of insect maintenance will prevent our many-legged friends from finding their way into your home and causing all kinds of scares.

Reasons Why Pests Invade Your Home

Make sure your food is tightly sealed as this is what attracts pests in the first place. Pests don’t enter your home simply to appreciate your interior (though they most likely do). Chances are they smelled the food in your home and ended up finding a goldmine of their favorite snacks in your pantry. By putting food in sealed containers that do not exude any enticing aromas, the pests won’t be interested in your home, to begin with, saving you the trouble of exterminating them. 

Inspect your basement regularly for any cracks and crevices in the walls. Basement insulation is very important when it comes to keeping your interior dry and intact. Plenty of homeowners have to deal with tons of water damage as a result of cracks and crevices in their walls that they were not aware of. Pests have no problems bobbing and weaving their way through these crevices and making nests in your basement, where it is warm, quiet, and safe. Keep everything in your basement inside tightly sealed boxes, put them high on the shelves, and waterproof the entire area, as well as fix any leaky pipes. These measures will make it hard for the pests to find their way into your basement and even harder for them to settle there.