Tips for Creating a Pest Proof Home
Your home is your safe haven, right? Cozy, secure…or so you think until you find yourself dealing with unwanted visitors of the fuzzy or flying variety! Once you’ve dealt with the immediate problem, you’re left to wonder: how did that thing get in here, and are there others? We’re here to give you some tips and tricks on how to create a pest-proof home so that you can relax in peace.
Keep It Sealed
How do these little critters get in? Through gaps in your house’s entryways, unsecured vents, etc. You should do routine checks of your home’s doors, windows, and other areas to make sure that there are screens in place, that there aren’t huge gaps in the doorways, and that there aren’t holes in the siding for things to slip through. This includes the areas where the exterior walls meet the roof because if you have an attic with a vulnerability from the outside, the squirrels will find it.
Keep It Clean
Pests love to come into your home looking for food to eat and places to hide. Those are their main life motivations, after all. A way to keep them out of your home is to make your home less interesting to their little senses. Here are some tips for that:
- Cleaning surfaces: Make sure your counters and floors are kept clean. Sweep away any crumbs that might attract bugs or mice. Wipe counters down with whatever cleaning solution you prefer to remove the leftover smells of food from the day. Try to sweep up any cobwebs you find. Keep crumbs out of your carpets.
- Put food away: Leaving your snacks in easy reach, ready and open, may seem like a good idea at the time. However, this is also like an invitation for things to crawl into your favorite snack pack and eat it before you get a chance to or leave their nasty germs all over it! Make sure you keep your food in sealed containers when not being eaten to help reduce this misunderstanding.
- Reduce clutter: Pests come into your home looking for shelter as well as food, so having a home full of junk is like putting up a neon sign up saying “Stay here free!” Spiders, roaches, mice, and more love to nestle into dark and damp spaces. Try to minimize how much clutter you keep around by throwing out old boxes, keeping containers of storage items tightly sealed, and just generally having fewer random items lying around to make homes in or under.
Keep It Inspected
While you can do all of these things, the reality is that some pests will still find a way in and make themselves comfortable. This is why having routine pest control inspections is a key part of creating your pest proof home. Have a professional pest control company check out your home at least twice a year (though we recommend quarterly visits) to make sure that your home is fully protected from pests of any kind. They will let you know of any vulnerabilities in your home’s exterior, tell you what pests you’re currently dealing with, and they’ll use the best treatments for the job with your family’s safety in mind.
You deserve to feel comfortable in your own home, and this shouldn’t have to include making peace with those unwanted pests. Follow what we’ve gone over here and make sure that your home is protected as best you can. Creating a pest free home doesn’t have to be a struggle, so just put in this little bit of effort and you can reap the rewards for years to come!
