Even the cleanest homes can attract pests looking for food, shelter or water. Fortunately, you can stop these unwanted visitors from entering your environment by taking a few easy measures. Check and repair window screens, and trim tree limbs that touch the roof or exterior of your house. Also, sweep away leaves and other debris near your home.
Monitor Water Sources
When pests can access food, water and shelter, they breed and thrive. Reducing food sources and harbourage areas for problems is essential to keeping them away from homes. Cockroaches, ants and rodents will be attracted to spills, crumbs or rotting produce in your home. Wiping down kitchen surfaces, storing food in airtight containers and taking out trash will help eliminate these attractions. During the fall season, ensure window screens are intact and all exterior doors close tightly. Regularly check your home’s exterior for gaps around utility lines, decaying wood, loose siding, and cracks. These are potential entryways for pests and can be easily fixed with copper mesh, coarse steel wool, sheet metal or mortar. These steps are important because pest infestations can be difficult to treat once they enter your home. They can cause damage, create mud tubes on walls and gnaw through wires or cables. Without expert permanent pest control Houston TX, pest infestations would be considerably more likely to transmit disease.
Seal Up
Pests often enter buildings in search of food, water and shelter. Sealing up these entry points helps keep them outside where they belong. You should periodically check your doors and windows for cracks and damage and replace screens bent out of shape. Doors and windows are the most popular access places for many different pests. Furthermore, add door sweeps and weather stripping to close gaps around the edges of doors and windows. Store food in airtight containers and promptly wipe up crumbs and spills. If you have pets, avoid leaving their food out at all times, and use pet-proof feeding stations to control ant and roach populations. In the yard, wood piles, compost heaps and piles of leaves and brush are attractive places for pests to breed and hide, so keep these items away from the perimeter of your home. Also, a six-foot barrier between the foundation and any plants or shrubs is helpful to discourage pests from climbing up to your home.
Keep Your Home Clean
Keeping your house clean can help keep pests out. Throughout the year, make a point to dust and sweep regularly. It will lessen the amount of crumbs and other waste that may otherwise draw pests like cockroaches, rats, and flies. It’s also important to clean up debris around your home, especially when leaves and other materials pile up in the fall. Trim bushes and trees to reduce the brush hanging over your house and garage.
Pests often look for food, water and shelter. Be sure to wipe down cabinets and other surfaces in your kitchen, and store food in airtight containers or the refrigerator. Leaking pipes under sinks provide an ideal habitat for some pests, so repair them immediately. Pet food should be stored properly, and a lid placed on the garbage can to prevent pest problems from accessing it. And the drips from a leaky faucet provide the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Clean Up
A few ants or even a single mosquito can spoil a backyard barbecue, but pests that get inside your house are more serious. Some problems, like rodents, spread diseases, while others destroy your home or cause structural damage. The best way to keep pests out of your home is to eliminate conditions both inside and outside that attract them in the first place.
Food should be kept in sealed containers, and garbage should be emptied often. Keep the kitchen counters clear of crumbs and dishes, and sweep and mop the floors often. Flour moths and other pests attract dry foods, so keep these in sealed containers or pantry storage areas. Outside, trim back bushes and limbs that touch your home, and remove firewood piles nearby. It reduces “bridges” that pests can use to reach the house, making your yard less attractive as a habitat. Also, have a professional seal for cracks and gaps on the exterior of your home.
