With the change of season, outdoor pests are looking for winter havens where they can find food and warmth. Your house is as likely a spot as any for their invasive efforts. To keep pests away or find where they may be entering your home, do a thorough inspection of your home overall and the following areas in particular.
1. Inspect Your Home’s Foundation
Walk around the outside of your house to see how the foundation is holding up. Crumbling or deteriorating concrete or structural damage of any kind provides the perfect way for wildlife, rodents, and insects to enter your home. They can burrow into the inside walls or hide in the dark areas like a crawlspace before you even know they are there. If you find problem areas in the foundation, have them repaired promptly before animal and insect intrusions can occur.
2. Examine the Yard and Landscape
Take a look around your yard, trees, and landscape for signs of nests built by pests that may find a way into your home. Nearby trees provide habitats for squirrels and bats that can burrow into your attic along with raccoons that often dig into the roof or upper levels of the home including the chimney. Large nests for hornets, bees, and wasps may indicate their presence in or near your home. A pest control expert can double-check your findings and confirm whether or not you have unwanted critters literally under your roof.
3. Check Around the Windows and Doors
Loose windows that rattle and doors that lack a weather seal border may let in crawling insects like ants, wood roaches, or earwigs. Make sure the window frames and door seal are functioning adequately to keep out these pesky insects. Once they get inside, they can be hard to get rid of.
4. Assess the Attic, Basement, and Garage
At least once a year or more often if you believe there may be an infestation, take a flashlight to closely evaluate the attic and basement. Look into the dark corners and shift storage boxes around to look for tell-tale signs of mice or bugs as well as termites. Catching pests like these early in their nesting cycle can eliminate the problem. Contact a pest control professional if you see signs of possible pest invasions. Check out the garage for similar evidence to eliminate rodents and insects. More online resources are available at Quality Affordable Pest Control.
5. Look in the Cupboards and Closets
Clean out spilled food or other substances from cupboards and closets while looking for signs of infestations. Use family-safe traps to remove any discovered pests.
Being proactive is an effective and affordable way to remove pests. Start now before they move in and take over your home.
