Often, by the time it comes to dealing with a pest problem, it’s too late to carry out preventative measures, and a call to local pest control to carry out an extermination is the only solution.
However, if you get on top of your home maintenance, you can stop these annoying pests getting into your home in the first place.
Here are a few home maintenance tasks you can undertake to stop pests from invading your home:
Fill the cracks in your walls.
It takes a lot to motivate ourselves to take time out of our day – especially on the weekend, when all we want to do is relax – to fill the cracks in the walls in and outside your home. Yet, if you do this, you’ll see a huge decrease in the number of bugs in and around your home, and save yourself an immeasurable amount of hassle in the future.
Cracks in the walls of your house are the number one way that bugs enter your home, since doors and windows can be kept shut. Close the cracks, and you’re closing tiny doors for insects, which you’ll be sure to reap the benefit of for the next few years.
Use a home maintenance calendar.
In order to make sure that you keep on top of your home maintenance, consider downloading a home maintenance calendar to keep on top of any home repairs and maintenance projects, to keep your home pest-free.
Keep your grass short and your lawn clear.
Long grass attracts a whole host of creepy crawlies, from ticks and beetles, to mice. This is because the long strands conceal them from predators such as hungry birds.
For the same reason, you should make sure to rid your yard of fallen leaves and other debris. More than this, wood debris and leaves are even more attractive to pests because they’re organic – so they rot – providing a meal for bugs such as woodlice, millipedes and worms.
Repair leaks and water damage in your roof and basement.
In winter, or if you experience a particularly rainy summer, and your roof or foundation is old and weak, you might experience water damage, and resultant leaks and cracks.
Unfortunately, there are a number of pests who covet damp, dark places, so your attic or basement is likely to become home to a number of unwelcome critters, such as woodlice, centipedes and silverfish.
Moreover, carpenter ants are especially attracted to moist wood, as they’re able to make their nests within it – so if you do notice water damage in your attic or basement, then be sure to make the repairs, but also call pest control to carry out an inspection for carpenter ants. Read more about this here.
Clean out your gutters.
If your gutters are clogged with gunk, not only does this provide a meal for rot-loving bugs, but it’s also likely that your gutters will become sites of standing water – a haven for mosquito breeding.
Mosquitoes only need a tiny amount of still water in order to lay their eggs, so if your gutters are at all clogged, you can bet that mosquitoes are using them to multiply. Evidently, if this continues to happen, you can expect an increasing number of mosquitoes which will harass you in your garden and home.
Check for other areas of standing water.
Since gutters aren’t the only places that mosquitoes lay their eggs, you need to check your yard, and even inside your home, for areas where water might collect, providing an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
This could include a disused bird-bath; a rarely used indoor sink, or bath, where the plug has been left in; a bucket or anything else. If you ensure that water doesn’t collect in and around your home, you can expect to see a decrease in the number of mosquitoes you see this summer.
About the Author: Ed Lavery and Sons are pest exterminators providing wildlife and domestic pest control in Connecticut. Their family-owned pest control company deals with any kind of pest, from insects to rodents.