Pests in our homes are not just nuisances; they pose health and safety risks. Instead of constantly battling them, it’s better to prevent their presence.
This article provides practical tips to prevent pest infestations, safeguard your living space, and keep your home pest-free.
A pest infestation refers to the overwhelming presence of undesired creatures in a specific area, such as insects or rodents. These bothersome invaders, ranging from ants and termites to rats and larger wildlife, can cause significant problems and discomfort.
How to Identify Pest Infestations?
Pest infestations often present various noticeable indicators that can warn homeowners of their existence. Here are some common signs of a pest infestation:
- Physical Sightings
- Droppings
- Grease Marks or Tracks
- Distinctive Odors
- Structural Damage
- Nesting Materials
- Audible Sounds
- Presence of Eggs or Larvae
What causes infestation of pests?
The key to understanding the spread of a pest infestation is to look at the reasons why a particular pest species is attracted to your home in the first place.
Pests are drawn to homes because of their food supply, shelter, and warmth.
The most common way to get a pest infestation is to have a dirty home. Dirt and dust are prime food for many pests, including ants and cockroaches. Any food crumbs or garbage on the floors, and any holes or cracks that could provide shelter for insects.
what is the best way to prevent pest infestation?
When determining the best way to prevent pest infestation, several factors should be considered to make an informed decision.
Based on the specific situation, the severity of the potential infestation, and the type of pests, you can choose either a DIY (Do It Yourself) approach or contact a professional pest control company.
Do It Yourself Pest Infestation Control
Try to keep a pest sighting log at your property and record your observations. Whenever you decide to hire a perfect pest controller, the information on the log helps the technician to control pests.
When the treatment is done, ask the technician to add information to the log for future use. A sample of pest sighting log is available for you through the following link:
Tips to Prevent Indoor Pest Infestation
- Keep your property, especially your kitchen as clean as possible and free of even small food crumbs and greasy material. Baits work much better when roaches are hungry.
- Install proper door sweeps to control rodents, millipedes, centipedes, sowbugs, ants, earwigs, and spiders activity.
- Install proper window screens to control flying insects like wasps, hornets, and flies activity.
- To store foods inside the cabinets or closet use containers that are pest-proof. It helps to control cockroaches, ants, and pantry moth (Indian meal moth) activity.
- Eliminate moisture sources and repair leaks to control cockroaches, ants, rodents, carpenter ants, silverfish, and flies activity.
- Vacuum regularly to remove food pieces and prevent cockroaches, rodents, and ants activity. It also helps to remove immature stages of some insect pests like fleas.
- Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sinks and wash them immediately after a meal to prevent cockroaches and ant’s activity.
- Pet foods must be put in pest-proof containers. Try to feed your pets at particular times of the day and clean up after every meal to control rodents, ants, and cockroaches activity.
- Regularly mop the floors to control ants and cockroaches activity.
- Daily emptying of the trash to prevent cockroaches and ants activity.
- Clean grease from a stove, range hood, floor, and wall to prevent cockroaches activity.
- Place garbage in a sealed plastic bag before it is placed into the rodent-proof dumpster.
- Use weather-strip around doors to prevent crawling insect’s activity.
- Kitchen appliances should be kept clean and free of food particles and grease to control cockroaches, rodents, and ants activity.
- The areas underneath and behind kitchen appliances should be kept grease and crumb-free to prevent cockroaches activity.
- Be careful not to overwater indoor plants to prevent flies activity.
- Making sure that your home is as cold as possible during the winter months when pests are most active.
Prevention Tips for Outdoor Pest Infestation
- Vegetation should not touch the building. So, trim vegetation away from your property to prevent rodents and carpenter ants activity.
- Remove clutter around your building and move firewood away from the building foundation to prevent rodents, carpenter ants, and spider activity.
- Remove standing water inside your property to prevent flies activity.
- Move bird feeders away from the building to prevent ants and rodents activity.
- Caulk cracks and crevices around the building foundation to prevent rodents, millipedes, centipedes, sowbugs, ants, earwigs, and spiders activity.
- Insulate cold water pipes to prevent rodents, cockroaches, silverfish, ants, and flies activity.
- Replace bark mulch with gravel or stone around your property to prevent rodents, millipedes, centipedes, sowbugs, ants, earwigs, and spiders activity.
- Don’t put garbage outside in plastic bags, put them inside the dumpster to prevent rodents activity.
- Place dumpsters upwind from the outside door to prevent flies and wasps entry and activity.