Pests usually emerge from their winter hibernation period as weather changes. Pests and insects can sense summer humidity and seek moisture and heat to live and grow in humid places. To avoid pest infestation in your home during warmer seasons, homeowners can take some preventive measures to keep household pests like ants, bed bugs, termites, and other insects invading your house.
Here are a few simple ways to fight against the pests taking refuge in your home. These pest control tasks can also be added to your home maintenance checklist:
Preventive Outdoor Tasks
- Always be alert and check all the possible entrances outside of the home. Seal all the gaps and small cracks.
- Make sure to maintain your yard because messy and overgrown yards are nests to many pests. So, keep the bushes, branches, and trees trimmed, clean all the garbage and debris outside the house.
- Throw away deteriorating wood such as rotted roof shingles as it attracts termites. Rats and other rodents can also use trees and branches as a bridge to enter your house. Keep the firewood and mulch stored away at least 15 to 20 feet away from your house.
- Look for signs that indicate termites and pests’ presence around the house, such as hollow woods, cracked paints, and mold on the walls and mud tubes.
- Cut the grass low and properly maintain the landscape around your house. The space between the soil and your house walls should be kept clear. The soil should slope away from the house to prevent the nesting of ants and other insects.
- Clean the gutters so that there is no water standing, which is the best feasting and breeding ground for pesky pests such as mosquitoes.
- Use screening for windows, vents, and chimney openings.
- Use halogen or sodium vapor light bulbs that deter insects away.
- Look for leaking faucets and water pipes, and AC units and get them repaired.
Preventive Indoor Tasks
- Keep your home and kitchen clean and dry. Sweep and mop floors regularly, vacuum the carpet to remove crumbs and food bits. Keep dustbins lidded and closed. Always store the food in airtight and sealed containers and fruits in the refrigerator.
- Keep the pet bowls washed and dry, and clean any spilled food around them immediately. Also, the pet food should not be kept in a paper bag instead of in an airtight container.
- If your pets are infested with fleas and ticks, consult the vet for treatment.
- Ensure clean your drains and under sinks regularly of moisture and residues of food as these places are a feasting ground for cockroaches and other pests.
- Always keep them smelling fresh and well running.
- Keep your house, and kitchen dry as humidity attracts all kinds of pests and insects. Use dehumidifiers in damp areas like basements, attics, and spaces that are humid and warm.
To prevent your house from pest infestation is a challenging task. But if you strictly take the above-mentioned preventive measures regularly, you never have to worry about the pest invading your territory. But unluckily, if you catch them, you must immediately consult pest control companies for help.
