Want to Keep Your Home Pest-Free? Here are 6 Tips to Get You Started
Keeping your home pest-free is a challenge. Different weather conditions bring different changes in pest behavior and activity. In springtime, ants and termites become more active, and during summer, you’ll find it’s the mosquitoes and flies turn. Having a strategy to protect your home from pest infestation is crucial.
Places like Bentonville experience a humid subtropical climate with four distinctive seasons: summer, fall, winter, and spring. Therefore, it is essential to approach pest control based on this weather. Fortunately, there are efficient professionals who can help you tackle pest problems without any hassle.
So, if you are searching for pest control solutions or looking for expert pest control professionals in Bentonville, this article is for you.
Tips to Keep Your House Pest-Free
Maintaining a pest-free environment at home is essential for your family’s health and comfort. First and foremost, a clean house and backyard is the first step to keep your home pest-free. Read on to find out the best way to keep pests at bay.
1. Keep Your House Clean!
Kitchen
Maintaining a clean kitchen is paramount in the battle against household pests. This central hub of culinary activity, if not kept tidy, becomes a beacon for pests in search of sustenance.
Keep your kitchen clean by promptly wiping down surfaces, cleaning spills, storing food in sealed containers, and regularly sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor, homeowners create an environment that’s less appealing to pests.
Clean the Trash Bins
Keep your home trash-free and dispose of your waste regularly. Also, get trash bins with tight-fitting lids to prevent pests from accessing food waste. If possible, keep all your trash bins outdoors safely from your house to deter pests from approaching.
General Cleaning
Regular and thorough cleaning is a cornerstone of maintaining a pest-free home. A buildup of dust, debris, and food residues can create the perfect environment for these unwanted guests to thrive.
In places such as Schaumburg, IL, where pests can be particularly troublesome, keeping your home spotless is essential to prevent any unwelcome guests from thriving. If you need help, consider professional pest control in Schaumburg, IL, to ensure your home remains pest-free.
Simple tasks, such as vacuuming carpets, dusting corners, and disposing of garbage promptly, can make a vast difference in deterring these intruders.
Additionally, cleaning often helps in early detection of signs of infestations, allowing homeowners to address problems before they escalate. Regularly changing and thoroughly washing your bed linen in hot water is a proactive step in preventing a bed bug infestation and ensuring a clean sleeping environment.
2. Fix Cracks and Crevices
Pests such as cockroaches and slugs hide in the dark, damp gaps during the day and wander around your kitchen during the night. Sealing these cracks and crevices is an excellent idea to restrain these pests from hiding out. Here are some common entry points:
- Cracks and gaps in foundations of homes
- Windows and Doors
- Damaged door and window screens
- Roof and ceiling – damaged shingles and tiles
- Chimneys
- Ventilation systems without proper mesh or screens
- Utility lines and pipes
- Garage doors
- Basement windows
- Mail slots and pet doors
- Cracks near the sink – pests love to reach water sources
It’s crucial for homeowners to conduct regular inspections around their property to identify and fix potential entry points. Using the right materials to seal these entry points – like steel wool for gaps that might attract rodents or caulk for smaller cracks – can be very effective in keeping pests out.
3. Banish the Dampness
Pests love damp and humid areas. Therefore, it is important to promptly address plumbing leaks and other issues. Pests that are typically attracted to wet and damp areas include termites, carpenter ants, roaches, silverfish, and mold mites.
To deter these pests, it’s crucial to address and eliminate sources of excess moisture in and around homes, ensure good ventilation, fix leaks promptly, and use dehumidifiers in consistently damp areas.
Ensure the basement and crawl spaces are adequately ventilated to prevent excessive moisture buildup. Also, keep your windows open for ventilation and sunlight to enter.
4. Keep Your Food Sealed
For many pests, particularly cockroaches and ants, crumbs and food residues serve as a primary food source. Even small amounts of food can sustain these pests and help their populations grow.
Invest in suitable, airtight containers to store dry food items such as cereals, pasta, and grains. These will prevent pests from entering your pantry and infesting your food. You could also use:
- Glass or plastic containers with tight-sealing lids
- Zipper storage bags
- Refrigerate or freeze perishables such as meats, dairy products, and certain fruits and vegetables
- Vacuum-sealing for long-term storage
- Use canning for preservation such as homemade preserves, pickles, or sauces
Some products come in resealable packaging. If the seal is effective, you can continue using this packaging. However, if there’s any doubt about its efficacy, transfer the contents to a more secure container.
5. Maintain a Tidy Yard
Overgrown vegetation provides shelter and hiding spots for pests, so to protect your home from pests, keep your yard tidy. This can also help keep common lawn pests at bay.
Trim the bushes and hedges and keep your lawn well-maintained. Moreover, regularly remove the fallen leaves, branches, and other debris. Piles of fallen leaves and branches can be a great hiding spot for these creatures.
Also, ensure that there’s no standing water in your yard, as this can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. This includes clogged gutters, puddles, and unused pots or containers.
If you keep firewood, ensure it’s stored at least 20 feet from your home and raised off the ground. This prevents pests like termites and rodents from infesting the wood and migrating to your home.
6. Be on the Lookout
Always look for these pesky insects and check where they can hide. Moreover, invest in a good vacuum cleaner to remove spider webs or pest droppings. Also, keep your home clutter-free and use pest deterrents to repel insects.
There are many natural solutions that deter pests. For example, planting lavender or mint around your home can repel mosquitoes and moths. You could also use diatomaceous earth, which is a natural powder that can be sprinkled in areas where pests are commonly found. It causes dehydration in many insects, leading to their demise.
Why Calling the Experts is a Good Idea
Have you tried every DIY solution and still cannot eliminate these pests? Then, it is time to call the professionals.
Expertise: You may be experimenting with DIY solutions to control pest infestations. Still, if your efforts have been ineffective, it could be due to a lack of expertise and knowledge in pest control. Professional pest control services bring a wealth of experience and specialized knowledge, ensuring they can accurately identify and effectively eliminate various pests from your property. Their training enables them to select the most appropriate and efficient strategies, providing you with peace of mind and a pest-free environment.
Reduces chances of recurrence: Pest infestation is a recurring problem in most households. Professionals will offer the best solutions that are effective and prevent pest infestation from occurring.
They understand the pest cycle: Professional pest control companies understand the life cycle and behavior of pests compared to a layman. They know which pest is more active in which weather and how they can be controlled.
Customized solutions: Professionals will provide customized solutions based on the specific needs of your house. They will consider the pest type and severity of the infestation to develop a tailored plan.
Cost-effective: Professional pest control does come with an upfront cost. But in the long run, they are more cost-effective. You may have to waste a lot of money to make DIY pest deterrents that are not showing any results. Moreover, pest infestation will also destroy your food and belongings around the house. The cost of calling professionals for help is more economical than that.
Preventing pests from invading your home requires consistent efforts and vigilance. However, following the above tips will help you enjoy a pest-free home.
Moreover, don’t be afraid to call for professional help if things are not under your control. Remember that professionals come with a cost, but the effectiveness of their solutions can’t be compared to DIYs.
