What Should I Do to Stop Pests?

Head off pest invasions by keeping them out of your house in the first place. (Dreamstime/TNS)

By Paul F. P. Pogue From Ask Angi

Spring is a lovely time to open your house and invite things in after a long, cold winter: sunshine, leafy smells, fresh air. But these good things aren’t the only visitors gearing up to drop by. Spring is also prime time for pests to find their home in your home and set themselves up for as long as possible. The combination of warm weather, moisture and homes opening up more often provide ideal circumstances for these unwanted guests to drop in. Here are some tips to keep pests from invading your space and what to do if they show up:

1. Don’t Invite Them In

The most effective pest control is making sure they never get close. Pests such as rodents and insects are drawn to the scent of food, and a spring home presents plenty of invitations. Keep your kitchen clean and free of scraps or random food. Keep leftovers in tightly sealed containers.

Check around your house, especially the kitchen, for potential points of entry where pests might slip in. Insects only need the tiniest of cracks to get into many places. Use a flashlight and carefully check for holes, gaps between walls or ceilings, the areas around utility lines and vents, window and door seals, and foundation or siding gaps. Anywhere you find such holes, seal them up. Expanding foam sealant, weatherstripping and caulk are excellent solutions for many such problems.

Don’t overlook your attic or basement; these offer many good entry points for pests ranging from ants to raccoons. Copper wire mesh, available at most hardware stores, can cover up larger holes.

2. Make an Unwelcome Yard

Your yard presents pests and rodents with many opportunities to establish a staging area for the eventual home invasion. Make sure your yard doesn’t give them easy options. Trim all bushes and trees so branches don’t come in contact with your outer walls—those leaves and branches give them an accessible bridge to travel. Remove all sources of standing water. Mosquitoes can breed in as little as half an inch, even if it’s just a Frisbee sitting upside down next to the garage. Check carefully for such sources, and take care of them.

Clean your gutters regularly. This is already a good idea on general principle, but backed-up water, moist leaves and other debris in dirty gutters make a perfect beachhead for pests on their way into your home.

Don’t store brush or firewood next to your home. Instead, place it a reasonable distance away. Stacked wood and leaves are great pest hideouts.

3. Call the Pros When Needed

Sometimes, pests make it into your home despite your best efforts. At that point, call in a professional pest control company. When hiring, ensure they’re licensed, bonded, and insured, and don’t be afraid to ask for evidence of these documents. Some pest control companies use EPA-regulated chemicals, so be sure they hold the proper qualifications for anything they might be using in your home. Finally, ask them not only how they’ll get rid of the pests, but what they’ll do to keep them from coming back.

Tweet your home care questions with #AskingAngi and we’ll try to answer them in a future column.

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