3 Important Steps For Controlling Pests In Your Home And On Your Property
One of the important things you have to do as a homeowner is to keep pests out of the house. Bugs and rodents are a natural part of outdoor life, and they don't require much encouragement to come inside your home. All it takes is a whiff or food or water and the pests will try to break in. Effective pest control has different aspects. Working with a pest control company and having regular treatments is important, but so is keeping pests out and eliminating things that attract them. Here are some ideas for keeping pests at bay.
Remove Water Sources
All living things need water, so if you leave an easy supply of water inside or outside your home, you'll be inviting pests. Turn over things that catch water outdoors so you don't create water troughs for rodents and bugs. Standing water also creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, so you'll want to keep your property as dry as possible. There's not much you can do to keep the grass and plants dry, especially if you water your lawn, but you can work on eliminating sources of standing water on your property.
Keeping dry indoors is important too. There are two main ways to do this. Don't leave dirty dishes soaking in water overnight as that creates a nutritious soup for bugs. Also, fix water leaks as soon as you find them. Damp wood from water leaks is a big attractant for a variety of bugs like roaches, termites, and silverfish.
Maintain Your Property
Keeping your yard and home neat and free of clutter helps control pests too. Piles of leaves or tree debris make hiding places for rats and mice. Junk cars and other clutter in your yard make for good nesting places too. In addition to keeping your yard free of clutter, keep the grass trimmed so mosquitoes and other bugs can't hide in the shade of tall grass.
Clearing out clutter indoors helps control bugs and rodents too because it removes a lot of potential hiding and nesting places. Keeping a tidy home also eliminates food from crumbs and spills. An important part of maintaining your home in the fight against pests is to make sure it is sealed well. Don't leave any gaps that bugs or mice can squeeze through. Make it as difficult as possible for the pests to get in so they give up and move on.
Use Pesticides As Recommended
Your home pest control company will recommend a schedule for applying pesticide to your home. It might be on a quarterly schedule since that's about how long it takes for residual pesticides to wear off. Applying pesticides kills off bugs that make it indoors before they have a chance to multiply. In addition, you may want to have termite bait traps set and have regular monitoring for rodent activity so you're alerted to pests early before they get difficult to control.