Is Your Home Being Invaded? Top Pest Control Tips
Are you informed about pest control? The more you know, the better you will be able to prevent and fix infestations. You have lots of options when it comes to keeping your home free from pests.
Fruit Flies
Are you having recurring problems with fruit flies, even after you have eliminated them? The source of your problem may be your drain. To see if your drains are breeding grounds for fruit flies simply place plastic wrap over your drain. After a few days, check to see if your drains have fruit flies. If some do appear, drop boiling water into the drain and then scrub well. This will reduce the frequency of fruit flies in your home.
If brown recluse spiders have invaded your home, catch them with some sticky traps. These harmful spiders spend their time in hard to reach areas that are not easily accessible for chemicals. At night they search for food. Place some traps along your walls and behind the furniture.
Make sure you thoroughly inspect your home for any standing puddles of water. Standing water attracts all kinds of pests. Do a thorough job of checking your pipes for leaks, and remember to empty the trays from beneath your house plants. Most pests require standing water to survive; therefore, it is important to remove any standing water.
Mint Leaves
Put some mint around the house to keep mice away. Plan mint around the perimeter of your house. When you do this, mice won’t want to live there. If mice are already a problem, you may want to place mint leaves in the areas that are affected. This will repel mice in most cases, but always remember to sprinkle fresh mint leaves.
If you have pest problems in rooms with sinks, check your drains. Keep all of your drains clean and running smoothly in all parts of your house. A leak can also rot wood, which is a major attractant to some pests. Check cleared drains on a monthly basis.
The main living spaces in your home may look fine, but check every inch of your home for pests every once in a while. If your home has a basement, termites may be operating in secret. You should always have any crawl spaces and your basement checked.
Have rodents made an appearance in the house? You need to inspect your home from the outside and look for small cracks animals might squeeze through. Try putting some steel wool in the holes. In some instances, odor repellents like mustard oil might work.
Do you have a camper that you store over the winter? If so, then it is possible for mice to live in it. There are some natural repellents to keep these annoying pests out of your recreational vehicle, however. Some of these repellents have a nice smell. They are not poisonous at all. They do keep mice from entering your camper, though.
Store all your foodstuffs properly to keep them free from pests. Glass containers with lids or plastic containers are the choice of many home owners. Do not store your food items in cardboard boxes because pests can easily enter into these.
Look around your foundation and check your walls for cracks. It is natural for fissures and cracks to form in your home’s foundational structure. Those cracks serve as entry points for all sorts of pests. Also, check your ceiling. Pests reside in small cracks within the ceiling at times.
If cockroaches have presented a problem, make sure all food is sealed. If you have an open container, you must put the entire container in a zip-lock back. It’s also a good idea to transfer loose foods to seal-able plastic containers. Cockroaches will continue to thrive if there is a ready food source. Anything that you use for baking, such as sugar and flour, should always be kept in containers that are well sealed.
Seal any small entry points into your home with caulk. Foggers and sprays do little to get inside your walls where insects live. Seal the moldings around the sink, pipes, and where the wall meets your floor with caulk to prevent bugs from exiting and entering.
Hairspray can help kill the flying bugs. Perfume works as well, but it can be problematic if it gets in your eyes. Both of these things are flammable, so keep away from an open flame when you use them. This is a great quick-fix if you have no bug spray handy.
Dealing with wasps nests or bee hives should be done at night. To rid your home of beehives, spray a foam wasp and bee insecticide. These foams can reach a long way and are great for killing bees from a safer distance. The best thing to do is to spray the beehive after sunset when bees are less active. Then check it a few days later and respray if necessary. When you have confirmed the bees are no longer alive, remove the hive.
Diminish the clutter; diminish the bugs. Most homes have a lot of catch-all areas, such as book shelves, counter tops and table tops. Therefore, you need to clean up the clutter in your home. By doing this, you can reduce the areas where pests can live.
In order to decrease the amount of pests that are entering your home, aim to keep your brushes, trees, flowers, etc. several feet away from the home. If you can, use tiles to cover your home’s perimeter in order to make it difficult for pests to enter. Then you can worry less about letting bugs into your home when you open the windows.
Use what you’ve learned to help get your home back to where it once was before. Remember, all pests are annoying, and even though they are tough to remove, it’s your job to do so. With this knowledge found here, you are now more than ready. Use the information provided here to create an effective pest control plan today.