Tips for Tackling Common Household Pests

Pests can invade your home in pursuit of food, water, and warmth. Proactively preventing infestations will ensure that you protect you from property destruction and the contraction of life-threatening diseases, as some pests are vectors of pathogens. 

You should contact an expert in the field, such as Joshua’s Pest Control, to ensure that you win the battle against these home invaders. You can read more at https://www.pestcontrolexperts.com/local/washington/spokane/. Pest control professionals have the technical expertise to help you deal with and prevent these unwanted animals and insects in both the short and long-term. 

A professional exterminator will help you identify the type of pests your home is most susceptible to and will identify the best approaches for eradicating the infestation. This overview will outline how to tackle the most commonly-spotted household pests, such as rodents, ants, flies, mosquitoes, and termites.

Regular kitchen cleaning

According to most Pest Control services, the kitchen area is a well-known hotspot for pest infestations due to the abundance of food and water located nearby. Typically, kitchens are invaded by common home pests like cockroaches, ants, and other insects. Therefore, it’s imperative to keep the kitchen area, and the rooms in the kitchen’s general vicinity, clean and crumb-free as a preventative pest control measure. Sweeping loose crumbs and scrubbing kitchen surfaces susceptible to debris and grime starves these pests, forcing them to migrate to other areas.

Not sure how to eliminate pests that flock to your kitchen area? Some of the essential preventative measures you should employ in your household include keeping garbage cans closed, sweeping off food crumbs, keeping food leftovers in an airtight container, and washing utensils well. You should also always store food in a refrigerator or in sealed plastic containers. As a final precaution, sanitize counters after every use, and always clean the kitchen before retiring to bed.

Identify and block entry points

Locating the points of entry early-on will allow you to curb rodents and insects in no time. By identifying these entry points and sealing them accordingly, you can stop any unwanted guests from invading your space and causing you unnecessary frustration. 

Pests are typically governed by the prevailing weather, especially rodents like squirrels and mice that seek warm areas to inhabit during winter. Rodents will chew their way into your home by creating holes in the attic, ceiling, and walls, which will propagate into cracks that allow insects’ entry. Therefore, you should regularly inspect your home for holes, ripped screens, small cracks, loose shingles, and open vents.

Repair any damages and seal-up the holes to prevent rodents from accessing your home. You can use expanding foam to seal any gaps in your home. Inspect the foundation for tiny holes that might be indicative of termites and ant damage. To prevent pests’ entry, you can also fit a new fly screen or mesh covering that’s small enough for your windows. 

For those homeowners looking for a more natural DIY approach to pest control, you can use natural repellents like garlic, cloves, cinnamon, and chili pepper or a combination of sugar and borax. Regardless of your method-of-choice, actively warding off pests is a must in any home. 

Purchase an electronic pest repeller

An electronic pest repeller is one of the safest ways to eliminate pests at home. These electronic rodent repellers, also referred to as ultrasonic pest repellers, have numerous benefits, i.e. controlling pests without harsh chemicals that could be potentially harmful to children and pets alike. 

These devices release noise at vibrations and frequencies specifically set for rodents and insects. The frequencies emitted by electronic pest repellers are too low to be detected by passing kids and pets. The repellers’ ultrasonic sound disorients the pests and renders them immobile, preventing breeding. 

Once these pests have identified the source of these ultrasonic sounds, they will avoid the site entirely. With adequate time, electronic repellers will eventually repel pests away from your home, especially when you install a device in each room. 

For installation, you should plug the device into any outlet within the home and allow it to release high-frequency sounds that are unbearable to pests. These ultrasonic pest repellers are guaranteed to last anywhere from three to five years, so you can enjoy low-maintenance, zero-effort pest control for a significant amount of time. 

Close trash bins properly

The smell of garbage attracts a variety of pests such as mice and flies. To avoid lingering pests, you should tightly close the trash bin after each item you dispose of. 

Remember, these bins are packed with food that pests hunt for, making them a perfect environment for infestation. Without proper pest-control measures, pests can endanger your home’s residents by infecting your loved ones with a plethora of diseases such as Lyme disease, dengue fever, and salmonella. Along with their ability to transmit disease, a select few pests such as termites are capable of destroying your property. 

To prevent life-threatening disease and financially devastating property damage, you should ensure that you close the bins properly and take out the trash before the bag begins to overflow. It would be best if you sealed trash bins tightly to ensure that pests cannot follow the odor or pick at rotting food scraps. Once you contain your household waste, you can avoid unintentionally luring pesky animals or insects into your home. Just remember to do this in addition to squirrel pest control and other alternatives you’ve put in place.

Integrated pest management

Most experts state that the integrated pest management (IPM) method effectively mitigates pest infestation in homes and outdoor spaces, alike. IPM involves a mixture of mechanical, cultural, biological, physical, or chemical efforts that are implemented once your home’s pests and their corresponding life cycles have been identified. Chemicals proven effective at eliminating most household pests such as cockroaches include parathion, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and pyrethrins.

These chemicals should be sprayed inside cracks to drive out the cockroaches. If you have a rodent infestation, owning a pet cat, as a form of biologic control, will assist you in reducing the extent of your infestation. 

Chemical treatments are also effective in controlling termite infestations.  You can use Termidor to eliminate termites, clearing the way to establishing a more lasting solution. The termiticide is non-repellant, meaning that the termites may not see, smell, taste, or detect it. 

Chemical treatments also have a transfer effect, where infected termites can spread the insecticide through contact with other termites in the colony. As a result, the termiticides can effectively eradicate an entire colony. 

Natural home remedies such as Neem oil have been manufactured into commercial pest sprays that are extremely effective in warding off bed bugs that might infest homes and school dormitories. Other organic insect repellent remedies that can deter insects like mosquitoes include lavender, peppermint, cedarwood, lemon eucalyptus, lemongrass, and rosemary that contains mineral oil.

Vacuum regularly

You can use a vacuum cleaner to eradicate pests, eggs, and fecal matter from your home. A vacuum is a great way to extract cockroaches and fleas from their hiding zones. Because the remains of dead insects and their eggs can pose a health risk to you and your family, you should dispose of the vacuum bag immediately after completion. 

Apart from vacuuming, you should declutter your home by removing old clothes, papers, newspapers that might house insects and rodents. The more clutter that plagues your living spaces, the more space there is for pests to hide and multiply. 

Drain stagnant water

Most insects that threaten homeowners love inhabiting dump areas or places with stagnant water. You should ensure that the foundation is level enough to prevent stagnating water that might act as a breeding ground for annoying insects like mosquitoes. Ensure that wooden structures are kept dry to avoid attracting spiders, beetles, ants, termites, and cockroaches. When storing wood, keep your loose 2x4s away from the house foundation, as these aforementioned insects love feeding on moist wood structures. 

Final thoughts

In most cases, pests are more than just a nuisance, they’re life-threatening. With these simple tips-and-tricks that are easy to incorporate into your daily cleaning rituals, your home will be pest-free in no time.