No one wants to live in a home with mice, rats, cockroaches, termites, and ants running all over the place. Unfortunately, these critters don’t tend to ask permission. Given the opportunity, they will descend on your home like a flash. If you want to keep them out and away from your home, there are steps that you need to take.
Keep Your Home Clean
Keeping your home clean can help prevent pests in two main ways. The first way is eliminating desirable food sources. You might not think much of a few crumbs, but to pests, those crumbs are like a five-course dinner. Pests can even feed off sticky food residue that you might not be able to see at first glance. Keeping your home clean will leave pests with a lack of food. If they can’t find food, they will leave.
The second way keeping your home clean can help is that a clean home doesn’t give many places to hide. Most pests will spend the majority of their time in the walls of your home. However, they have to venture out into the main part of your home to scavenge for food. They rely on messy conditions to scurry around unnoticed. Open spaces are undesirable and uncomfortable for most critters.
Secure Your Roof
The best way to keep your home pest free is to stop them from entering. One of the main entry points is the roof of the house. This might seem surprising at first but remember that most pests are excellent climbers. The rough exterior of your home can be relatively easy to scale. A dirty gutter can be a prime home for pests. Once they move there, it is only a matter of time until they enter your house. Keep your gutters clean to prevent this. If there are any loose or broken shingles, make sure you repair them. You can ensure pests have even more trouble getting through into your home by installing metal roofing.
Seal Cracks and Holes
Since most critters like to live in the walls of your home, they need to have a way in and out of those walls. Cracks and holes in the wall are like a welcome sign to pests. You can keep them out of the walls by sealing the cracks and filling the holes. If you discover a rodent hole, you can stuff the entrance with a metal rodent mesh before you seal the hole. This will prevent them from chewing back through. Make sure you check around areas such as your HVAC unit and your water heater. These warm places are favorites for pests to hide.
Keep in mind that it may be difficult to eradicate an infestation on your own. Some pests will require an expert to remove. If you are feeling overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to get out. However, you can keep from getting to that point if you do your best to keep your home clean and deny pests any point of entry.
Want to make sure your home is safe? Make an appointment with us for an inspection!