Your home is your sanctuary. It is where you feel safe and comfortable, and you don’t want anything to go wrong. However, sometimes you must deal with pests that make your life incredibly hard. People usually think pest prevention is complicated, tedious and unnecessary, but the reality is the contrary. Help prevention helps you to spend less money and time dealing with pests, leaving you time to relax comfortably. Let’s see ten tips for controlling pests in and around your home and what are the best pest control companies in Virginia Beach.
- Check for cracks and gaps
Any place with an opening, even if it is a small one, is a place that allows pests to enter. Therefore, check for cracks and gaps all around your house. You should routinely inspect the entire exterior of your home for further cracks, gaps, and crevices. Some are quite common, such as loose siding, foundation cracks, missing roof shingles, and even gaps around utility lines like cable wiring, pipes, electric wiring etc. If you find an opening, seal it with coarse steel wool, copper mesh, sheet metal, or mortar. Although many use it, expanding caulk is not a good idea since several pests can chew through it.
- Trash properly
You know that household garbage is a great attractor of pests like rodents, ants, and roaches. Yet, yard waste can also draw in pests that may make a nest from it or eat it. That’s why it is crucial to have a trash can with tight-fitting lids and keep clean all the cans and areas where they usually sit to remove spills and debris that pests can feed.
Keep inside and outside of your household clean of trash as much as possible. Remember to clean your trash bin frequently to avoid pests.
- Don’t allow water to stand
Standing water is a danger for many reasons. It can attract several pests and other threats, so you must be aware and repair all leaking pipes, especially those underneath sinks in your bathroom or kitchen. Rats, termites, ants, cockroaches, and even snakes are attracted by it. Make sure to repair the leaking and observe them.
Stagnant water allows disease-carrying mosquitoes to breed, like the Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of dengue and chikungunya. Even stagnant water as small as a 20-cent coin can be a place for them to breed. Luckily, there are some ways to avoid it from happening. For example, you can turn over all pails so you can prevent pooling and regularly clear water from vases and flower trays.
Keep the buckets in your bathroom clean and dry when you are not using them. Don’t keep a bucket under your air-conditioner to collect water. Instead, look for alternatives like a pipe to carry the water out as soon as it drops.
- Wash your bedding regularly
Bug beds can survive even 2 years without a blood meal. Therefore, you should do anything you can to eliminate them and prevent them since it is tough to deal with them because of their size. They spend most of their time hiding from their hosts, which are usually humans, so it is easier and better if you regularly clean your pillowcases, bed sheets, and blankets. You can easily avoid a bed bug infestation if you do that. Besides, it helps keep your skin clean and can help you with allergies.
- Keep items of external use outside
We usually have several items that require a larger space or are required for a specific purpose, so we don’t keep them inside the house. This is surprisingly a good habit since objects we use for gardening, for example, may carry debris or even pests to our homes. If you need to use them inside the house, clean them thoroughly.
Bicycles, battery-operated cars, and other items you use outside, like toys, should be cleaned before entering your home, or don’t bring them in at all.
- Store food correctly
Storing food is a significant problem for several people, especially those living alone for the first time. You must store food correctly to avoid various pests from invading your home. Never keep vegetables and fruits out for long. When overripe, they’ll attract many insects and flies, so either keep them on the fridge or don’t leave them out for long. Fruit flies are harmless, but rotting fruits can attract house flies, cockroaches and ants.
Store all your food in sealed containers and clean the leftovers and crumbles. If you need to throw food away, put it into sealed garbage bins.
- Clean your home regularly
As stated earlier, it is essential to keep your bed clean to avoid bed bugs. The same goes with your house. Keep it clean regularly to prevent several pests. Don’t leave food leftovers, standing water, debris, dishes, garbage, or humidity. The kitchen and the backyard are the commonest places for pests to invade, so keep an open eye for them. Once in a while, move the furniture to vacuum underneath it when cleaning your rooms.
- Use the suitable light bulbs
Halogen light bulbs or high-pressure sodium vapor are the best light bulbs to avoid flying insects. Although they are not dangerous, they may attract geckos or other types of animals.
- Fix nets on windows
You need to fix nets on windows to prevent pests from invading your house since they can enter through tiny cracks and gaps. Regularly inspect all your windows and doors to ensure everything’s okay.
- Contact a professional pest control service
The best way to avoid pests is to have your home regularly inspected so the pest control company can check if everything is safe. You may be surprised that some problems are living in your house without noticing them.
Universal Pest & Termite is a pest control company with a 4.8-star average rating and several home inspection and pest control services. They are a great option if you need pest control in Virginia Beach. Go to their website and schedule an inspection right now.