Some Simple Steps in Pest-Proofing Your Home

It is very rare for a home to not suffer from an invasion of insects or animal pests at one time or another. It all depends on where you live, the type of pests, and the times they visit, can be very different. The challenges seems to always be the same, how to rid your home of these unwanted and uninvited guests, and most important, how to keep them from coming back to invade your home.

Keeping pests away from your home is an ongoing battle that often requires for you to use pesticides to provide effective control and to keep control over your home. There is a non-chemical approach and preventive measures that you can take to discourage these insects and pests from entering your home in the future. The use of chemical home pesticides can be dangerous and can have a negative environmental impact; and it should only be attempted in a cooperative manner with a professional exterminator.

Tips for effectively pest-proofing your home

• If you feed your pets outside your home, you should take the food and the water inside at night before going to bed. If you happen to store your pet food in the garage or porch, you should place it in a tightly sealed container for safe keeping.

• Be sure to check all of your windows and doors, and keep in mind that your screens should be in good working condition and fit tightly against the window frame.

• Cover open plumbing vents on your roof with an insect screening or use a hardware cloth to secure the opening. You will need to secure it with wire or use plastic ties.

• Keep your plants trimmed back from the side of your home, especially around the foundation. Make sure that the tree branches are trimmed that hang over your roof, so it won't create a natural bridge between the roof and the ground for raccoons, rats, squirrels, and any other climbing varmints.

• If by chance your home has a basement, make sure that it is sealed tightly, and add weather-stripping if needed, and make sure to caulk all joints. You can also consider replacing the existing door with a rodent-proof basement hatch if necessary.

• You can seal entry points from the inside of your home. Be sure to caulk along baseboards and around the window frames. You can also caulk around your cabinets and any other built-in fixtures to block access to hiding places for any crawling insects. It will also help to caulk around pipes under the kitchen and in the bathroom sinks. Be sure to repair any leaks in the drains that you might find. In the basement area, you can caulk between the foundation wall and the mud sill.

• It really helps to remove yard debris such as the brush or leaf piles, trash piles, and grass clippings that are sitting in your yard. Make sure to keep the construction materials and the wood piles away from your home to help prevent infestation of termites and any other wood-boring insects that may invade these areas. It's a good idea to elevate lumber and firewood piles off the ground to provide ample air circulation. For your safety, always wear a long-sleeved shirt and wear heavy gloves when attempting to clean up the yard trash or debris. These areas, especially wood piles, are a favorite habitat for many types of dangerous pests.