Pest Proofing Your Home

While it’s a good idea to be in touch with a skilled pest control expert, you don’t always need professional help to keep your home clear from common pests. There are simple preventative steps that you can take to minimize your exposure to common annual pests that other homeowners have to deal with. If you’d like to avoid allowing pests to get into your home and to continue living comfortably after they’ve made it inside, consider the following steps.

Seal Windows and Doors

Add door sweeps, keep your screens in good working order and caulk around the trim of both windows and doors to ensure that there are no gaps that could allow pests into your home. This is vitally important, and one of the most common ways that these little guys can get into your house.

Trim Yard

An overgrown lawn provides a space for mice, moles, insects and other pesky animals to live. If you keep your lawn trimmed throughout the spring and summer, you’ll encounter less pests when it begins to get cold out.

Fix Foundation and Siding Cracks

Cracks in the foundation or siding of your home are all gaps that little bugs and even rodents can fit through. You don’t want to leave these entrance points alone. Instead, make sure that you seal them all up as best as you can. That means caulking or foaming up interior cracks in your foundation, and also caulking any siding cracks, or replacing the broken siding with new siding that’s in good shape.

Keep Food Sealed

Food attracts all kinds of pests. That’s why it’s up to you to make sure that it isn’t accessible. Anything in cupboards, on counters or stored in drawers needs to be sealed up in an air-tight container. Pick out good quality containers for anything that’s currently exposed and it will remain fresh longer, while helping you avoid attracting ants, mice and other problem pests.

No Sources of Water

Another way to minimize pests in your home is to cut off their supply of water. That means seal up any leaky faucets, don’t leave water in your sinks overnight, put up pet water during the night, or consider a pest-proof bowl for your furry friends. Just take care to try and minimize the water that’s exposed in your home to cut down on your pests.

These simple steps should help cut down your chances of getting a pest infestation noticeably. If you still end up with an infestation that you can’t deal with, contact a pest control professional as soon as you can to get the problem taken care of before it worsens.