As temperatures drop, bugs, rodents and other pests start looking for shelter. Your home is an attractive option: warm, dry and with access to food and water. Determined pests looking for somewhere to overwinter will be drawn to your property as a safe haven.
If you don’t want to share your home with pests, there are things you can do to prevent that from happening. Pest-proofing your home is easy and quick—and could stop costly major infestations later down the line.
Common Pests Drawn to Your Home
Some insects and animals are happy burrowing into the soil to hibernate and stay warm and safe during the cooler months. However, there are many you need to keep an eye out for—otherwise, they’ll soon become your roommates!
Common pests attracted to your home in the fall include:
If you see any signs of pest activity, the best thing to do is to call a pest prevention specialist to avoid the problem growing during the late summer or fall months.
How to Pest-Proof Your Home
The best way to avoid destruction caused by pests is to prepare before they move in. Follow these tips to pest-proof your home.
Inspect Walls for Cracks
Even the tiniest holes let bugs and beetles take up residence in your home. Carefully inspect your exterior walls for signs of cracks and holes that create an inviting entrance to pests.
While you could inspect your house on your own, a professional pest prevention inspection will ensure you don’t miss the smallest of holes. They’ll also know exactly how to treat and seal cracks and crevices to prevent pests in the future.
Pay Attention to Wood Structures
Check your wooden window frames, door lintels and your woodshed storage. Wood is a wonderful place for small bugs to hide in cold weather, so any holes are a tempting entrance to a winter hideout.
If you have a wood stove, raise your logs off the ground and only stack them when they’re dry. Damp wood not only rots easily but also attracts pests that love to eat mushrooms and other things that grow on rotting logs.
Get Your Gutters Professionally Cleaned
One major cause of pooling water is clogged gutters. Not only is the overflowing water attractive to pests, but so is the leaf mulch that builds up in your gutters and drains.
The overflowing water also causes wood rot in window frames and fascias – a tasty option for some pests.
Cleaning your own gutters can be dangerous and you may not be able to fully empty them. A professional gutter cleaning will ensure your gutters are totally emptied ready for fall. In addition, your gutter cleaning expert will check for problems in your gutter, such as a slipped bracket, that will affect the drainage.
Regularly Mow Your Lawn
Long grass is the perfect hiding place for rodents to get around in your garden and sneak into your basement or ground floor.
Similarly, trees and shrubs with long branches leaning close to your property offer an entrance route for pests and rodents looking for a way into your home.
Keep your shrubs trimmed back and your lawn mowed short to make the open space of your garden a less attractive option for rodents. It’s also worth clearing leaf litter and mulch near your home, as these are perfect hiding spots for many pests.
Inspect Your Loft Space
Broken roof shingles let in more than the rain! You already know pooling water and damp areas are havens for pests—but holes in the roof also allow pests in to keep warm in your loft.
Check your eaves for wasp nests, rotting wood or even termites. Now’s the time to get these eradicated before the pests take hold over the winter months.
You should also check for signs of rodents and even bird nests! We don’t often go up into our loft spaces, so you might be surprised to find just how many unwanted upstairs tenants have moved in.
House Ants
These ants won’t destroy wood like a carpenter ant, but they’re also attracted to moist areas, such as near your heaters or pipes. While you don’t really have to worry about them ruining the structure of your home, you probably won’t enjoy sharing your pantry items with them. You can make your home less attractive to all ants by:
- Keeping firewood away from your home
- Pruning shrubbery, removing dead limbs and keeping landscape trees away from the home
- Eliminating water leaks and problems around basements, crawl spaces and your foundation
- Repair any roof or plumbing leaks immediately
- Repair clogged or broken gutters to eliminate standing water sources
Inspect Window Screens
You’ll also want to inspect all your window screens to make sure they’re all still intact. Broken ones will also let pests in, such as stink bugs.
How Viking Pest Control Can Help Pest Proof Your Home This Fall
Pest-proofing your home this fall is easy with Viking Pest Control. Viking Pest has been providing pest control for families and businesses since 1980. Viking is a full-service pest control company offering control and prevention for ants, spiders, termites and bed bugs to name a few.
With locations servicing NJ, PA, MD, and DE, Viking is the local business that you love, with the coverage that you need. Viking offers all clients a FAST FREE Quote by a Pest Management Professional. Call us today or request a FREE estimate online. With Viking, One Call Gets Them All!