Sooner or later, every homeowner in Washington County will deal with a pest infestation. It’s no fun, but with a proper pest control company on your side, you can get it taken care of in a hurry. What’s really frustrating, though, is when they come right back and seemingly just won’t stay away. Here are a few of our favorite ways to avoid inadvertently inviting unwanted bugs indoors. Read on and stop the next infestation before it happens!
Move Plants Away From Your Home
Everyone loves a yard full of vibrant, healthy ornamentals, but did you know that they can act as a jumping-off point for pest infestations? Any branch that comes into contact with your home can function just like a bridge, allowing a wide variety of insects easy access to your home. Keeping trees and shrubs properly pruned back from your house or moving them further away altogether deprives nuisance insects of one of their favorite ways to get indoors, making your life much easier in the process. Likewise, keeping a distance between any mulch beds and your home’s exterior can have precisely the same effect. Make pests’ jobs more difficult, and we promise you’ll be thrilled with the results.
Clear Away Yard Debris
Staying outside for a moment, let’s talk about yard debris. Lawn buildup like thatch, fallen leaves and twigs, and grass clippings all provide yard pests with a place to hide from predators, to breed, and even to overwinter. Keeping your Washington County grass clear and open with minimal obstruction will make your lawn an unwelcoming place to all sorts of unwanted bugs, removing a large area of concern and reducing the risk of infestation significantly.
Consider Your Lightbulbs
Scientists still aren’t completely sure why so many bugs are attracted to light. Theories range from light being an indicator of a predator-free area to them confusing it for the sun in an attempt to use it as a navigational beacon. In any case, it’s common to see even a soft porchlight completely surrounded by bugs once the sun goes down. It’s little surprise then, that a few of them might find their way indoors. However, there’s a simple fix. Changing your lights from traditional incandescent bulbs to LEDs can make a world of difference. In testing, LEDs even routinely outperform specialty bug lights when it comes to keeping unwanted insects away from your porch.
Check Your Doors and Windows
How do you get inside your home? By using the door, of course! Well, bugs do that too. Worse still, they don’t even need the door to be open, and your windows are every bit as vulnerable. Properly sealed doors are a critical line of defense when it comes to protecting your Washington County home from unnecessary infestations. Book an inspection today and save a massive headache later. If you want to go the DIY route, though, plenty of door and window sealing materials are readily available, each of which can be an effective buffer between your home and nuisance pests.
Assess Your Home’s Foundation
Just like an improper window or door seal can lead to a surprise pest infestation, so too can a crack in your foundation. Bugs can sneak in through unimaginably small openings, and over time, your foundation is likely to develop its fair share of cracks and crevices. With regular home inspections and routine maintenance, though, this is a problem that can be easily avoided. So stay on top of your home’s foundation, and you’ll be richly rewarded!
Store Food Securely
Given that it’s where we keep our food, kitchens and pantries are favorite targets for a wide variety of invasive bugs. Proper kitchen cleaning and maintenance is your best bet, but if you don’t have the extra hours in the week (and we understand if you don’t), storing your food properly can still go a long way. Look for plastic, dishwasher-safe containers with airtight seals or strong clips on their lids. In addition to keeping dry goods fresh for longer, such containers excel at keeping bugs out. Additionally, fruits and vegetables should not be left out on counters where they’re likely to become easy targets for bugs like ants and roaches.
Properly Dispose of Trash and Recyclables
Timely and proper disposal of both trash and recyclables is a highly effective way to keep pests out of your home. Many common household pests are attracted to the scent of decomposing food. Therefore, we recommend investing in a high-quality trash can, using odor-reducing bags, and taking out the trash more often than necessary. Where your recycling is concerned, we recommend taking the time to properly wash and rinse it before placing it in the bin. Most recycling bins issued by Washington County municipalities don’t have lids, making the cleanliness of your recyclables that much more important in order not inadvertently to attract bugs indoors.
Perform Regular Cleaning Around your Home
It may sound obvious, but keeping a clean home is a great way to reduce pest infestations’ frequency and severity. On some level or another, we all know this to be true, but in the course of our busy lives, that kind of routine cleaning is one of the first things that tends to fall through the cracks. Developing an easy-to-follow cleaning routine is much easier to stay on top of and less intimidating than infrequent, large-scale home cleanups, so building that into your weekly schedule is worthwhile.
Bama Pest Is Here to Help With High-Quality Pest Control
For over 40 years now, we at Bama Pest have provided families and homes across Washington County. Regardless of your budget, the severity of your infestation, or unique needs, we have the knowledge, experience, and dedication to customer service needed to do the job right every time. So don’t live alongside bugs for a single unnecessary moment and get the help you deserve today!
We currently service:
- Mobile County
- Baldwin County
- Washington County
Schedule a home inspection today and give us a call at (251) 478-7015.
Bama Pest Control is a disabled, veteran-owned small business. We are also HUBZone certified and DBE certified, two certifications from organizations helping the disadvantaged, minorities, and women maintain their small businesses.