Did you know? Besides establishing a pest control programme, making constant improvements to enhance the conditions of your home can also help to keep your home free from pest infestations. Regular home improvement is essential not only to increase the property value, but also to improve comfort and safety while allowing you to personalise the living space to your preference.
While it can be costly to conduct a major makeover or renovation, simple upgrades such as fixing structural issues, improving electrical and wiring systems and consistent maintenance are examples of home improvement efforts that can help control pest infestations at home. In this article, Bingo Pest shares the top eight improvement tips you can adopt to prevent pests from invading your home.
Seal Gaps, Cracks and Crevices
Pests can enter your home easily through small cracks, gaps and crevices. This does not apply only to smaller pests such as ants or cockroaches. Pests such as rodents have a flexible body that enables them to squeeze through narrow spaces. In fact, a rodent is capable of fitting in any openings as long as they are able to put their head through. Learn more facts about rodents and how you can effectively get rid of them.
Besides providing an entry point for the pests, these gaps also offer a great hiding and harbourage space for them. Bed bugs, for instance, are particularly adept at hiding in tight spaces including seams, folds and wall cracks. They are notorious for hiding during the day and appearing at night to feed.
To prevent a pest infestation and inhibit pest from entering your home, it is essential to seal and cover any openings such as:
Use weatherstripping around windows
Install door sweep
Use caulk or silicone to seal joints, seams and cracks in the walls
Be sure to inspect and check both the interior and exterior of your home and ensure all gaps are completely sealed up. Conducting regular checks and taking quick actions to cover up any openings can significantly reduce pest infestations at home.
Spring Clean Your Home
Home is an ideal place for pests to breed. This is because they are attracted to several items found at home including food, mould, garbage, moisture and clutter. Conducting regular cleaning and sanitising can greatly reduce pest occurrences and prevent transmission of pest-borne diseases at home. Spring cleaning your home not only helps you improve comfort and liveability, it also helps you identify early signs of pest infestations.
Commonly found at home, cardboard boxes can encourage pests such as rodents, cockroaches and termites to breed. Despite being recyclable, cardboard boxes are known to absorb and release moisture, which is essential for pests to breed. They also provide the warmth and dark spaces these pests require to harbour. Therefore, switching to plastic or metal containers with lids not only inhibits these pests from breeding, but also helps protect your items against damages caused by the pests.
Conducting regular and consistent housekeeping practices can certainly aid in pest prevention. They include:
Vacuum and mop regularly
Proper food storing using air-tight containers
Cleaning up spills and food crumbs immediately
Remove clutter and unwanted items
Clearing and taking out trash regularly
Paint your House
Not all pests are attracted to the food we eat. Booklice, for instance, are attracted to mould and fungi. They are frequently found near places with high moisture including walls, ceilings and inside cabinets. In order to prevent booklice at home, it is essential to consider using anti-mould paint when refurbishing your home. Besides painting, regular wipe-down of the walls can also remove any traces of live booklice. However, it is important to allow the walls to dry thereafter to prevent booklice from recurring.
Homeowners who want extra protection against mosquitoes can also consider furbishing the house with anti-mosquito paint. Nonetheless, clearing and removing any traces of stagnant water is still essential in mosquito prevention.
Fix Plumbing Issues
Like humans, pests need water and moisture to survive. Plumbing issues can attract pests to your home. Pests such as cockroaches, rodents and flies are attracted to areas with high humidity and moisture, which can occur as a result of plumbing issues. Besides, leaking pipes can also lead to standing water that can attract mosquitoes to breed. In addition, damp areas create an ideal environment favourable for mould growth, which can result in a booklice (also known as psocids) or barklice infestation.
To prevent pests from being attracted to your home, it is necessary to inspect and maintain the plumbing system regularly. This includes fixing leaks and clogs as soon as they are detected.
Install Insect Screens
Pests can enter through any openings. Besides sealing the usual gaps, homeowners should consider installing insect screens to prevent flying insects including flies and mosquitoes. These insect screens are made of fine mesh and they work by blocking pests from entering while allowing ventilation and without affecting the decor and design of your home.
In addition to keeping out flying insects, insect screens also help reduce the amount of dust and outdoor debris from entering your home. They provide an effective and affordable way to improve air quality and a more comfortable pest-free living environment.
Use Anti-Insect Floor Traps
Pests including cockroaches and flies can be attracted to the organic matter in drains and floor traps. Noticing a large amount of these pests around the floor traps in the kitchen or washrooms may spell an infestation.
Homeowners can use anti-insect floor traps to act as a barrier to block out pests without affecting water flow. Besides aiding in pest prevention, there are several benefits of using an anti-insect floor trap. They include:
Prevent odour and foul smell
Prevent mosquito breeding
Stops hair and dirt from entering the main drain, hence reduce choke
Maintain the Yard
Establishing regular maintenance for the yard is crucial in preventing pests such as mosquitoes and rodents. Water collected from rain should be disposed of frequently to inhibit mosquito breeding.
In addition, homeowners should check lawn areas for burrows. This is because rodents use these holes and tunnels to live, breed and raise their offspring. Burrows are usually complex with multiple entrances, which are used by rodents for foraging and travelling. Burrows with active rodent infestations should be treated with rodenticide until signs of rodent activities cease. These holes should be sealed and covered thereafter to prevent future rodent infestations.
Conduct Regular Pest Inspection
Pest inspections are essential for protecting your home and family from the damages caused by pests and the diseases they bring. A pest inspection conducted by a pest control professional helps pick up any early signs of pest infestations and allows you to address any pest problem quickly and effectively. In addition, the pest control experts are able to identify potential entry points and other conditions that are attractive to pests. By addressing these issues, it helps ensure that your home remains pest-free.
Professional Pest Control and Pest Inspection
At Bingo Pest, we offer high-quality and safe pest control services to keep your property safe from pests. We firmly believe in providing cost-effective and affordable pest control solutions to get rid of pests on your property. We provide professional pest inspections along with recommendations to help homes and businesses resolve any pest issues. Contact us today to discuss any pest concerns you may have. Call us at 6517 9989 or fill up an online form here.
