TIPS to keep unwanted PESTS from INVADING your house
TIPS to keep unwanted PESTS from INVADING your house
Reduce access through vents.
One of the best ways to prevent pest problems indoors is to exclude them from your home. Provide crawl space with heavy-duty galvanized hardware cloth screens. For crawl space vents, use quarter-inch mesh screens.
You may wonder “Why use screening? Why not just board up the openings?” Boarding up is okay in some situations, but never board up or seal openings which are intended for ventilation. In periods of extreme cold, vents may be temporarily covered to prevent pipes from freezing, but the covers should be removed promptly when it warms up.
Address openings around your home.
Gaps around pipe entrances, cables or other openings can be sealed with boards or steel wool combined with an adhesive. Aerosol foam insulation can be used to keep out bugs, but rats and mice are easily able to chew through it.
Check seals around entry and garage doors.
Entry doors and garage doors should have tight fitting weather seals and fit properly. Insects and spiders can pass through a one-eighth-inch or less gap, mice a quarter-inch gap, and rats a half-inch gap.
These are just a few ways which you can help to keep pests outside. A “pest-proofed” home or business will have fewer pest problems, but even if you were to build a fortress, lock the doors and never leave, some pests still eventually get in. This is why it is important to have regular pest management visits in addition to pest exclusion tactics.
