3 Reasons Why Your Home Is Overrun With Pests
None of us want to live in a home that is overrun with pests. But sometimes those little critters manage to get into our homes and make our lives a misery. We can’t have guests to stay, just in case they see the mouse droppings. We can’t sleep at night because the walls are alive with the sound of rats scurrying food to their young. And we worry all the time that our kids will pick up some awful disease.
The problem in the US got worse since the housing crisis of 2008/2009. When the number of foreclosures soared, many people just abandoned their homes. After all, what was the point in cleaning the place up if you no longer owned it? Soon the pests moved in and started creating havoc for the new owners. What was worse, many houses didn’t see new owners for months. And in cities, like Detroit, it was more like years. During this time, vermin got a foothold and became a problem in many towns and cities.
There are hundreds of different types of rodents. But the most common are termites, ants in the summer, and rodent infestations. And it’s something that affects millions of Americans every year. Most people don’t know how it happens or what causes it. But usually, it’s down to one of three things. Let’s have a look at what they are.
You Don’t Clean Up
There are only a couple of reasons why an animal would want to come and live in your home. The first is that they are looking for a safe place to live and bring up their young. We’ll come to this later. The second is that you home has become a place that they can find food.
If we’re honest, most of us don’t clean up our eating and food storage areas religiously. We certainly don’t bother to clean up every last scrap of food. But not doing this is precisely why so many people end up calling in rat control. Animals love a free lunch. They’re even willing to risk their lives to get it. And one of the best places to get a free lunch is from crumbs stuck in the carpet.
The worst thing you can do, if you want to keep critters out of your home, is to leave food lying around. To protect yourself against infestations, clean your home regularly.
You’re Not Keeping An Eye On The Kitchen
The first place that animals like to target is the kitchen. The kitchen is a source of food, and so this is the area you need to watch closely. It’s here that you’re most likely to see the first signs of an animal infestations. Look out for droppings on the floors and along the countertops. And keep an eye out for telltale signs of insect infestation, like winged ants and termites.
Many people are just as relaxed about cleaning their kitchens as they are the rest of their houses. But if you want to keep the pests away, your best line of defense is to keep food out of the reach of animals.
This means sweeping up crumbs from countertops and inside your pantry. It means storing food in plastic containers and jars that critters can’t chew through. It also means not leaving food out bedrooms and binning waste food as quickly as possible.
You’ve Not Established A Perimeter
Aside from food, the other main reason animals move into your home is because they’re looking for shelter. Animals don’t know that your house is yours. They just see it as an easy way to get out of the cold and the rain into somewhere warm, dark and away from predators.
This means that homeowners have to be on top of their perimeters. If there’s a way in, animals will find it. So it’s worth checking your home over to see if there are any obvious points of entry. If you’ve had an infestation before, critters are getting access from somewhere. The question is – where?
One of the most common routes into your home is through cracks in windows or gaps under doors. You’d be surprised just how easily creatures can squeeze through these gaps and gain access to your home. The best way to address this is to plug gaps, either by using caulking, or changing exterior doors. The latter is, of course, a lot more expensive.
Critters may also be finding their way into your home through the roof. So check that there’re no signs of vermin chewing through the insulation in your loft.