
Here are some quick and easy bug and pest control tips to follow to help keep your home pest free!
- Seal and caulk cracks around windows, doors, siding, chimneys, and other small openings to prevent stink bugs and other uninvited guests from getting into your home.
- Store firewood at least 20 feet away from your home and 5 inches off the ground to keep spiders, stink bugs, termites, and other insects out.
- Keep your lawn mowed and well groomed. Long grass is welcoming shelter for rodents and insects.
- Replacing outdoor lights with sodium light bulbs lowers the attraction of night flying insects and keeps spiders away
- If you have cockroaches, try sprinkling powdered boric acid around the walls, behind cupboards or wherever else they may come in.
- When traveling, always check the room for bedbugs before staying. Lift the mattress and check the seam edging and underside of the frame for bugs or brownish spots.
- Keep wooden fencing at least 2 ft away from your home’s foundation to help prevent termites from having access to the house.
- Check around baseboards and inside cabinets for cracks and crevices where mice and other pests could hide, and fill holes accordingly.
- You should always re-check luggage and clothing for bedbugs before bringing it back into your house after a trip or stay at a hotel.
- If you’re storing birdseed in your home or shed, keep it in a sealed metal container. Mice can gnaw through plastic and eat seeds.
- False indigo, lavender, elderberry, basil, and mint are said to help repel flies.
- Common places where bugs get in the house are small cracks around pipes. These are just large enough for mice to squeeze through as well. Try blocking these holes with steel wool to prevent any uninvited guests.
- To avoid dust mites, vacuum mattresses and pillows regularly.
If dust mites particularly irritate your allergies, you can get a zippered cover for your mattress.
Make sure you know what a bedbug looks like and how to check for bedbugs when you go on vacation or stay at a hotel.