How To Pest Proof Your Home | Advice From An Expert

January 31, 2019February 28, 2020

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I like to keep my house pest-free year-round. But I’m not ashamed to admit, this was not always the case. Before I learned how to pest-proof my home, I shared my living spaces with ants, spiders, roaches, fleas, ticks, and other common household pests.

Not by choice.

I didn’t know how to keep pests out of my house. It didn’t take me long to notice outside pests would rush to get inside my house when the weather changed.

Pests are just like you and me. They need food, water, shelter and they will do whatever it takes to survive.

This includes invading and taking up residence in your house when the weather gets too cold or too hot. Pests can be driven inside your home by an act of nature that makes the outside environment unsuitable for them.

Do you want to keep your house pest-free too?

It’s time for you to pest-proof your home if you are frightened or disgusted by the sight of rodents and cockroaches crawling around your house.

11 Effective Ways to Pest Proof Your Home

Let me tell you how to keep ants, cockroaches, mice, squirrels, raccoons, rats, and other pests out of your house when the temperature drops. It’s not as difficult as you would think. The first time around it may take you much more effort, but every year after the first it will become easier and easier to pest-proof your home.

Here are 11 of the cheapest and most effective ways to bug and rodent-proof your house.

1. Pest Proof Your Bedroom

I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want is to wake up to a bug, insect, or rodent crawling over me, biting me, or nibbling on a part of my body. That’s why it’s extra important for you to spend major time pest-proofing the part of your home where you spend your night sleeping.

A few of the most common pests you’ll find in your room include bed bugs, dust mites, and fleas. You might even encounter cockroaches and ants if you are guilty of eating in your room.

To keep your room pest-free just do the following.

Don’t eat in your room
Keep your bedroom clutter-free and vacuumed/sweep
Wash your bedding, curtains, and mattress covers regularly

Cover your bed and pillows with bed bug protectors

2. Pest Proof Your Bathroom

Do you know why ants, cockroaches, flies, and silverfish are attracted to your bathrooms? Come on, try to guess. “Moisture!” The pests hang around your bathroom for moisture. Much like you and me, pests need a constant water source to stay alive. They can go for days without food, but not water.

What you might see as drops of moisture in your bathroom is an abundant drinking source for pests like ants and cockroaches.

It’s not that difficult to keep pets out, you just have to keep your bathroom nice and dry. Here are a few other considerations and actions you can take to keep out bugs and insects.

Fix any plumbing issues or leaks immediately
Use a window or fan to vent steam after hot baths and showers

Use covers to close off shower, tub, and sink drains when not in use

Excessive moisture is not the only issue with pests being in your bathroom. You also have to plug up any holes and crevices they could use to enter your bath from the outside. You should visibly inspect around your cabinets, tub, toilet, shower, and sink basin.

Look for any gap or opening a pest can use to enter your bathroom — we call these entry points. Seal all entry point openings with sealant.

3. Pest Proof Your Kitchen

The smell of food stored in your panty is too much for bugs and rodents to resist. This is especially true if you keep a well-stocked kitchen pantry. If you keep large amounts of food items that are boxed or bagged in commercial packaging you are just asking for your home to be invaded by roaches, rats and other bugs.

Pests love to chew away at bags of sugar, boxes of cereal, and potato chip packages which are their favorites. These food items are smell good and are so easy to get into.

The next logical question is how do you stop pests from chewing through your packages of food?

Read our article on “8 ways to pest-proof your kitchen“.

4. Pest Proof Your Attic

Much like the basement, the attic is another area in your home that can easily be overlooked. For many, the basement is out of sight and out of mind. This, however, does not stop pests from finding their way into your home through the attic.

In an attempt to find food, water, and shelter rodents and wildlife animals such as rats, squirrels, raccoons, birds, and bats will enter your attics and make themselves a home.

To prevent move-ins from happening you’ll need to take a few proactive steps.

Screen off attic and roof vents
Keep your attic clean and free of clutter

Find and seal off all entry points with caulking or wire mesh
Store your things in plastic bins rather than cardboard boxes
Inspect the interior and exterior of the attic every few months and correct issues

Taking these steps and actions will minimize the likelihood of pests getting into your attic.

5. Pest Proof Your Basement

Basements can sometimes be the most overlooked place in the home. This is especially true when the basement is not used on a daily basis. When this is the case, there is potential for the basement to become the ideal location for pests. They will hang out and go unnoticed until they become a major problem for you the homeowner.

Any basement that provides food, water, and shelter will become a magnet for attracting pests. In order to prevent or get rid of basement pest, you must deny then food, water, and shelter.

To keep your basement pest free you must keep it clean and dry; you must also seal off entry points pest would use to get inside.

A few specific tasks you can take include:

Repairing leaky faucets and dripping pipes

Use a dehumidifier to reduce moisture in the basement
Use caulk to seal off all entry points
Eliminate available food sources

Sweep, mop, and vacuum more often

There you have it. Take these activities to keep your basement pest free.

6. Pest Proof Your Pantry

You should store food products like cereals, pet foods, dried fruit, sugar, flour, pasta, beans, cornmeal and other grains in tightly sealed food containers with insect-proof lids.

Here is the reason why.

Your kitchen cabinets, cupboards, and pantry are home to many dry goods and staples you eat on a daily basis. The foods you keep in these areas are subject to be attacked and eaten by pantry pests. The most common pantry pests you have to be on the lookout for include:

Indian Meal Moths

Merchant Grain Betters
Mice and Rats

These pantry pests will easily eat through the boxes and packages you foods come in and help themselves to a quick meal. Anytime this happens the food is now contaminated and something you’ll want to throw out.

Get your foods stored in the proper containers to prevent pests from eating away at your foods.

7. Pest Proof Your Dryer Vents

Some pests will use dryer vents to set up nests or gain access to your home. I have heard of many cases where birds would set up nests and lay eggs in dryer vents. Other animals like rodents can also crawl inside your dryer vent make a nest and even worst travel through the vent and chew their way into your house.

There are several ways you can go about sealing your vents so that they still work properly but prevent pests from entering your home or just setting up nests. You don’t want to be cheap and install some flimsy design that will break or clog you vent up with lint and dirt.

We recommend you install a dryer vent closure instead of just trying to cover the vent hole with wire mesh. Dryer vent closures are easy to install, allows for proper heat exchange & ventilation, and keeps the cold out during the winter. Best of all this devise will help to prevent bugs, birds, and rodents from entering your house.

8. Pest Proof Your Garage

A clean and pest free house can easily be overrun by pests that have moved into your garage and set up home. That’s why it is important that you take proactive measures to keep pests out of your garage, just like you would your home.

Rats, mice, chipmunks, and other rodent pests can do considerable damage to your home starting out in the garage. They will eat, chew, and gnaw on everything in sight and in time make their way into your home to do the same.

We advise everyone to inspect the rubber seal threshold at the bottom of their garage door. This seal wears out after some time and makes it very easy for rodents to squeeze underneath and make their way inside. Replace your garage doors rubber seal threshold every 2-3 years.

Another problem area is the rubber gaskets on either side of the garage door. These to become worn over time. Mice and easily chew through these gaskets without much effort and enter from the outside. We have seen the best results when homeowners install metal flashing at the bottom and sides of all doors leading into the garage.

You should also consider installing a pest control door sweep on any doors that lead into your garage from the outside.

9. Pest Proof Your Crawl Space

Have you stopped to consider that your crawl space may be attracting unwanted pests? Bugs, insects, rodents, and other wildlife animals find your crawl space appealing for a few reasons.

Crawl spaces are warm, damp, provide shelter from the elements, are easy to access and are secluded. Now let’s talk about how you can do you make your crawl space unfavorable for pests.

Here’s how to control and deter pests and rodents in your crawl spaces.

Set and bait traps in your crawl space
If your crawl space is a dirt floor add in a rat slab barrier
Do not store stuff in your crawl space (i.e. food, boxes, etc)

Eliminate water sources
Lower the humidity

10. Pest Proof Your Yard

Don’t let mosquitoes, ants, fleas, ticks, and stinging insects take over your backyard. These pests, bite, sting, and make your life miserable. Keeping your yard pest-free is one of the easiest and most rewarding things you can do.

If you keep your yard properly groomed you will minimize the number of pests that want to live there. Here are a few things you can do to keep your yard well maintained.

Cut grass on a regular basis
Cut down the overgrown brush and weed

Keep the yard free of debris and other yard waste
Scrubs, bushes, and branches trimmed away from the house
Store firewood at least 20 feet away from the house

Keep mulch away from the foundation of your house

11. Pest Proof Your Firewood

Carpenter ants, cockroaches, spiders, and termites are drawn to firewood like moths to a flame. If you keep firewood on your property it is a good idea to take extra precautions to ensure you firewood does not become home to many of the pests you want to keep away from your home.

To control pest around firewood you’ll need to do the following:

Never stack or store firewood indoors
Store your firewood away from your home’s foundation
Stack your firewood off the ground

Keep firewood stored away from trees
Use the oldest firewood first
Keep your firewood covered with a protective tarp

Use only local firewood

By considering and following the advice listed above you will greatly reduce your chances of having pest problems due to improper storage of firewood.

DIY Pest Control Guide