Who else wants to prevent pests from entering their homes?

What if you could keep pests out of your home without having to use harmful chemicals like insecticides and pesticides. This type of pest prevention is better for the environment, you, and your family.

If you’re looking for another way to control or prevent pest infestations, we can show you a better and safer way.

Nobody wants to live with pests.

So, how do you prevent pests from entering your home? The simplest and easiest way to keep pests out is to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to pest prevention. It’s easier to keep pests out than drive them away after they get inside your house.

You need to be PROACTIVE.

Don’t sit around and wait for a pest to become a problem. We recommend you pest-proof your home from the outside in. This will make your home less attractive to bugs, insects, rodents and other wildlife animals.

17 Tips to Prevent Pests From Getting Into Your Home

1. Repair Water Leaks and Broken Pipes

Water provides nourishment to bugs, insects, and rodents especially during the summertime when conditions are hot, humid, and dry outside. It is important that you visually inspect the exterior of your home looking for any leaks or faulty plumbing.

Check your outside water faucets and sprinkler systems for standing water or moist spots and repair any leaks that you find.

This is the best way to prevent pests from using your house as their number one water source.

2. Keep Trees and Bushes Trimmed

It’s important for you to keep bushes, shrubbery, and tree branches trimmed, pruned, and away from your house. Taking these steps will prevent pests from establishing nests, climbing onto your roof to access your home, and stop the spread of infestations caused by birds, insects, and rodents.

3. Replace Bright White Light Bulbs

Many homeowners keep outside lights on at night to deter burglars. However, these same lights will attract insects and bugs. Bugs and insects that are attracted to light can be very pesky and bothersome to you and your guests when you are sitting outside trying to enjoy the nightlife.

Replace your white light bulbs with yellow lights or sodium vapor bulbs to attract fewer night bugs and insects.

4. Store Firewood Away From The House

It can be a costly mistake to store your firewood close to the house. Firewood stored to close to the house is a magnet for all types of pests like termites, carpenter ants, roaches, and spiders. They can eventually get into your house and cause damage.

It’s best to store your firewood at least 20 feet away from your home’s foundation, other surrounding homes, and wood structures.

5. Maintain Your Yard

A well-maintained yard looks good, makes you the envy of all neighbors, and also helps to prevent pests. As part of your pest prevention strategy, you should keep your grass cut, leaves raked, weeds pulled, and yard free of debris.

6. Keep Your Garage Closed

Unless entering or leaving, always keep your garage closed

On any given day as I drive through my small neighborhood of 30 houses, I can see at least 2 or 3 garages are open. Ironically these are the same neighbors that complain about pests.

It’s never a good idea for you to keep your garage door open for extended periods. By doing so you are provided pests an open invitation to enter your home.

7. Clean Up After Your Pets

It’s not a good idea to let your dog’s waste decompose naturally in the backyard as so many homeowners do. You must clean up your pet’s poop because insects and other pests are attracted to it.

Dog poop left unattended to attracts plenty of unwelcome guests. Fleas, ticks, and flies lay eggs in pet feces. This creates more fleas, ticks, and flies for you and your neighbors to have to deal with.

Other animals like rats, mice, and beetles are also attracted to pet waste. Cleaning up your pet’s poop will go a long way to preventing pests.

8. Properly Seal All Windows and Doors

Much like you and I, pests use windows and doors too. So if your doors and windows are not properly sealed it will be much easier for pests to get inside your home whenever they want.

If you live in an older home or a home that needs a little more TLC, you need to ensure your windows and doors are protected with weather stripping. Also, ensure that your windows have tight-fitted screens. If your screens need patchwork, take care of that too.

Taking these actions will increase your chances of having a pest-free home.

9. Guard Your Dryer Vents

If given the opportunity wildlife and nuisance animals like birds, bats, chipmunks, mice, squirrels, and rats will enter your home through your dryer vent.

I know you might be thinking this opening is way too small and with all the heat coming out of there animals would not dare enter. But this is not the case, get your dry vent protected by installing a dryer vent closure.

10. Keep Your Crawl Spaces Clear Of Pests

Several types of houses feature crawl spaces including…

• doublewide manufactured homes
• modular homes
• trailer homes
• older homes

If you live in any of these styles of homes, it’s likely you have a crawl space that could be or is already the home to the very pests you’re trying to keep out.

A diverse range of pests could be living in your crawl space including rats, cockroaches, mice, crickets, termites, carpenter ants and a whole host of other insects, bugs, and wildlife.

If any of these pests get into your crawl space and underneath your house they could wreak all kinds of havoc. Therefore you should take preventive measures to keep them out. If they have already moved in you will have to clear them out.

11. Protect Your Chimney

Is your chimney protected by a cap or screen? If not there’s nothing to stop wildlife from sneaking into your home through the chimney. If you want to prevent birds, bats, squirrels, raccoons, and rodents from getting in, get a chimney cap or screen installed asap.

12. Clean Up Around Fruit Trees

I live in Florida and many of my neighbors who have pest problems have one thing in common. They all have fruit trees and they leave rotting fruit on the ground. This is not a good idea.

Rotting fruit attracts many unwanted pests like fruit flies, ants, and rodents. Really any bug, insect, or rodent looking for any easy meal would be attracted to rotting fruit.

So pick up that fruit before is spoils and attracts those unwanted pests.

13. Reduce Outside Moisture

Pests need moisture in order to survive. Even the smallest pool of water or a leaky pipe can attract pests. Therefore you want to control water that is made available outside of your home.

How do you control moisture?

Repair all leaky faucets, garden hoses, and pipes. Get rid of standing water sources. Remove items in the yard that are collected water such as tires, buckets, toys, etc.

You want to keep your gutter clean and debris free so that rainwater flows properly away from your home.

These are all important steps you can take to control moisture and eliminate the water supply that pest needs so much to survive and reproduce.

14. Seal Cracks Around Doors & Windows

Roaches, ants, and other small bugs and insects can squeeze through the tiniest of openings. You should do a comprehensive walk around to examine the exterior of your house.

Look for little cracks and crevices that can be used to gain entrance into your home. With caulking gun in hand, you can seal up these little holes to prevent pests from getting in.

15. Check Your Sprinkler Irrigation System

It’s important that your sprinkler system is leak-free and working properly. Your sprinkles should be pointed away from the house and leak-free.

You should visually inspect your property after the sprinklers turn off. Pay close attention to the conditions around the foundation of your home.

There should be no water puddles next to your home, as these become a water source and attract bugs, insects, and rodents right up to your house.

If you notice any problems, just adjust your sprinkler heads so this is not a problem. If an adjustment doesn’t work you might have to replace the worn-out head with a new one.

16. Pest Proof Air Conditioning Unit

You want to prevent the outdoor pest from nesting in your A/C unit and also damaging your wiring. The most problematic issue with A/C units is when puddles of water form around them.

Insects, rodents, and bugs can live off the water supply that is generated by your air conditioning unit. Therefore you want to take steps to ensure that water flows away from your house and a/c unit.

Just speak with an HVAC specialist, if you are concerned about excess water buildup around your air conditioning unit. They can install extra piping so the water flows safely away from your home.

At a minimum, your A/C’s drip line should be 2 feet away from your home’s foundation.

17.  Store Recyclable Items Outside

Recycling is good for the environment. However if not done correctly, it can create pest problems. If you are serious about controlling pest you will have to take a few extra steps before throwing your recycled items in the bin.

1. Rinse out all food and drink containers before placing them in the bin
2. Keep your recycling container  covered at all times
3. Rinse your bins out with soapy water after they have been emptied each week

If you recycle responsibly by taking these steps you will not have to worry about cockroaches and flies hanging around your home and feeding off your recyclable products.

Why You Need To Keep Pest Out

Bugs, insects, and rodents can be hazardous to your health.

They can carry diseases and can contaminate your food, causing you and your family to get sick. Their droppings can affect asthma sufferers making it harder for them to breathe and make allergy symptoms worse.

They can cause all sorts of damage to your home as well.

For these reasons, it’s important that you have a proactive plan to keep pests away from your home.