Keeping Your Home Pest Free And Your Family Safe

Posted on: 22 October 2021

To get the most out of your pest control treatment, there are several things you can do at home to make your house less hospitable for pests and make them less likely to return. This preventative treatment will help you get rid of pests already inside your house and make it a less appealing place for others to call home.

Keep Things Clean and Moisture-Free

Since many pests thrive in dark and moist environments, a good way to keep them from hanging around is to make your home as inhospitable as possible. Pests will often look for new sources of shelter once treatments are applied. Now is the time to take care of any water leaks, dry out your basement, and take care of any overdue spring cleaning.

If you aren't sure which places in your home have the most moisture, you can use a moisture meter to help detect moisture levels throughout your home. This is also a good tool to use if you suspect you might have a leak hidden behind your walls. If necessary, you can even use dehumidifiers to dry things out for a few weeks while pest activity is at its highest.

Move Trash Away From Your House

After any pest treatment is applied, you'll likely see more pest activity in the next two weeks rather than less. This is because pest treatments push them out of your walls, ceiling, and attic and force them to move elsewhere. During this time, it's important to make sure they don't find a new home nearby.

To start, move any trash bins away from your home, and use closed containers if you're able to. Next, move away debris and other possible sources of shelter away from the sides of your house. One example of such a shelter is a pile of wood, which is especially important to monitor if your home has been infested with wood-boring pests. This won't be perfect, and pests may still find shelter there, but the goal is to keep them away from your house, which will lessen the chance they'll decide to move back in.

Monitor Pest Activity

Since pest activity will often increase in the few weeks after treatments are applied, a noticeable and immediate increase in pest activity isn't outside the norm, and may actually mean the treatment is working as intended. In fact, using treatments that kill pests too fast can prevent them from spreading insecticide around and taking it back to their nests for more effective treatment.

How long treatment takes can depend on what kind of pests you're treating for and the severity of the infestation. But if you don't see a noticeable difference within a few weeks, treatment may need to be applied again. This, too, is normal because getting rid of some stubborn pests can take several applications. It's important to keep an eye on pest activity in your house so you can update your pest control specialist as necessary.

Contact a pest control service to learn more.