No one likes to have pests in their home. These uninvited guests don’t use your crawl space as a bedroom only, but also as their kitchen, toilet, and breeding ground. While scavenging for food, they destroy everything in their way and that usually includes your wooden construction, your insulation, and anything you have stored down there. Since pests quickly multiply, if the first signs of pest invasion aren’t addressed, you could end up with a huge problem on your hands. For instance, two mice can turn into 200 in less than a year!
Although pests can occupy your home any time of the year, you should keep your eyes open especially during the fall and winter. Temperatures drop during these seasons and pests start looking for warm shelter where they can feed and breed in peace. Winters in South Carolina can be surprisingly harsh and Greenville is no exception. If you are not careful, pests can easily slip under your radar, inhabit your home and cause a lot of damage, especially in your crawl space or your basement.
If you wish to spend a carefree winter season, there are some strategies you can use to make your home less attractive to pests.
4 Simple Ways to Keep Your Home Uninhabitable for Pests
Keeping your home unattractive to pests is not as complicated as it may sound. Just follow these steps and pests won’t be tempted to turn your home into their sanctuary this winter.
Identify All Hotpots
Your home has everything you need to stay comfortable: food, water, and warmth. Unfortunately, these are all things pests need to survive. Add an increased humidity level in your crawl space or basement, and you have an ideal environment for all those nasty creatures. To make sure you don’t have a pest infestation this winter, the first thing you need to do is identify all hotspots. Those are places where pests have everything they need to thrive. A hotspot can be the area around your trash can, your basement or crawl space, your garage, or utility rooms. Check your home for possible hotspots.
Clear Debris
Pests love cluttered places since they provide plenty of hideouts. Therefore, declutter your home and clear up hotspots. Focus on getting rid of organic trash, furniture coverings you don’t use, wooden furniture, or damp cardboard boxes. Whether you have a basement or a crawl space, you might use it for storage. Make sure that this area is as tidy as possible. This way, not only will you minimize the chance of pest infestation, but uncover existing problems.
Reinforce the Perimeter
To cause damage in your home, pests first need to enter it. Therefore, make sure you seal all the potential entryways. There are several ways you can reinforce your perimeter and keep your foundation less accessible. If you have a crawl space, make sure you hire a professional who will seal the vents with vent covers. It has been proven that open vents have more disadvantages than advantages, so you should invest in this regardless of the pest infestation risk.
In addition, make sure you get your crawl space encapsulated. A professionally-installed vapor barrier will not only make it less attractive for pests, but it also will help prevent mold growth.
Finally, contact a local crawl space expert and invest in insulation that is treated to resist termites. Rigid panels are more recommended than soft fiberglass insulation that pests love.
To make sure that it is difficult for pests to enter your home, have your crawl space inspected for cracks and crevices. A specialist will pay special attention to crawl space vents, access points, and utility penetration points and repair any damage they find. Your landscaping also plays an important role in keeping pests out. Trim your bushes and maintain your yard well into the fall, otherwise, pests will use them as a feeding site.
Implement a Sanitation Routine
This sanitation routine is different from standard cleaning. Vacuuming and dusting won’t keep the pests out but removing the residue inside drains will. Also, clean up after every meal and make sure your garbage is sealed properly.
These four steps should help you prevent pest infestation. However, if you have already noticed a weird smell in your crawl space or basement or droppings on the floor, you probably already have uninvited guests in your home. If this is the case, call exterminators to clear the infestations and professionals to repair the damage the infestation has caused.
What Kind of Damage Can Pests Cause?
The volume of damage greatly depends on the type of pest that has invaded your home, as well as the size of the infestation and how long it has been going on.
In most cases, an infestation will lead to damaged wiring, carpet, and upholstery, wood damage, ruined soft furnishings, and really bad odors. Pests can even wreak havoc all over your crawl space or basement. After an infestation, you should contact professionals in your area, and have them determine the level of damage and repair it.
Apart from affecting your home, infestations also affect your health. This is why it is important to address this problem as soon as it comes up.
When to Call for Help
If you have removed pests from your home and you want to fix the damage they’ve caused or if you want to be preventative and make your home less prone to pest invasion, it is best to call in the professionals. Contact experts at Mount Valley Foundation Services and schedule a free inspection and quote. An inspector will take a look at your foundation and screen it for all kinds of problems and provide you with a written quote that features their suggested repairs and their price.
