Pest Contol Tips for Winter
Wintertime is the time of the year when insects like to make their way indoors. Your home offers protection from the cold and is a food source. While it may seem like you are at the mercy of sneaky insects, you do have some ability to prevent these pests from gaining entry into your home. Pest control from Sacramento companies can help you mount a good defense this winter.
Inspection Services
Pest control services do more than show up at your home with bug spray. They can provide you with inspection services to help you determine how the insects are getting into your home. Most insects enter your house through the small holes and cracks around your doors and windows. While you may be under the impression that a fissure in one of these areas is too small for an insect to gain access, that simply isn’t the case. Most insects are able to fit through holes the size of pin heads. Sealing these holes with caulk or other sealants can keep them out for good.
Your windows and doors aren’t the only ways that these insects gain entry into your home. If you have a basement, many bugs such as ladybugs and roly polys can get into your house by coming up through your foundation. Specifically, they get in where your walls and floor meet. This is especially common in homes that have walk-outs and where there is a framed wall. The pest control service you hire may suggest caulking and sealing this area, too.
Preventative Treatments
Don’t wait to call for pest control services until you see evidence of an insect invasion. Instead, call your local company and have them come out to apply preventative treatments. These treatments can be applied to the interior as well as the exterior of your home to keep creepy, crawly creatures out. Basically, these treatments act as a force field against insects. They deter them as well as kill on contact. The chemicals that these companies use are generally mild and not harmful to humans or pets, but you will want to make sure you ask before the technician begins applying the treatment. You also want to make sure you find out how long the treatments last and how often they need to be reapplied.
Extermination Services
If your home has been taken over by a swarm of insects, it may be necessary to pull out the big guns or exterminating wands. This type of pest elimination works to eradicate insects from your home in a swift and efficient manner. In some cases, you may need to leave your home for a day or two but most homeowners are not displaced. Typically, termite infestations result in the need to vacate the residence whereas exterminating for spiders, roaches, or other insects is simpler and not as dangerous to your health.
Avoiding Infestations
Caulking and sealing points of access are two ways to prevent infestations, but there are other ways that bugs get in your house. During the winter homeowners may use their fireplaces often. When bringing in wood to heat your wood-burning fireplace, use the wood immediately. Do not let it sit in your home for hours before using it. Insects live in the wood and have no problems leaving the log to search your home.
Wintertime is also a time of traveling, especially around the holidays. When returning from a trip, unpack your suitcase in the laundry room and wash all your clothes immediately. Insects such as lice and bed bugs like to travel in the folds of your clothes and the last thing you want is to have to call pest control in Sacramento to take care of a bed bug infestation.