You may be relieved when the weather turns chilly because cold weather reduces some insect pests, such as mosquitoes. However, winter doesn't eliminate pest problems. Instead, more pests try to get into your house for a warm place to live.
When cold weather approaches, you may want to shift your pest control efforts toward exclusion methods that keep bugs and rodents away. Here's why exclusion methods are an important part of pest control and how you go about it.
Why It's Important To Seal Your House Against Pests
Bugs are so tiny that they can get in the smallest gaps in your siding, foundation, around windows, under doors, and along cables and pipes. Even mice and rats can wiggle into much smaller gaps than you might think. Some bugs gather on the side of your house in the fall so the sun keeps them warm. Once bugs are on your house, they're just a short distance from a gap that allows them to get inside your home.
Insects that crawl around your home can attract predators, such as spiders. You may notice more spiders in your home in the winter because they're after bugs hiding inside your house. Rats and mice are a worse threat because they can detect warm air coming from a gap and gnaw at the opening until it's large enough for them to slip through.
Sealing your house involves plugging all holes so bugs and rodents can't get inside, and it also blocks food odors and warm air currents from getting outdoors and attracting pests.
How To Go About Sealing Your House
Call a pest control company for help with exclusion control if you don't want to hunt down all the gaps yourself. A pest control expert knows the likely places to check so nothing is missed. They can apply the caulk or screen themselves or point out areas you need to check if you want to do the work yourself.
If you've always had problems with mice, spiders, roaches, beetles, or other pests during past winters, then start this winter off by sealing your house to see if that makes a difference.
Caulk or expanding foam will keep out insects, but rodents are different. Rats can chew through most materials, so it's best to choose metal for closing gaps. You could put a metal plate over a large gap or stuff metal cloth in a hole. Plug all the holes you see on the outside and inside of your house.
Check under your sinks, along the foundation, and in the attic for places where rodents can enter. If you've had rat or mice problems before, the pests may have gnawed holes in your home that will allow new rodents to enter if you don't plug them.
It's worth the effort to seal your home as it might save you from dealing with a pest infestation over the winter. Keep in mind that insects are so small that it's nearly impossible to keep all of them out.
Plus, rats can always chew new holes through your roof or fascia boards if they're determined to get in, so you should still be on guard for the presence of pests in the winter so you can have them eliminated by a pest control company before you have a full-blown infestation in your home.
To learn more, contact a company that offers pest control services.
Most pest infestations can quickly get out of hand if you do not address them. There is a reason people joke about "breeding like mice." You can go from having two mice in your home to having hundreds in a matter of weeks! When you think there are pests inside your home, you need to take control, and quickly. You take control by calling in a pest control professional. They can use a combination of trapping, poisoning, and cleanup methods to eradicate the pests. Learn more about these methods and about other pest control topics on this website, created to educate people like you about the pest control industry.