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Is Your Home on the Bug Invasion List?

Prevention is crucial for effective pest control

No structure is immune to determined pests. Bugs have invaded five-star hotels, office towers, movie theaters and just about every other type of building, but certain homes are particularly prone to infestation. Make sure your house or apartment doesn’t have too many of these pest-friendly attributes:

1. Damaged or missing screens: Insects can squeeze through very small holes in screens on your windows or attic vents. Sadly, it may only take one bug to infest the entire home. Use tape or hot glue to patch holes until you replace a screen.

2. Unsealed gaps and cracks: Bugs constantly explore your home’s exterior surfaces. They’ll take advantage of any tiny gaps around the gas lines, utility wires, doors or windows. Some insects also enter houses by crawling through cracks in foundation walls.

3. Poorly sealed units: Cockroaches, bedbugs or fleas might infest an entire apartment or condo building if they can easily travel from one unit to the next. You may prevent this with the help of caulk or spray foam. Be sure to fill gaps around ceilings, wires and water pipes.

4. Rotten or damaged wood: Carpenter ants and termites prefer homes with decaying wood surfaces. Termites actually find rotten wood more nutritious and tasty. Broken siding panels, leaky sinks or clogged gutters can create this problem.

5. Contact with organic matter: Some insects can’t survive exposure to dry, hot conditions. They only reach buildings by crawling across moist plants and soil. If dirt, trees or bushes directly touch your home’s wooden surfaces, it faces a much greater risk of infestation.

6. Sheltered outdoor areas: Bees typically construct their nests in places that protect them from the rain and wind. They often choose large trees, porches or eaves. These insects may sting you or enter your house if a desirable nesting site is near a doorway.

7. Easy access to food: Pests prefer to inhabit homes that provide them with plentiful meals. Paper bags of sugar in the pantry, a smelly dumpster and bright outdoor lights each attract different bugs. When possible, try to seal or freeze anything that an insect might eat.

8. Nearby standing water: Mosquitoes can breed in puddles, ponds, abandoned swimming pools and similar places. Other unwanted insects may survive by drinking this water. Keep in mind that indoor condensation and leaks also aid moisture-dependent pests.

Although some of these problems are difficult or impossible to address, you can correct many of them at little expense. If you need help to prevent or eliminate a bug infestation, please contact the pest control professionals at ABC Home & Commercial Services. You can also schedule a free consultation with our Bryan-College Station office online.

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