We think of our homes as our safe havens, the place where no harm can come to us. But too often, our homes can be the source of disease, exposure to harmful pollutants, and other dangers. Insects, rodents, and other pests are a primary source of contagions in our homes, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains:
- Asthma attacks are often triggered by exposure to dust mites, cockroaches, and rodents.
- In addition to causing serious damage to homes with their constant gnawing, rodents contaminate human food sources and spread a range of potentially life-threatening diseases, including plague, murine typhus, leptospirosis, and rat-bite fever.
- Cockroaches carry diseases such as Salmonella typhimurium, Entamoeba histolytica, and the Poliomyelitis virus.
For restaurants, hotels, and many other businesses, a pest infestation can be disastrous. These establishments face the threat of being shut down at a moment’s notice by health inspectors who discover a serious outbreak of cockroaches, bed bugs, or other disease-carrying pests. The presence of pests can also damage the business’s reputation.
Don’t wait for the arrival of trouble on four, six, or eight tiny legs. Your family’s comfort and safety, and your business’s good name, depend on stopping these intruders in their tracks before they can establish a foothold on your premises. Follow these pest prevention tips to avoid potential major problems in your home or place of business.
Pest Prevention Tips for Inside Your Home or Business
You may not think you’re inviting bugs, rodents, and other pests into your residence or business, but making potential intruders feel unwelcome requires eliminating their preferred foods and entry points. These pest prevention tips will go a long way toward keeping your home or business pest-free.
- Eliminate food sources: Cockroaches and rodents feast on garbage and any traces of food they find in the open. Punch their meal ticket for good by keeping food preparation areas clean, storing food in sealed containers, and using garbage receptacles that are durable and have secure lids.
- Keep your home or business clean: Ensure shelving and floors are free of food particles. Regularly wash appliance surfaces and vacuum furniture to remove crumbs and food spills. Plug any water leaks from plumbing fixtures, drains, and sink traps.
- Keep the wood in your house or business establishment dry: Subterranean termites, which are common in Southern Florida, are attracted to moist wood. To prevent them from invading your premises, make sure no wooden portion of the structure is in direct contact with the ground. Prevent moisture from accumulating in and around the foundation, and don’t let humidity build up in crawl spaces.
- Identify and plug up any potential entry points: Rodents can squeeze through cracks in walls and foundations as small as a half-inch wide. They also gain access through plumbing and roof vents, bathroom exhaust vents, sewer lines, and chimneys. Flying and crawling bugs get in through holes in screens, open windows and doors, and heating and plumbing lines that run through outside walls.
Eliminate the Pest Magnets Outside Your Home or Business
Pests are always on the lookout for any opportunity to establish a new colony. Certain conditions outside your home or business may be the pest equivalent of a bright, blinking “Vacancy” sign. Apply these pest prevention tips around your premises to send potential invaders a clear “do not disturb” message.
- Install door sweeps: These strips attach to the bottom of exterior doors to prevent bugs, rodents, and other pests from entering by crawling through the crack between the door and the floor.
- Keep a tight lid on all outdoor receptacles: Even an “empty” garbage can, or yard waste bin can be a smorgasbord for many different pests. Always secure lids to the receptacles, keep barbecues covered, seal pet food, water dispensers, and any other containers used to store food and water outdoors.
- Maintain a greenery-free perimeter: Plants and bushes should be trimmed so there’s a good-size gap between exterior walls and any flora. Termites, roaches, and other insects can use the plants as ladders to reach access points into the building. Mosquitoes often take refuge from the heat in bushes, and once it cools down, they start looking for people to feed on.
- Keep your lawn and yard neat: Grass should be kept short, especially during Southern Florida’s mosquito season. Eliminate any sources of standing water which serve as ideal mosquito breeding grounds. Water may collect in clogged rain gutters, tire swings, birdbaths, and irregular patio and driveway surfaces.
A Pest Prevention Plan Designed for Your Home or Business
Since no two homes or businesses in Southern Florida are identical, you need more than a cookie-cutter approach to pest control. Preventing pests requires a year-round regimen explicitly designed to meet the needs of your situation.
Getting Started With Nozzle Nolen
Pest prevention for businesses and homes begins with a thorough inspection of the premises by a trained and certified pest control specialist such as the pros at Nozzle Nolen. With the company’s 365 Complete Home Protection Plan, any existing pest problems are addressed, follow-ups are made whenever necessary, and quarterly maintenance visits help keep your home pest-free.
Nozzle Nolen has provided expert pest control services to homes and businesses in South Florida for more than 70 years. We hope that you found these pest prevention tips and tricks helpful, but if you don’t want the hassle of dealing with an infestation yourself, and want professional assistance, give us a call at 800.226.68536 or Contact Us. We look forward to serving you.
