Keep Insects and Pests Out Without Using
Chemicals
By T. Taylor
Keeping insects and other pests
out of your home can sometimes be a chore. In the warm months
of the year, pests are so persistent. They just keep coming back.
Well, just follow these guidelines,
and you will probably keep at least 90 percent of them out. Even
spraying chemicals will not keep all of them away. But this is
a pretty simple procedure. It's what I do at my home, and it usually
works.
Pests come in from outside
First of all, most pests come from the outside. I've said that
before but I'm saying it again: Most pests come from the outside,
whether it be roaches, ants, spiders, crickets, rats or mice,
etc.
Unless you bring pests home from the grocery store (weevils, flour
beetles, Indian meal moths) or someone else brings them into your
home when they are visiting (German roaches), a surefire way to
stop them is on the outside first.
It’s really a simple procedure,
but you will need a few things first. Pick up some caulk at your
local hardware store or home center. You may also need some of
that thin sheet metal and some sheet metal cutters. All of the
items are very inexpensive -- a lot cheaper than hiring a professional
or buying chemicals yourself.
Take a walk around the outside
of your home. Check all around your windows and doors for entry
points. See all those cracks and crevices? Take the caulk and
caulk around all of your windows and doors and any other place
you think that insects may be entering. It doesn't take a very
large space for a tiny insect to enter. Even if you think the
crack is too small, caulk it anyway.
Those weep holes in your brick
-- don't seal them. Just find some fine mesh screen or maybe steel
wool and stuff it in the weep holes.
Keep all shrubs and trees from
touching your home. Trim all hedges and shrubs away from your
home by about a foot or more.
On to bigger pests
Now take a look around the outside of your home for places you
may think rats or mice may be entering. It doesn't take but a
quarter of an inch for a mouse or half an inch for a rat to enter.
Check around the air conditioning
unit. See where the lines enter your home? There is usually a
small space that is not sealed. Try using some steel wool or some
sheet metal cut the right size to seal this. Don't use that spray-on
foam that expands. Rats can chew right through this.
If you are able to, climb up on
the roof. Check for places rats can enter. A rat can climb straight
up a brick wall or come from a tree and get on your roof. Check
around where the sofits may meet, or where one roof meets another
or one section meets another section. There is usually a small
space where rats may enter. Seal these areas with sheet metal
or steel wool. No matter how many traps you put in your attic
and how many rats you catch, if you don't seal these areas, more
rats will enter.
Those twirling vents on your roof
that are turned by the wind are entry places for rats. You don't
have to remove them. Just go into your attic and place some screen
across the bottom of the vents. You can use staples or nails.
Move inside
Now let’s start on the inside. Just like for the outside,
use caulk around all doors and windows on the inside. Small spiders
can enter around windows. Check under the window seal and seal
this with caulk.
Now check under all sinks. See
where the pipes come through? There is usually a space around
the pipes where mice, rats, spiders, roaches and other insects
can enter. Seal these spaces with steel wool or sheet metal.
Just a little caulk, sheet metal,
screen and steel wool, and you will have insect- and rodent-proofed
your home -- and without chemicals. The best defense is exclusion!
© T. Taylor
T. Taylor has been
in the pest control industry for 11 years and has treated many
homes for insects and other pests. To find out more, subscribe
to his newsletter and receive a free insect identification guide:
http://www.infobreaks.com.
