The Best Ways To Keep Pests Out of Your Home

We’ve all been there. After a long day of work, you’re able to somehow unlock your door while being weighed down by all the grocery bags you managed to carry in one trip, despite the strain on your wrists. You finally find relief once you drop everything from the day on your countertop, then you look down and see black lines marching all over your counters, windows, and through your door. You have ants.

There’s no need to worry, though. It happens to the best of us. A pest issue doesn’t mean you’re lazy or have an unkempt home. It just means you could have missed a few simple methods on how to prevent pests in the home.

There are certainly steps you can take to help prevent ants from ruining your day. However, when it comes to removing ants, and other pests that are already present, we suggest opting for professional pest control services. Home remedy pest removal can be inconsistent, inefficient, and even harmful. Luckily, PURCOR Pest Solutions has the experience, know-how, and skills to help take care of your pest control needs. Just like our technicians, arming yourself with the right knowledge can be the best tool in your arsenal, especially when it comes to preventing pests from getting a foothold in your home.

Advice From a Veteran Pest Technician

To gain some insight on keeping out common pests found in homes, we interviewed one of PURCOR Pest Solutions’ veteran technicians, Eric Boam. With over two decades of experience in the field, Boam has seen just about everything and shares his expertise on pest control.

The number one piece of advice he had to offer: Cleanliness is the best prevention, not just inside, but out. Pests enter the home from the outside so by eliminating incentives for pests to build a nest near your home, you are taking a crucial step to keep bugs out of your house and other pests from making your home theirs.

Common Mistakes People Make

“Lack of understanding is the most common contributor,” explains Boam when talking about common mistakes people make. “Well-watered lawns are like oases for bugs like fungus gnats and ground beetles.” He states people commonly assume aesthetically pleasing equals clean. He encourages grass to be kept well trimmed, between one inch and 1 1/2 inches, and to “back off on watering.” Your yard should not be wet on a constant basis. Additionally, Boam recommends bagging clippings and treating your lawn as further strategies for keeping bugs out of the house.

The most common pest Boam sees in the field is the odorous house ant, also known as tramp ants. He states, “Once they find food and water, they settle.” While eliminating their food and water source might be a near impossible task, especially outside, treating these ants is easy once you have a better understanding of the species. “If you kill the worker ants, their nest feels threatened and the queens and workers spread out to form new colonies.”

This is why having a licensed professional handling your home service is so important. Commonly used pesticides like pyrethroids will cause house ant colonies to bud, splitting one colony into multiple colonies. Technicians like Eric Boam have abundant, specialized knowledge of which products & techniques are best for treatment and which could create even more issues. 

Misidentifying pests is another misstep Boam sees people make. “Many people can mistake rat droppings for mouse droppings.” When this happens, the resident mistakenly believes their mouse-targeted approaches, such as over-the-counter mouse traps, are an effective strategy. An ineffective approach will only allow rats time to propagate further until a proper diagnosis is made and a control strategy can be implemented. Boam states, “Rats are more organized than mice,” so properly identifying them as soon as possible is key.

What Steps Can I Take To Deter Pests?

Boam encourages residents to educate themselves and take some simple steps to mitigate pest issues. In the case of the most destructive pest out there—termites, which cause billions of dollars in damage a year—their wrath can be easily prevented. Boam recommends simply keeping any firewood or other potential termite food as far away from the house or building as possible. You’ll avoid creating a trail to your house with termite rest stops along the way. Eliminating the pests’ food source is one of the principles of prevention Boam adheres to for mitigating pest issues.

Principles of Prevention

Boam uses the analogy of “three legs of a stool” when it comes to pest prevention: food, water, and shelter. “If you break one of those legs, you drastically reduce the carrying capacity for the pests. Look at the environment of your home and see what invites pests.” Things like squirrel and bird feeders provide food, and these can easily be removed if they are inviting unwanted pests.

When it comes to water sources, Boam says. “If water can get in, a bug can get in.” Even if water isn’t coming through an opening, these openings are entrances for bugs that are drawn inside to obtain shelter and then search for potential water sources in your home. Boam explains further how bugs see the light spectrum in ways they use to their advantage to find vulnerabilities in your home, such as looking for water in the summer or warmth in the winter. He recommends using warmer lights outside, not white lights because they mimic the sun to bugs.

What You Can Do If You Have a Pest Problem

Despite your best efforts to mitigate pests, you can still find yourself fighting an uphill battle against them. Calling upon diligent, educated technicians like Eric Boam, who understand the biology of the pests they treat, is a surefire way to approach pest control. It takes years of training to truly, properly identify pests, but this extensive training turns PURCOR technicians into part-time entomologists, part-time chemists, and full-time customer service experts while remaining good stewards of the environment.

Desire and passion are what make PURCOR’s licensed technicians the best in the business. They treat the hows and the whys of pest control. Professionals like Eric Boam study the pests they will be treating prior to going to the site, to be well prepared to take care of your pest problems. This, combined with environmentally responsible Integrated Pest Management methods, is why PURCOR is a reliable, trusted source for pest control.

If you have more questions or want to learn more about certain pests, their habits, and methods of prevention, our pest library is a wealth of information. To learn more about PURCOR’s services or schedule and appointment, contact us, or give us a call at 855-912-2943.