15 Ways to keep bugs away from your home! Wheeler’s Pest Control

15 Ways to keep bugs away from your home!
How to Keep (Most) Insects and Spiders from Coming Indoors

Like it or not, it's really impossible to completely bug proof your home. Some insects are going to find a way into your house. But your goal should be to make it hard for them to get in! If you invest a little time in your home maintenance and housekeeping, you will greatly reduce your chances of a major pest control problems.
When trying to bug proof your home, you need to do two basic things:

Prevent insects and spiders from getting inside  and eliminate bug habitat in your house. Your goals are to keep as many bugs out as possible, and to make your house inhospitable to those few that find their way in.
1. Install and maintain screens on all doors and windows.
If you don't have screen doors on your home, install them. Repair or replace any torn or damaged window screens. Use fine mesh screening to prevent all but the tiniest insects from entering your home.
2. Seal around all doors.
If air and light can pass through, bugs can get in. Install tight-fitting weather strips around top and sides of exterior doors and sweeps to the bottoms of exterior doors.
Use door seals to fill the gap around the sides and top of each door, too.
3. Seal cracks in your home's foundation, exterior walls, and fascia boards.
Any crack in the exterior walls of your home is a highway and welcome sign to insects. Get a couple of tubes of caulk and inspect your home from top to bottom. Seal any cracks you find.
4. Seal around all utility lines and appliance vents.
Insects may enter your home through tiny gaps around your dryer vent, gas line, water lines or even telephone line. Caulk around the crevices on the outside of your home. Then check where those lines are inside of the building and caulk on those entry points
5. Install heavy screen mesh on attic vents below your eves, lower vents found around the base of your home and crawl spaces that lead under your home.
Raccoons, squirrels, rats, mice, and even birds may make themselves at home in crawl spaces and attics if you don't install barriers to keep them out. These animals carry mites, fleas, or other pests that will fall of those critters and infest your home.
6. Eliminate moisture by fixing leaks, keeping moisture away from the foundation of your home.
Insects require a certain amount of humidity to survive. Any source of moisture can attract them. Fix any plumbing leaks, however minor, promptly. Even condensation on pipes can drip and create places for bugs to live. Make sure your sprinklers don’t hit your outside walls. Install a proper drainage system that carries water away from your foundation, and run dehumidifiers if needed.
7. Keep a tidy kitchen.
Where there's the littles amounts of food and water, bugs will happily make themselves at home. Do all you can to keep your kitchen clean? Wipe up crumbs, sweep or vacuum the floor, and clean up spills right away. Don't leave dishes in the sink overnight. Clean out the toaster and microwave regularly. Scrub down your stovetop every day. Throw away food scraps and packages. I found that if you can find an all-purpose enzyme cleaner that has peppermint in it, it will clean better and repels all types of bugs.
8. Keep food sealed up tight in plastic containers.
If you have a kitchen pest problem, you'll need to take these steps to eliminate food sources for. Cereals, grains, rice, and other pantry items must be stored in air tight containers.
9. No clutter.
Insects need places to hide and nest, a cluttered home is a bug's paradise. Get rid of unneeded boxes and newspapers promptly. Keep laundry in clothes hampers. Keep your floor clear of belongings, and put things away after you use them.
10. Clean up after your pets.
Bugs like pet food, and flies and others like pet waste. Clean your pet's food dishes regularly, and don't leave extra pet food out. Store all dry pet food in air tight containers. Scoop and clean your cat's litter box daily and wash your pet's bed or favorite blanket regularly and dry with the highest heat possible.
11. Take the garbage out frequently.
Bugs have an acute since of smell. If you can smell it it's going to attract bugs. In fact, insects are much more sensitive to odors than we are, so even if you can't smell it, it may attract bugs. If you're really worried about insect pests in your home, empty your garbage often. Line your cans with plastic garbage bags, and tie them tight before you take the bags out for pick-up.
12. Rinse your recyclables thoroughly.
Your recycling can is a smorgasbord for bugs. Soda cans, beer bottles, and pet food cans will all attract insects if they aren't rinsed out thoroughly.
13. Scrub your trash bins with bleach.
Even garbage in plastic bags will leak smells and may break and release sticky substances, there's bound to be a spill or torn bag now and then. Clean out all of your trash bins to eliminate smells and sticky substances that will attract flies and ants. Weekly is best and use a solution of bleach to clean them out. Also, keep them as far away from your house as possible.
14. Clean up your yard.
Debris like mulch, leaf litter, and garden will provide moisture and a harborage for insects. Keep mulch away from your home's foundation, and clean up any accumulated organic matter. Mow your lawn regularly, and keep it short near your house. Pull annuals out at the end of the growing season, and trim back perennials as appropriate in the fall.
15. Prune trees and shrubs.
Trees and shrubs that come in contact with your home function as highways for insects of all types. Keep your tree branches pruned so they don't rest on your roof or touch your walls. Prune shrubs away from windows outside walls and doors.

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