Do It Yourself Pest Control Tips

BIG BENEFITS OF HOME PEST CONTROL

Until you’re faced with dealing with pests where you live, home pest control might not be something you think much about. But there are so many benefits to staying on top of pest control in your home. Not only is dealing with them once they’re in your home is important, but so is taking preventative measures to ensure they don’t get into your home in the first place.

Before we discuss how to keep your home pest-free, let’s talk about the benefits of protecting your home against pests.

Your home will be a more peaceful, comfortable place

You’ll protect/maintain your home’s value

You can avoid embarrassing situations with guests

Keeping your food safe and free of contaminants

ENJOY YOUR HOME

When your home is pest-free, you’ll feel more comfortable, safe, and happy. Knowing there are pests like rats, mice, ants, or bed bugs in and around your home makes it hard to relax. The idea that a pest could be lurking anywhere at any time is enough to make anyone want to move! But with pest control services and techniques, your home can be the enjoyable, pest-free environment it should be.

PROTECT YOUR HOME

When you work with the best pest control company to ensure your home is pest-free, protecting it from structural damage and other property damage is a significant benefit.

Not only are pests unsightly and annoying, but they can also cause permanent and expensive damage to your home and your belongings. Pests like rats, silverfish, and termites are common culprits of costly damage to your home — including structural damage. Once pest damage happens in your home, it can quickly reduce your home’s value. If pests damage pricey items like couches and other furniture, this is an added expense many homeowners don’t want to deal with.

How to do a General Pest Control Treatment

The first thing we need to do with any general pest control treatment is inspect the structure. You’re looking for openings or areas that are damaged or missing, where crawling pests could enter. Missing or torn window screens, large cracks in the foundation, around doors or window frames, loose or broken weather stripping, and door guards. Missing vent covers and broken soffits. All of these things should be fixed or replaced before doing your barrier treatment to keep pests from making your home their own

For the barrier treatment, you will need an insecticide of your choice. One, one gallon hand pump sprayer, water, long sleeves, safety gloves, long pants and closed toe shoes.

To use the one gallon pump sprayer, screw the hose onto the tank adapter. turn the pump handle counter clockwise to remove the pump so that the tank may be filled. Where gloves when mixing and handling pesticide such as nitrile chemical resistant gloves. Fill the tank one third to one half full of water, shake the insecticide well before opening, then add the recommended amount of insecticide per the label to the sprayer tank. Secure the sprayer pump and gently shake to agitate the tank to begin mixing. Remove the sprayer pump and finish filling the sprayer with water to the one gallon mark. Replace the sprayer pump and tighten securely harborage by turning the handle clockwise.

To pressurize the sprayer, turn the handle a quarter turn counter clockwise to release it. Then, pump until you feel resistance. Push the handle down, turn a quarter turn clockwise to lock in place. Now you’re ready to spray. Re-pump the sprayer as needed during application to maintain pressure. Turn the end of the nozzle to adjust the spray pattern from a pin stream to a wide cone spray

Now we’re ready to spray. Here are the areas to apply the insecticide. Three feet up the foundation and structure and three feet out onto the ground in a continual band. Around door frames and window frames. Around areas where cables, pipes, wires enter into the structure. Around vents and soffits. Behind down spouts and shutters and any other entry points into the home

How Easy DIY Pest Control Can Be

Don’t Call the Exterminator!

Nobody likes to have bugs around the house. Ants, spiders and roaches just have a way of making your skin crawl. Some people like taking the natural approach to ridding themselves of pests. That typically means using things like boric acid, vinegar and diatomaceous earth.

Other people like to use over-the-counter products you can buy at your local supermarket. But sometimes, the situation is a bit out of control and a bottle of Raid won’t do! That’s when you’ve got to use the stuff professionals use to remediate the situation.

The Chemicals

Here’s where you don’t want to skimp. But don’t worry — quality pesticide doesn’t have to break the bank! I use Talstar P. It’s a professional-grade chemical that sells for anywhere from $30 to $65 depending on how much of it you buy.

Talstar is safe for pets after it dries and it’s non-irritating to your skin if you get some on you. Just be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after applying. Or, better yet, wear gloves.

Is Pest Control Treatment Safe for Babies?

When scanning the contents of websites dedicated to “wisdom and moms,” you will eventually encounter questions concerning child-safe pest control treatment. Ants, cockroaches, termites and other disruptive and destructive home invaders cannot be tolerated for long. Yet parents get nervous when thinking about possibly toxic pest management anywhere near the babies, with good reason.

Things Parents Need to Know About Pests and Pest Control

Pesticides can be harmful and children are more susceptible than adults. Your baby’s body and immune system are still developing. Even the fact that babies crawl rather than walk increases the likelihood of exposure to pesticides. And don’t forget how often children may taste contaminated objects, including their own hands. But while there are legitimate concerns about the safety of performing pest control around children, pests also cause safety and health concerns for children.

All pests leave behind fecal matter and shed skin—two organic materials that can affect air quality and trigger allergic reactions in allergy sufferers. Cockroaches, rats, and other home invaders produce allergens that can trigger asthma and allergies. Fleas, flies and mosquitoes can carry germs, diseases, and bacteria that can contaminate food and other surfaces. Rodents pose a serious danger to human health and are linked to potentially serious diseases including salmonella, e. coli, and Lyme disease.

What Are Your Pest Control Options as a Parent?

Many parents wrongly consider pest management mixed with child safety a problem with such limited options as these three, which in actuality can make pest problems worse:

Temporarily get out of the house until after the pest problem is brought under control and the home is considered safe for children.

Apply small-scale DIY pest control via ant baits, roach motels, sticky mousetraps or some other what-have-you pest management solution.

Avoid dealing with the pests until the problems erupt into a full-scale pest invasion that MUST be handled

Is Termite Treatment Safe for Babies?

If you plan to use other termite control options, such as sprays or dusts, we recommend that you speak to your pediatrician first. Do-it-yourself pest control, especially the types that involve chemical aerosols, make it more likely that your children will come into contact with harmful chemicals. Sprays and dusts, leave behind a residue that may be unsafe for babies, for example. Discuss your options with an expert before using these methods, taking any recommended precautions to reduce the risk to your family.

Should I Clean My Home after a Pest Control Treatment?

If your home had been infested with pests like rodents or insects, you know how big of a nightmare it can become. Depending on the severity of the infestation your only choice may be to hire an experienced pest removal professionals. Pests like flies, rats, spiders, and cockroaches can be a tremendous nuisance

Pest Control Pros services can help you eliminate termites, bugs, rats and other creepy-crawlies from your home. However, in order to do that, pest control pros use a variety of strong chemicals. Depending on the products they use, they may leave a lot of strong odors and even be harmful to your pets (a professional company will always let you know if that is something you need to be careful about).

Are There Any Side-Effects to Pest Control Treatments

First things first, many people often ask pest control dangerous for pets or humans Contrary to popular belief, the chemicals aren’t dangerous or extremely poisonous to humans. However, all the chemicals are poisonous to a certain degree. In fact, the majority of these products is not lethal to humans, at least not in the quantity used during pest control treatments.

Do Not Come Back Before You are Told

If the pest control company asked you to leave your home and not come back until a specific time, make sure you respect that time. In this case, the company may have used some products that could be harmful to your family or pets.

If you unintentionally left any food outside before the pest control treatment, make sure to throw everything away. These could be snacks you left on the table, fresh fruit in the bowl or the leftover cake from someone