DIY Pest Control Tips for Homeowners

Every year there are over a dozen types of pests that invade our homes. Even though pests like raccoons or stray cats may not bother us much it’s the smaller critters that enter our homes that cause the most destruction. Below we look at a few simple yet effective ways of getting rid of flying insects, rodents and bedbugs.

Flying insects

The number of flying insects seem to increase every year, while some of these insects can be disease carrying in most cases they are just irritating. The easiest way to get rid of them is to prevent them from entering your home. Repair or add window screens to every window in your home. The insects inside your home can be kept away from you by turning on a light. Most of them should be attracted to the light.

Flies and recluse spiders can be caught using sticky traps. Sticky traps are available at most surplus stores. Just lay the traps down on the wall and the furniture.

Another way to get rid of flies is to get rid of all the stagnant water inside and around your home. If there is a leaking pipe get it fixed, if there is water under your indoor plants’ tray then fix the problem with a drainage system.

Clearing bedbugs

These are extremely difficult to get rid of because they can live 12 months without food. That makes your job a lot difficult because even though you may think that you’ve gotten rid of them the fact is that they’ve just gone underground waiting for things to clear. The best way to make sure that you’ve gotten rid of every bedbug in your home is to seal off all the holes and cracks in your wall and furniture. This will ensure that they have no more places to hide. Then spray kerosene oil on your beds and other places infected by bedbugs. Put your mattress out in the sun for around 8 hours. Continue doing this every two to three months for the entire year. This should clear them out.

Rodent removal

If rodents are your problem and despite grills, nets and electric fences you’re still being bothered then the problem lies with nearby trees. Usually trees near your home with branches touching or entering through the window can be the root of the problem. Rodents are known to climb up trees and enter your home from there. The best thing you can do is to eliminate the braches that touch your home. Then replace all wooden window frame with aluminum ones, these are a lot harder to chew on for rodents. Also make sure to insert steel wool into any hole that is over half an inch wide.

The ant problem

A tried and true method of dealing with ants without spraying chemicals is to mix borax with sugar. The sugar is used to attract the ants while the borax makes them sick. Just sprinkle it around your yard and inside your kitchen.

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