The Complete Guide To Effective Pest Control For Your Durham Home

Top Pest Threats For Area Homes

Pest control isn't easy. So, it is critical to understand why it is important – particularly if you plan to do it yourself. Knowing some of the potential threats will help you put things into perspective and equip you to make decisions to guard your health and property. Here are the top pest threats for Durham residents.

Pathogens: Many pests can spread zoonotic pathogens. We're sure you are aware of a few pests that do this, like mosquitoes, ticks, and rodents. But there are some that go under the radar. For instance, few residents realize the threat fleas represent or that bird droppings are a health hazard. Pathogens spread by pests can cause acute and chronic symptoms. They also present a risk for severe symptoms. 

Organisms: Many pests get into unsanitary places and pick up harmful microorganisms, such as salmonella, E. coli, and hookworms. These invisible health threats are spread by the tiniest ants to the largest raccoons. In most cases, contamination leads to minor stomach ailments, but there is a risk of severe symptoms.

Venom: Many pests have the ability to inject venom through stings and bites. Whether you have yellow jackets in your landscaping, paper wasps on your exterior, black widows hiding under your back deck, or fire ants making mounds in your yard, it is essential to get in front of these pest issues. The severity of symptoms correlates with the potency of the venom and the potential for a severe allergic reaction.

Allergies: There are several ways pests may cause illness through allergic reactions. Venom is one. Insect saliva is another. With these two, your body will send histamine to the area of the wound, which will cause itching, rash, and inflammation. But, in some individuals, the response is far worse. Certain pests cause respiratory allergies and present a threat to those who suffer from asthma. Some pests crawl on the skin and cause rashes that look like bug bites.   

Damage: Some pests damage your belongings. Silverfish eat your books. Clothing moths eat fabrics. Cockroaches nibble on wallpaper. But, the worst pests damage your home. Carpenter ants tunnel in wood, and subterranean termites eat it.

We could go on, but you get the idea. It isn't good to have pests around your home, in your walls, in your kitchen, or crawling on your belongings. We recommend rolling up your sleeves and applying steady and consistent DIY home pest control, getting a residential pest control plan, or both.

Pest Infestations Can Happen To Even The Cleanest Homes

There are many ways you can apply DIY methods to keep pests out. In fact, we recommend doing this. A clean home and proper trash management will deter a long list of pests. But you can have trouble with pests even if your home is squeaky clean. All-natural home pest control will only get you part of the way. You have to consider the pests that will cause trouble in clean environments. Why do some pests get into clean homes? There are many reasons. Let's take a look at a few of the most important factors to consider.

• Some pests eat wood. They don't care how clean your home is because they stay inside the wood.
• Some pests eat fresh food. These pantry pests will infest your food items even if your shelves and counters are spotless.
• Some pests don't choose to live in your home. Bed bugs, certain cockroaches, and other common household insects can move from one location to another when transported. Once inside your home, they make the best of it, regardless of the environmental conditions.
• Some pests get into your home by accident or when outdoor conditions are unfavorable. Fall pests are a great example. Asian lady beetles and stink bugs can't find a suitable habit in your home, but they'll come inside when temperatures drop outdoors.

While it is essential to keep your home clean, applying sanitation is only one part of a pest management plan. You need to consider the pests that damage the wood of your home, infest your food packages, hitchhike into your home, or get in because you have vulnerabilities in your exterior. When these pests get inside, they can make you sick and damage your property.

Easy And Effective Pest Prevention Tips

Now that you know a bit about the threat, we can turn our attention to the solution. Building off what we've discussed so far, we'll look at how to effectively apply DIY methods and where professional pest control for your home fits into the picture.

Simple DIY Pest Prevention:

• Vacuum rugs, clean floors, wipe down shelves, and clean counters.
• Only open exterior doors long enough to enter or exit.
• Keep exterior lights off or replace bulbs with motion-sensitive bulbs to reduce insect activity, particularly near your entryways.
• Remove trash before food has time to decay, and keep your trash covered.
• Store your food in sealed containers.
• Remove spider webs in your home to prevent eggs from hatching and reduce indoor spider populations.
• Wash dishes as you go.
• Avoid disposing of food items in waste paper bins.
• Consider only eating in the kitchen or dining room.
• Keep food covered when left on the counter.
• Establish a mealtime for your dog or cat so food doesn't remain out.
• Hire a gutter cleaning company to reduce perimeter moisture near your exterior.

Harder But More Effective DIY Pest Prevention:

• Deep clean around ovens and other appliances.
• Replace weather-proofing to seal even the tiniest gaps around exterior doors and windows.
• Inspect your interior and use a caulking gun to fill in gaps or holes.
• Inspect your exterior, seal gaps around pipes, and fill in wood holes or structural cavities.
• Replace or repair damaged screens.
• Trim vegetation away from your exterior and branches away from your roofline.
• Remove leaves, dead branches, and other organic debris.
• Reduce clutter in your yard, store junk in a bin, and stack wood off the soil.

Residential Pest Control:

• Liquid treatments to your exterior will deter pests from entering your home.
• Spot treatments and web removal will reduce pest activity near your home.
• Pest inspections and early removal of potential threats, like wasp nests and fire ant mounds, will reduce stinging hazards.
• Targeted treatments of ant mounds and other pest issues stop trouble early.
• Installation of termite control prevents these sneaky insects from eating your property right underneath your feet.

Effective pest control is a mixture of the things you do and the things your pest management team is best equipped to do for you. When considering whether or not to add residential pest control on top of what you're doing, one factor to consider is that some pest management professionals do the hard work you may do yourself, and we do it in a way that provides long-lasting protection. Let's take a quick look.