Pest Control

To maintain the effectiveness of pest control for your home, it is important that your home maintenance program include the proper on-going pest control activities.

Pests include three types:

1.  TERMITES.  The destruction wrought by termites is underneath the surface of the wood, leaving only a hollow shell.

2.  INSECTS, such as ants, bed bugs, carpet beetles, clothes moths, cockroaches, houseflies, mosquitoes, silverfish, and spiders.

3.  ANIMALS, such as bats, mice, rats, moles, squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits.

The battle with pests involve three steps:

1.  Inspection:  to detect evidence of pests and conditions that lead to pests.

2.  Prevention: by cleaning and erecting barriers to entry.

3.  Extermination or removal: to get rid of pests if infestations have already begun.

Shown below are the two recommended routine maintenance tasks for maintaining effective pest control.  

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 Maintenance Task #1:  Inspect and clean areas subject to pests

The following areas are subject to pests and should be inspected and cleaned:

1. Foundation: Inspect foundation walls, both inside and outside, for earthen shelter tubes or tunnels that connect the termite colony in the moist soil to the wood.  These tunnels are ¼ to ½ inch wide and are half-round in shape.  During the spring and early summer, which is mating season for termites, watch for swarms of flying insects or for clusters of discarded wings near the house.  They may be found on masonry foundation walls, basement walls, even on the surface of metal pipes.  Check for tunnels around the openings where pipes enter a foundation wall or wall of a house; while you are checking, examine the pipes as well.  Use caulking compound to seal the openings.  Check foundation walls on the inside of the house as well as the outside.  Look for any cracks or loose mortar, especially where the floor meets the wall, or where any slab such as a garage, patio, or porch floor touches a wall.  Patch any cracks.  Check unfinished crawl spaces for termite tunnels and for places where soil may touch the wall.  Make certain these spaces are well ventilated so that moisture can escape and not attract termites to a damp area.

2. Wood siding: Check wood siding for carpenter ants and wasps' nests.  Check for evidence of termites.  Use a sharp instrument such as a ice pick, screwdriver, or awl, to probe any wood that you suspect may be infested.  If you can press deeper than ½ inch, then it is likely you have a problem with termites or dry rot.  Check to ensure that wooden trellises, fences, or firewood, are at least 12" away from the wood siding.

3. Attics: Check the attic for "droppings" from animals such as mice, rats, or bats, and look for nests of squirrels or chipmunks.  Makes sure that any ventilations ports in the attic are correctly screened off.

4. Basements: Check the basement for droppings from mice or rats, and look for nests of squirrels or chipmunks.  Check for clusters of discarded termite wings.  Look for cracks in the floor, or loose basement wall mortar or cracks, and especially where the wall meets the floor.  Patch any cracks.  Pay particular attention to basement window wells where debris tends to accumulate, providing termites with access to basement window frames as well as to moist soil.

5. Garage: Inspect garage for droppings from mice or rats and look for any nests of squirrels or chipmunks.  Inspect where the slab or foundation meets the wall for evidenced of termites.  Check any pipes that go through walls, and caulk around them as necessary.

6. Eaves: Inspect roof eaves and remove any wasps' nests, bee hives, hornets' nests, or spider webs from around roof eaves.

7. Sinks, cupboards, and closets: Clean corners in cupboards and closets, as well as openings under baseboards, in floors, and behind kitchen drawers.  In addition, clean the space under kitchen and bathroom sinks, exhaust fans, and around all water pipes, toilets, and other plumbing fixtures.

If you detect infestation by termites, insects, or animals you should immediately consult a professional pest control company, or take appropriate action to exterminate or remove the pests.

Cleaning the areas subject to pests will help prevent infestation.  Inspection allows early detection which can prevent costly damage from spreading.

 Maintenance Task #2:  Treat soil around foundation for termites (if needed)

Since termites must return to the soil at least once a day, the most effective method of attack is to poison the soil around the foundation of the house or building with special termite insecticides (e.g. chlordane, heptachlor, etc.)  

Treating the soil around the foundation requires excavation and the handling of dangerous chemicals.  It is best advised to contact a trained professional exterminator.  To ensure complete protection, a 30 inch deep trench must be dug around the entire foundation.  Part of the poison is poured into this trench, while the balance is mixed with the soil as it is replaced.

Many homes and buildings have concrete slab floors (porches, patios, and garage) laid on the ground right next to the foundation walls.  Termites often come up through the soil under these slabs and work their way inside through cracks or open points where the slab meets the wall.  The only way to poison the soil under these slabs is to chop holes through the concrete floor, then pour or pump the insecticide solution through.

Again, it is best to hire a trained professional exterminator for this kind of work.

Destruction caused by termites is hidden from view and may take place slowly over a long period of time, but can be devastatingly costly if not prevented.

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