Happy New Year from everyone here at ProActive Pest Management! We understand the value in keeping insects and rodents out of your home all year round in 2019. In addition to regular preventative maintenance treatments, here are five additional steps you can take to protect your home from unwanted guests this year!
Properly Store Firewood
After New Year, we are entering the coldest months of the year, and fires are a great way to keep warm through Midwest winters! Insects live in trees, whether they’re alive or chopped up for wood. It’s important to always store firewood away from your home and foundation. A good rule of thumb is to store it at least 20 feet away from the home, and at least a couple feet off the ground. Pest like ants and spiders can live in firewood and enter your home easily if the wood is kept on a porch, or next to the siding.
Inspect and Replace Weather Stripping as Needed
Weather stripping is great to help moderate temperature inside homes, and keep cold air from entering tiny gaps and cracks between doors/windows. However, weather stripping does degrade over time, and needs to be replaced as needed. Inspect your weather stripping for signs of damage, and replace with new stripping from a hardware store.
Clean Up the Yard – Yes, Even in Winter!
If you live in the Midwest, then you know the damage that winter storms can leave on your yard. If you have any warmer days in the winter, use them to clean up dead twigs, branches, or anything else that may have accumulated in your yard over the winter. This helps to reduce the amount of nesting areas available to pests come spring, when the temperatures begin to rise.
Declutter Your Home for the New Year
One great technique to decluttering is to tackle one room at a time. If you have any extra time, maybe due to holiday breaks/vacations, or even just an hour or two at night – use that time to get control of household clutter. While you’re going through your clutter, replace cardboard boxes with airtight plastic storage containers, which will reduce the amount of pests living in your belongings. Going through clutter also helps you become aware of pest activity that may have otherwise gone undetected.
Protect your Home in 2019 with ProActive Pest Management
We’re here to take the worry out of pest control in 2019! We understand that each home needs a custom tailored solution to its unique pest control challenges. There is no pest challenge too big for ProActive! Give us a call at (630) 451-8101, or request some information and a free quote today!