A truly effective pest control plan will accomplish three goals. First, this plan will help to prevent future pest control problems. Second, this plan will effectively detect current pest control problems. Third, this plan will successfully eliminate any existing pests from your home. In order to accomplish each of these three goals, your pest control plan will also need to be comprised of three distinct steps.
Step 1: Preventing Future Pest Control Problems
Prevention is by far the most beneficial way of dealing with household pests. In order to effectively keep pests out of your home, you will need to eliminate food and water sources that can attract these pests. This means storing garbage cans several feet away from the exterior of your home, keeping shelf-stable foods in airtight containers, and making sure that your counters and floors are free of crumbs and standing water. You will also want to inspect the exterior of your home for any cracks or gaps that pests can use to access your home. These openings should be sealed off using a spray foam insulation or caulk that will expand to fill the space entirely. Finally, you will want to have the exterior of your home treated by a professional pest control service a few times each year in order to deter pests from trying to get inside.
Step 2: Detecting The Presence And Locating Current Pest Control Problems
As with most things, a pest infestation is easiest to deal with when caught in the early stages. The earlier you are able to detect a pest problem, the less widespread this problem will be, and the less damage these pests will have time to inflict on your house. The most effective way to detect the presence of pests early on is to have your home professionally inspected by an exterminator. This is because many of the obvious signs that you have a pest control problem will not be present until after the problem has already reached critical levels.
Step 3: Exterminating Pests In Your Home
The final step of your plan should be to take action in eliminating any pests that are currently present in your home. While many homeowners are tempted to take a do-it-yourself approach to this part of the process, it is truly in your best interest to leave this task to the professionals. Pest control chemicals can be dangerous if not used correctly. Furthermore, many DIY products are rather ineffective against a full-blown infestation. Consequently, this step of the process should consist of you calling in a pest control service to eliminate the pests from your home.
Pest control is a complex topic. To really master the subject, you need to know about many different pests, how they all react to different control measures, and how to prevent pest infestations in the first place. It's really helpful to break this topic down into smaller chunks. That's what we aim to do on this website. We offer a wide range of articles on particular pest control subjects. No one article will teach you everything you need to know, but they all include bits and pieces of knowledge which, when added together, will teach you quite a lot. Start reading to learn more about pest control and pests.