How to Remove Bugs from My Home

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If you’re like most people, you probably don’t want to share your home with common household bugs. Luckily, with proper planning, it should be simple to keep your home pest-free. However, if bugs end up inside your house, there are several strategies for eliminating house pests and maintaining your home’s condition.

How To Remove Bugs from Your Home

Many times, bugs enter your home on the hunt for food and water. They also need a safe place to take shelter. Common bugs appear at various times of the year and in different parts of the country. There are several effective methods to get rid of insects from the house.

Make It Difficult for Bugs

It is easy for bugs to find small gaps in windows and doors to enter your home. Unfortunately, it is impossible to keep them out of the house all the time, but there are several easy ways to combat their entry.

Seal Cracks and Openings

Examine all your windows and doors and close any openings with caulk to keep them out. Also, adding new weather stripping helps keep them out of the house.

Clean Your Kitchen

Different types of bugs like various foods in your kitchen, ranging from flour, cereal, crackers, and baking mixes to nuts, popcorn, fruits, and spices. Ants typically prefer sweet foods and sugar, cereal, rice, and nuts. Beetles like flour, cake mixes, and other foods. Keeping food sealed in airtight containers is a great way to keep bugs from discovering the food in your kitchen. Also, keep all countertops, floors, and kitchen sinks free of food and crumbs. Put away dishes in the dishwasher right after using them, rather than putting them in the sink. Additionally, do not forget to keep your pet’s food stored away tightly.

Wipe Up Any Damp Areas

Common bugs are also looking for water when they enter your home. To prevent any potential household bugs from invading, fix your leaky faucets in your kitchen, bathroom, and other areas with pipe drainage. Ensure your HVAC, washing machine, and dryer work well and do not leave behind wet puddles. In areas that are constantly damp in your home, such as a basement, keep a dehumidifier in the space you run continuously. Also, double-check your attic to ensure it is dry.

Regularly Clean and Sweep Your House

Sweeping keeps dropped food and crumbs off the floor, especially in the kitchen, where bugs can easily find food. It is also good to vacuum and take the trash out regularly to keep common household bugs away. Also, clean your sinks and bath drains. Papers stacked, such as magazines and newspapers, attract cockroaches, so throw them out instead of letting them pile up.

Keep The Outside of Your House Free of Clutter

Bugs sometimes make their way into your home after discovering something they like in your yards, such as stacks of firewood, compost bins, or yard waste. They love these items to hide in and can enter your home on these items as you bring them inside your house. For example, check for bugs before bringing in firewood to heat your fireplace. Another good idea is to keep your flower beds free of weeds and other debris, which can provide homes for bugs. Also, keep tree branches away from the house. Bugs can crawl off the branches and onto your house through the roof or foundation.

Common Small Household Bugs

Ants

Ants are small black bugs that are good at finding even the most minor amounts of food and are highly skilled survivors. As a result, they are prevalent and can be annoying house pests.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches are also very common and very disliked as house pests.

Termites

These insects are known to chew through wood, flooring and walls. They can cause extensive damage to the homes’ structure and roof, requiring costly repairs.

Flies

Flies show up outdoors and are attracted to food. They can be annoying and carry diseases.

House Centipedes

These crawly creatures can be frightening and are one of the scariest-looking household bugs.

Silverfish

These insects are thin, silvery, and have large antennae. They are skinny and love to live in damp areas and eat paper and books.

Stink Bugs

These bugs prefer plants and may accidentally enter your house.

Spiders

Spiders are good bugs for the outdoor garden because they eat other insects, but they can be a problem indoors.

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Foods That Attract Pests

All household bugs need food and water and enter houses to find these necessities. Several foods attract pests.

Grains and Bread

Cockroaches eat just about anything they find and naturally attract bread and grains. This includes outdoor grains found in grass seed or birdseed in your garage. Keep these items stored in airtight containers if possible.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Many pests love the sugars found in fresh fruits and vegetables. So leaving these out on your countertops, especially if they are partially eaten, can attract insects.

Peanut Butter and Nuts

Keep these foods tightly sealed to ward off cockroaches and other household pests.

Food Crumbs and Garbage

Even the smallest crumbs can have the insects running into your home. Keep the bugs away by sweeping regularly and taking your trash out.

Pet Food

Bugs love pet food and anything with grains, seeds, and even fish food. So close the containers with these foods and store them away from the open.

Pest Control Versus Extermination

There are a couple of ways to remove bugs from your home. One way is to exterminate the insects, and the other is to remove them from the house and monitor their existence within the house so they do not become invasive as pest control.

Both pest control experts and exterminators have the same goal of removing insects from your house, but they each have their methods.

Exterminators

The primary goal of an exterminator is to destroy pests. They do not always fix the root of the pest problem. Exterminators rely on pesticides to remedy home bug invasions, which can sometimes be harmful. They also do not typically offer a high guarantee of service and may solve the bug issue only temporarily.

Pest Controllers

Pest Control Professionals (PCPs) use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and focus on preventing and managing pests in the long term. Controllers work with homeowners to figure out the pest issue and advise keeping pests from entering their homes. Many pest controllers use environmentally friendly products to eliminate insects that are just as effective as pesticides. Also, they focus on planning for the long-term management of pest issues. PCPs are educated, qualified, and licensed.

There are many distinctions between pest controllers and exterminators, but the objective of pest elimination can be similar. To remove unwanted pests from homes, exterminators rely on pesticides, using chemicals that may be more harmful than required. In contrast, a pest controller concentrates on why the pests are present and looks to improve the conditions that attracted them in the first place.

Pest controllers use more environmentally friendly products to eliminate the pests unless using chemicals becomes necessary. Companies that monitor problems prefer to use chemicals that are effective on bugs but have fewer odors, are not as harmful to animals and humans, and are administered in a targeted scope.

Pest controllers operate with reasoning as to why pests are present and offer different methods to remove them from homes. In addition, most pest controllers receive training.

Pest Control Process

Pest controllers and exterminators have varying degrees of service and specialties. Here is an overview of the process used by these professionals to clear buys from homes.

Consultation

A technician speaks to a homeowner over the phone to understand their concerns and gather information about the insects and infestation. They then set up an appointment to visit your home to see the issue with the pests and address concerns.

Inspection

They do a thorough review of your house to discover the full scope of the pest problem, looking inside and out to find conducive pest environments. They analyze their inspection results and create proposed treatment or elimination plans.

Treat and Monitor or Exterminate

If you hire an exterminator, they will destroy any visible bugs. If you work with a pest controller, they provide treatments to minimize your exposure to the pests and find a way to keep the bugs out of your home. They will then monitor the progress of the removal over time.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I keep bugs out of my house naturally?

There are several natural ways to keep bugs from coming into your home without pesticides.

Citrus Peels have a light and refreshing scent, making them an excellent option for natural pest control for pests like spiders, ants, and mosquitos.

White Vinegar

This product destroys the chemical trail of insects. White vinegar is excellent for getting rid of ants who follow the pheromones of the insects before them.

Herbs

Herbs are natural and easy to grow. Herbs such as mint, lemongrass, or citronella plants left near entrances to your home will stop pests from ever getting inside.

Cinnamon

This spice can be used outside your house around entrances to keep bugs from entering, especially ants.

Cucumber

Ants despise cucumber. Placing cucumber slices or peels near entrances is a great way to keep insects away. Moths, mites, wasps, and silverfish will also try to avoid cucumber.

Diatomaceous Earth

The talc-like powder is the fossilized remains of tiny marine phytoplankton. DE is not a poison and works by causing abrasions in the exoskeleton of insects. It does kill insects.

Eucalyptus Oil

The oil is excellent for keeping away flies.

Peppermint Oil

The oil is excellent for keeping away spiders. Spray a peppermint oil and water solution around areas you have seen spiders before.

How do I prevent flying insects from entering my house?

Flying insects are attracted to the food and water in your home and can be kept away by blocking entry points and eliminating the appeal of your home to the insects. Here is a list of several ways to keep flying insects from entering your house.

• Install fast-open screening, and maintain a positive air pressure to deter flying insects from entering.
• Cover roof vents that emit odors with fine mesh.
• Screen windows and doors as applicable, opening doors only when necessary.
• Use air curtains to protect entry points that are used frequently.
• Turn off lights when
• you are not using them.
• Remove moisture in areas.
• Use flying insect lures with sticky traps.
• Take downlights next to door openings.
• Separate trash from high-traffic entrances.
• Place bottle/bag traps outdoors.
• Install insect light traps (ILTs) between entry points and sensitive areas to intercept flying insects before they can proceed further.
• Keep trash bins, trash areas, and trash chutes clean to reduce attraction and breeding.
• Regularly clean floors and floor drains that can hold water and food waste for prolonged periods.
• Scatter granular fly baits around dumpsters or use in bait stations placed near entry points to intercept potential invaders.

Summary

There are several remedies to keep insects from entering your home. These include putting away food and cleaning your home regularly. Once you develop an infestation, you will want to contact a pest controller or an exterminator to address the issue as soon as possible. With property planning, it should be easy to keep your home pest free.