Pests are not only annoying but can also be harmful. These potential health risks include Lyme disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and West Nile virus. This article will show you how to rid your home of harmful pests.

Hire A Pest Control Company

One of the best ways to rid yourself of pests is by hiring a pest control company. Whether it’s a London based pest control company or a New York-based one, these companies use eco-friendly products that are safe for you and your family, but highly effective at ridding your home of pests.

When choosing a company for this purpose, make sure they are licensed and insured. You also want to ask how long the chemicals take to work; some may only take an hour while others maybe 24 hours. If you can afford it, choose a company that offers residual protection for at least 30 days after treatment because pest control companies that offer this will prevent further infestations.

Make Sure You Reduce The Food Sources In Your Home

Pests need food and water to live, so you must reduce these necessities in order to ensure they will leave your home alone. An easy way to do this is by taking out the garbage before bed each night and storing it in a safe place until morning-away from your house. This will help prevent raccoons or rats from making a mess of things at night.

By storing garbage properly, you ensure that there isn’t any for them to eat when they get into the area around your home. Make sure you also make a habit of vacuuming and sweeping your kitchen, bathroom, and any other area where pests like to hide. Ridding your home of crumbs or other little food particles will keep them from sticking around.

Reduce Access To Possible Entry Points

Pests often come into homes through openings that aren’t obvious. Some of these include outlets, air conditioners, pipes, vents, and wire channels. Any time you notice holes or openings in your home where the pests could be entering is an opportunity for them to do so.

You can plug most of these entries with caulk or by stuffing steel wool into the openings. If you want to ensure they stay out entirely, you must repair any damage around the openings (cracked foundation) because this will allow them easier access to your home. Also, wash your home’s outside to eliminate the hiding places pests like to use.

Keep Your Home Organized

Your home must be kept organized in order to keep pests at bay. Any time you leave clothes, or anything else lying around on the floor is an invitation for pests to live with you.

There are many ways to keep things organized around the house. Make sure you have a place to store your clothes, shoes, and other belongings so they are not sitting on the floor or on shelves where pests can get into them. Keep things stored in plastic bins with lids to prevent them from being chewed through by mice or rats.

Get Rid Of Any Standing Water

Pests are often found near sources of standing water. Make sure you eliminate all sources of standing water around the house if you want to get rid of pests.

Sources around the home include kiddie pools that are filled with rainwater, pet bowls that are not emptied daily, old buckets that hold only a few inches of liquid, plant pots without saucers under them, dirty sponges or dish rags, leaky faucets or hoses, sprinkler heads with trapped water, and clogged drains.

Use Aromatherapy

Pests cannot stand certain smells and will move out of your home to escape them. So, try using things like peppermint oil or sage around the exterior of your home to keep pests from setting up residence with you.

These scents may be strong at first as they are cured into the area, but as time goes on and as the oils dry out, these aromas will become very faint. You must reapply once every two weeks to ensure their freshness.

Though you might first think of pesticides or traps when it comes to ridding your home of pests, there are other things you can do that require fewer chemicals and items. By changing the way you store garbage, cleaning regularly, patching up any openings in your home where they could enter, organising the area around your home, eliminating standing water sources, using strong scents like peppermint oil or sage around the exterior of your house, and making sure that everything is put away will keep pests from ever being able to take over. Also, if you want the easy way, hire a company.