Preventing Household Bugs

Written by Lee Wyatt (last updated August 5, 2013)

It can be extremely easy learning how to take care of household bugs, and get rid of them. Unfortunately, this doesn't really deal with the underlying fact that they almost always come back. The best way to handle household bugs is to prevent them from ever getting into the house to begin with. Preventing household bugs isn't all that difficult, though it can take a bit of work and effort on your part. To make the task as easy as possible, simply follow these directions, and periodically repeat them to ensure that you have no gaps in the defenses of your home.

Materials needed:

  • Silicone caulking
  • Caulking gun
  • Pest pads (both insect and rodent varieties)
  • Pest screens
  • Screen repair kits (door and window)
  • Weather stripping kits
  • Broom
  • Dust pan
  • Insect spray

Process:

  1. Inspect the exterior your home. Walk around the exterior of your home and look for any and all openings that may need to be repaired. For example, if you see a windscreen that has a tear in it, mark it down on a piece of paper. If you see a slight crack near a door frame, window frame, or other opening, make note of it. Continue the process until you have inspected every inch of the exterior of your home, and made note of any and all repairs that need to be made.
  2. Make all necessary repairs. Using the notes that you made, go around and ensure that you make any and all repairs that you wrote down. Replace torn screens, and add caulking where needed. Continue to do this until you have made all necessary repairs.
  3. Clean up. Clean up the exterior of your home to help reduce the chance of any bugs or other pests breeding. Move trashcans away from the exterior of your home, clean out lint traps, vents, and so on.
  4. Inspect and repair the interior of your home. Inspect the interior of your home just as you did the exterior. Make note of any problems that you may find, and then fix them as soon as possible. Also make note of any locations that look like they could be an entry place for pests, both large and small.
  5. Clean up. Thoroughly clean the interior of your home. This means that you need do things like clean off the countertops, clean behind appliances, and under beds. Clean up anything and everything that you can see. Bugs, rodents, and other pests love to feed off of things like fruit, garbage, or crumbs that are left out.
  6. Place screens and sticky pads where necessary. Go around you home and place rodent screens in front of any opening that a pest or rodent could use to get into your home. At the same time also place pest sticky pads in front of these entrance points.
  7. Spray the exterior and interior perimeters of your home. Get some pesticide and carefully read the instructions. Follow these instructions and apply the spray around the home as necessary to add another level of protection for your home.
  8. Repeat regularly. Periodically repeat the entire process to ensure that you still have strong anti-pest defenses.

Author Bio

Lee Wyatt

Contributor of numerous Tips.Net articles, Lee Wyatt is quickly becoming a regular "Jack of all trades." He is currently an independent contractor specializing in writing and editing. Contact him today for all of your writing and editing needs! Click here to contact. ...

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