As many homeowners have found out the hard way, not only do pests spread disease and gross people out, but different pests causes different types of damage. One of the biggest problems with pests is their penchant to destroy any material that is in their path, whether they will utilize the material or not. Walls are a common part of a home that is destroyed by pests. Continue reading to find out how you can protect your walls from pests.
Why Walls?
It may seem odd that a pest would destroy a wall. You may be wondering what they could possibly get out of chewing through a wall. The answer is actually fairly straightforward. Many pests get into homes through any small holes, gaps, or cracks they can find around the exterior of your home. Once they are inside, they will search for suitable nesting areas. Usually, the favorite spot in the house is the attic, as it is warm and out of the way of humans. However, once a pest animal begins getting hungry and exhausts its food sources, it may begin searching for its new home. This often leads rodents to crawl down into walls. Once in the walls, they may begin gnawing through your interior walls to get to some food sources. This can cause health problems and is not sanitary, so it is time to take action and take help from Beaverton pest control to protect your walls from pests.
Inspection
The best defense against pests chewing up your walls is to keep them out of your home in the first place. The best way to do this is to inspect your home’s interior and exterior from top to bottom. Pay special attention to the foundation, the roofline, soffit and fascia, and many other areas of the home. If you see any holes, cracks, or gaps, you can begin sealing these up using an all-weather sealant, aluminum sheeting, or steel wool. Once this is done, you can move to the interior of your home and repeat the process.
Safeguards
One of the best ways to prevent a pest infestation is to install some preventative measures and safeguards. Even if your home is sealed up tight, a pest animal may still find its way in. The best way to combat this is to have some backups in place. A great idea is to place some glue traps around your home in a variety of places, as these will catch any mice, rats, snakes, insects, and virtually any other small pest animal in place, preventing them from getting further into your home. Another great idea is just to set some rat and mouse traps in trouble areas to clean up any that get through. Finally, there are many essential oils, such as peppermint and spearmint, that are supposed to scare rodents away. You can try any of these methods and they should provide a second layer of defense.
Clean Up Your Yard
It should be noted that one of the best ways to keep your walls safe from pests is to actually clean up your yard. Yards are the reason most pest animals are drawn to homes in the first place. The first step should be to keep any grass and weeds short, pick up any debris, and clean up any woodpiles you have in your yard. This takes away places of shelter for rodents. Another simple step is to be sure your garbage and pet food is sealed up and put away, so there are not easy food sources just sitting there. Finally being sure to keep all doors that enter your garage and the home closed and sealed is a final prevention step.
