People’s homes should be a safe, secure, and comfortable place to allow occupants to unwind and relax from a hard day. For most people for most of the time, they are just that, a safe haven, but unfortunately, sometimes that safe haven can be breached. Over your lifetime, you’re likely to encounter a pest infestation in your home, but there are ways to avoid it.
A pest infestation can be annoying at the best of times but can also incur serious damage to your property if not treated swiftly. Here are some of the worst species your house can get infested by, and how to prevent and deal with them.
These pests are undoubtedly one of the most financially disastrous pests one can come across. This is because termites can cause massive structural damage due to their ability to gnaw through wood which can jeopardize the entire structural stability of your home. They access your home through moist, damaged, or low-lying wood and begin to colonize there.
Thankfully, UK readers don’t have to worry about this ever being a problem, as although termites populate around 70% of the world’s landmass, they aren’t present in the UK, which is extremely lucky.
For Americans, it’s essential to termite-proof your home by at least removing easy access as much as possible. Also look for little mud tubes that act as bridges between the ground and your wood, as these are tell-tail signs that termites have been in your home.
These critters aren’t the most dangerous pests out there, but they’re one of the most upsetting as they infiltrate what should be a relaxing and comforting space – your bed. They’re the most common form of infestation and are hard to even notice until it’s too late, but thankfully there are many services and solutions for this problem found on Aim Environmental Services.
Bedbugs usually get into your home because owners would have unknowingly brought them in. They hide in packages and bags and wait until darkness to move. The reason they like your bed so much is because there’s a reliable food source there most nights: you. That’s why they reproduce so much on your bed.
They’re easy to remove, but fairly hard to prevent, with the best advice being to remain diligent and keep a close eye on what you’re bringing indoors, especially if you’ve been travelling.
A wasp infestation can be some homeowner’s worst nightmare because they’re aggressive, territorial, unafraid to sting and inflict pain as well as other horrible characteristics. They’re at their most dangerous when they set up a nest near or even in your home, with the worst and yet most common location being in your porch by the door. This is bad because your coming and goings can appear as threats to the nest defenders, making them more likely to sting you, which they are most prone to do after a breeding season as they’re more determined to protect their young.
Wasps are tactical about where they build their nest. They’re usually looking for places where they can be sheltered from the elements and threats, so usually go for gutters, eaves, corners, and chimneys. They build their nests with wood fiber, so the best way to deter wasps is to make sure there’s no easily accessible wood near your home for them to use.
Rats are the most infamous pests as they cause serious structural damage but also be detrimental to your health. Rats constantly chew on plastics and woods, leaving your counters and corners and electrical wires at risk of being damaged.
However, rats can be hard to spot when in low numbers, making infestations hard to confirm. The best indicator is perhaps the most damning, and that’s finding a dead rat in your house. This means that it’s probably been there for a while and that it’s time to exterminate. They also leave dirt or grease marks along walls and floorboards.
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