5 tips for doing your own pest inspection this fall

Ever wonder what a pest inspection consists of? Learning to perform regular pest inspections around your home is crucial to keeping your property pest-free. Ideally, you should inspect your property for obvious signs of pest activity and entry points every season. At a minimum, we recommend doing an inspection every spring and fall.

In this article, we will walk you through five things you can do to look for pest activity and entry points around the home.

Remove all wood and debris from the perimeter of the home.

Keeping wood away from your home will help keep ants, spiders, and other wood-boring insects away from the foundation. Garbage cans should always remain shut to prevent flies and rodent activity. Make sure to cut the grass regularly and kill any weeds. This will help keep insects further away from the perimeter of your home. It will also provide less hiding places for rodents to go unnoticed. 

Look for entry points around utilities and siding.

One of the most common areas we see pests entering the home is around utility lines like water, gas and AC. We often find that these areas are not sealed up as they go through the siding. If the gap is small, you can use caulking in these areas. Larger entry points can be filled with a steel mesh or a foam insulation.

Look for broken caulking that needs to be repaired.

Keep an eye out for failed caulking around your window and door trim. Be sure to check all areas where caulk is present. Add caulk where it may be missing. If you find areas where caulk has failed, scrape out the loose caulk and seal the gap with fresh caulk. Be sure to fill big gaps with backer rod first. This way the caulk doesn’t shrink and fail if the gap is too large. 

Look for failed door seals and gaps around them.

Inspect all seals on exterior doors around the home. Checking the garage door is crucial as well. These are common entry points for all pests, including rodents. If you find that a seal failed, you should be able to replace this yourself. If you see daylight or find large gaps, you should add a draft stopper or weatherstrip in these areas. 

Trim bushes and other plants around the home.

All bushes and plants should be trimmed 12-24″ away from the homes foundation and siding. Insects will use plants as a bridge to climb onto and enter your home. Keeping a nice gap helps prevent insects like ants and spiders from getting getting easy-access into your home. This is especially important for homes with wood siding.

Call SMART Exterminators:

If you’re within 30 miles of Cleveland, Ohio, we will do a thorough pest inspection inside and outside of your home for $75. We will not charge you for the inspection if you book a service with us. Our services include a pest inspection when we arrive to your home or business. Call SMART Exterminators to schedule your pest inspection (216) 282-7512