It’s easy to overlook pest prevention in the winter, as people’s first thought when it comes to pests is usually the bugs and insects that come with the warm summer months. However, when you are winterizing your home and getting ready for the chilly weather ahead, you should be preparing to keep pests out too. Pests like mice, rats, spiders, and cockroaches can be more than just nuisances; they can be a cause for health concerns. They are looking for warm shelter from the winter weather and often try to find a way inside houses. We will explain the top tips, like firewood storage, insulation for piping, and crawl space vent covers for winter, that will keep these pests out of your home, so your living space can remain clean and pest free.
Insulate Exposed Piping
Pests can enter your home in tiny openings, and this includes your piping. Pests such as cockroaches and earwigs are attracted to moisture, so pipes are an attractive home for these insects. Rats and mice can also get in through your pipes, so it’s important to insulate to deter their entrance into your home. Insulating your pipes will keep tiny critters out, help with rodent prevention and stop any potential damage they may do.
Seal Cracks
Sealing cracks isn’t just good for keeping out the bitterly cold winds. Sealing up any cracks, windows, doors, and holes on the outside or inside of your house will keep out unwanted pests. In addition to checking for holes, take a look at your fireplace to make sure no animals or pests have taken up residence in your chimney. If you don’t want to do this step, you can call a chimney sweep to come take a look at it.
Store Firewood Away From Your Home
Storing firewood at least twenty feet away from your home will help prevent pests from finding a way into your home, as they love to hang out in firewood piles. Pests like beetles, wasps, carpenter ants, and spiders like to burrow in wood piles for the winter. Be sure when you’re grabbing firewood to use in your home to check over all the wood before you bring it into the house. You could be harboring unwanted pests. Try grabbing small amounts of wood instead of large piles so you can carefully check every piece of wood.
Get Rid of Any Excess Moisture Inside Your Home
Most pests search for moisture and water, so it’s very important to eliminate any excess water in your home that might attract them. Before the cold temperatures start, winterize your home by fixing any leaky pipes or clogged drains. Also, keep an eye on kitchen and bathroom sinks throughout the wintertime to ensure no pests are getting inside.
Trim Trees Near Your Roof
It’s easy to forget that landscaping can affect pest management. But proper landscaping techniques will keep potential pests away from your house. Keep all trees that are near your house trimmed, with branches that don’t reach the roof. By doing this maintenance work, you’ll prevent any unwanted pests from crawling across tree branches to the underside of your roof, potentially getting in through the roof or other small cracks.
Keep the Kitchen Crumb and Clutter Free
If you’re wondering how to keep rodents out of your kitchen, the key is to keep food put away and get rid of clutter that could be hiding places. Mice and other rodents love clutter and are not picky about the food they eat. Therefore it’s important to properly store food in containers and clean up any crumbs you see. Try not to leave storage or boxes on the floor. Having a trash can with a lid is also helpful in preventing pests from taking refuge in your kitchen.
Get Crawl Space Vent Covers
Rodent prevention is especially important under the crawl space of your home. How to keep rodents out is not an easy question to answer as they can be quite sneaky. They can bite through wood and a lot of materials, so when choosing crawl space vent covers for winter, durability and strength are important.
Foundation vents can be a warm invitation for rodents to nest in, so you need to close them up when winterizing your home. Once through the foundation vents, rodents can cause a lot of damage to the structure of your house and can gain entry from this point to other areas of your home. Vanity Vents offers crawl space vent covers for winter that provides protection for your home from rodents. Its durable material is resistant to scratches, harsh winter weather, rot, and most damage. This makes it ideal as protection from rodents trying to invade your crawl space.
Crawl space vent covers for winter also provide insulation from the cold, so the rest of your home doesn’t lose heat from the foundation vents. This can save you money on your energy bills, as well as save you money from rodent damage to your house. No one wants to deal with a rodent problem during the cold winter months, so early prevention is essential for avoiding this problem.
Before winter approaches, it’s best to come up with a checklist of all the pest prevention steps you need to take before cold temperatures hit. Pests will be looking for a warm new home to stay during the winter, so follow these tips if you want to avoid any damage and annoyances. Vanity Vents offers strong rodent prevention for the vulnerable crawl space area under your house. Learn more about how durable and effective these outdoor vents are for your home during the cold winter months.
