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How can I keep bugs out of my house?

Pest Control and Extermination Tips

Fox 5 invited us to their studio for a segment called “What’s Buggin’ You?” Our entomologist, Dr. Eric Paysen and Fox 5 Morning News Anchor, Shally Zomorodi, review some steps you can take to avoid pests in your home this summer.

DIY Tips To Defend Your Home Against Pests

    1. Screens.  Fix those hole-y screens to keep out flying and crawling insects.
    2. Door sweeps and weather-stripping.  The bigger the gap between your doors and the outside world, the greater the invitation to bugs and rodents.
    3. Pruning shears.  Plants growing against the side of the house invite bugs and rodents to share a wall with you and your delicious food.  Trim bushes and plants back at least a foot from your structure.
    4. Steel wool and a can of foam. Plug gaps in the wall where plumbing pipes and conduit enter the home.  Use steel wool or hardware cloth (rodents can’t chew through it) and seal with expanding foam to keep out all pests and moisture.
    5. A caulking gun.  Seal window joints to keep moisture from settling and softening wood.  Moisture-damaged wood invites termites.
    6. Move woodpiles  far away from your home and wooden fences.  Woodpiles invite both subterranean and drywood termites that would be happy to expand their colony into your home’s framing.
    7. Use Ziploc bags and Tupperware to isolate food items in pantries contaminated with Stored Food Pests (those little, fuzzy, moth-like pantry bugs).  After a few days, throw away the products that are inside the sealed containers where bugs appear – generally rice and grains (This trick could save you hundreds of grocery dollars).
    8. Potted plants.   Don’t over-water potted plants inside your home.  They’ll invite ants during the summer.  If ants set up shop in a potted plant, put it outside for a few days in the sun.  The ants will abandon the dry soil.
    9. Rubber gaskets and a faucet repair kits are super cheap, easy ways to stop faucets from dripping.  Dripping faucets are like a waterpark for ants.
    10. Windex.  Windex – or any similar product WITH ammonia – can be used to erase ants’ pheromone or scent trails.  Soap won’t work.  Neither will bleach.  Ammonia obliterates the pheromone, and keeps ants away.  Otherwise the trail remains, ready to attract the next set of ants to the same path.

For more information on protecting your home, visit our website www.LloydPest.com, or call 1-800-223-2847.

One Response

  1. I saw this on TV. I didn’t realize that when the new Windex was born it didn’t have ammonia. If you look, though, you can still find the classic Windex WITH ammonia. Thanks.