Pest Prevention Checklist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Prepare Your Home for the Pest Season

Summer is a time for outdoor activities, but it can also be a time for unwanted guests. Pests like ants, flies, cockroaches, and fleas can be a nuisance, a health hazard and also damage your property. To help you protect your home from these unwanted intruders, follow this pest prevention checklist.

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Outdoor Pest Prevention

• Seal up cracks and crevices: Pests can enter your home through small openings. Inspect the exterior of your home for any cracks or gaps and seal them with appropriate materials.
• Maintain your backyard: Keep your lawns mowed, trim back overgrown bushes/trees and remove any pile of leaves, wood or debris, as these can all be good hiding places for pests. Also, make sure you clean up any pet litter too! 
• Clean-up crops: If you grow fruit and vegetables, ensure you clean up any fallen fruit or rotting vegetables which can attract pests like wasps and ants. 
• Remove standing water: Mosquitoes and other pests breed in stagnant water. Eliminate any standing water around your property, such as in bird baths, flower pots, or clogged gutters.
• Store food scraps and rubbish properly: Food scraps in your compost bin and rubbish can attract pests, ensure you keep these secure and empty them regularly. 
• Use insect repellent: When spending time outdoors, use insect repellent to protect yourself from mosquitoes, sandflies and other biting insects.

Keep your BBQ clean: Remember to maintain your BBQ area so there’s nothing to attract pests into your backyard.

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Indoor Pest Prevention

• Clean up food spills: Food crumbs and spills can attract ants, fruit flies and other pests so ensure you clean up spills promptly.
• Seal food containers: Ensure that all food containers are tightly sealed to prevent pests from accessing food.
• Vacuum regularly: Vacuuming regularly can help remove pests and their eggs from your carpets and furniture.
• Inspect food storage areas: Check your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for signs of pests. If you find evidence of pests, clean the area thoroughly and dispose of any infested food.
• Treat your pets for fleas: Regularly treat your cats and dogs with a veterinarian-approved flea medication to keep fleas under control in your house. Make sure you also vacuum and hot wash your pet’s bedding at the same time.

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By following these tips, you can help prevent pests from entering your property and making it their new home. Remember, early prevention is key to avoiding a major pest infestation.

If you are experiencing a serious pest infestation, it may be time to hire a professional pest control company. Pests can be difficult to exterminate, which is when the JAE team’s qualified technician’s expertise comes in, you can trust they’ll take care of it! We can effectively treat infestations of ants, fleas, cockroaches, silverfish, spiders, flies, carpet moths, borer, wasps, rodents and many more.