Renovating your home is a rewarding but challenging undertaking. Whether you’re updating a single room or your entire living space, it’s gratifying to see the finished product and share it with friends and family. Unfortunately, pests are always waiting to revel in the celebration with you. The renovation process can leave your home vulnerable to insects, rodents and other unwanted invaders looking for shelter. That’s why it’s important to factor pest exclusion and prevention into your home renovation plans.
Here are some expert tips for fortifying your home during renovations:
Keep An Eye Out For Structural Gaps
While making changes to your home, it’s likely you’ll have to tear down, replace or otherwise move structures like doors, walls and windows. In the process, you may create open lanes for pests to move inside. Make sure all structures are tightly fitted in place, and inspect the renovated areas to see if there are any holes or openings, using sealant to patch these up where appropriate.
Be Aware Of How The Site Is Graded
Knowing how your property is graded is crucial to controlling water drainage. If the site is not graded for water to flow away from your house, you could end up with large pools of standing water, which can attract mosquitoes and other pests.
Remember To Keep Doors Closed When Not In Use
It sounds simple, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget. Especially if you’re working with contractors, it’s likely there will be a lot of foot traffic into, out of and around your home. Pests will seize the opportunity and make their way inside if you don’t close the doors. In cases where doors or windows can’t be kept closed, install pest prevention devices such as monitors and mechanical pest control products as a line of defense.
Clean Up The Clutter
During renovations, materials like wood and glass, as well as building tools and equipment, tend to be cast to the side or left lying around. This may seem harmless but can actually provide extra hiding places for pests. That’s why it’s advisable to pack everything up and store it safely after each use. This is especially true outdoors, where items like wood piles and water-holding barrels can provide nesting or breeding grounds.
Watch Where You Dig
Moving soil around your home can disrupt pest populations, including bugs and any burrowing animals. Look for elevated pest activity in areas where you’re digging, and make sure pests aren’t relocating from the dirt into your home. You should also aerate renovated rooms or sites to ensure proper drying of surfaces and structures. If wall plastering is involved, improper drying can lead to psocid and plaster beetle infestations.
By using the tips listed above, you’ll have a great start toward protecting your home from pests during renovation. If you’re still not sure where to begin, or you need some extra help along the way, contact a trusted pest management provider. They’ll examine your property and develop targeted exclusion and prevention techniques to keep your house fortified against pests.
Need a quick reference guide for all of this? You can also download our expert tip sheet here.
You may also like
How To Get Rid Of Flies
With warmer weather around the corner, Orkin Canada is prepared for the pests that come with the warmer weather and melting snow. Everyone is looking forward to flowers blooming, birds chirping, and flies coming in through the open door. Oh wait, not that last one! Flies are a nuisance that no one likes buzzing around inside their home or business. There are many different species of flies; however, they all can cause a threat to your peace of mind, while some are a threat to your health and wellbeing inside your home or business. Whether its cluster flies, house flies, or fruit flies, at Orkin Canada we have 70+ years of expert advice on how to get rid of these unwanted pests. These flies do not stand a chance up against the Orkin Canada technician.
Top 7 Pests Predicted To Trend In 2022
From mosquitoes and wildlife to ticks and flies, being prepared for spring and summer pests can have an impact on how enjoyable your time outdoors will be. Do not worry you are not alone, as the experienced team at Orkin Canada is there to help you prepare. After doing thorough research, we have put together a comprehensive list on the top 7 pests expected to trend in the summer of 2022. This list will provide an in-depth look at the impact that pests will have on your home or business, along with also providing easy to use preventative tips.
100 Facts About Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are peculiar. It’s not surprising these creepy creatures sparked panic among their human hosts, who found themselves fed upon in the dark of the night while seemingly safe in their beds. For a time, people felt like they could escape the pests by the light of day. That’s until bed bugs started showing up in offices. And in retail centers. And theaters. And libraries. Though it sounds like a Hitchcockian horror movie, it’s just a typical day’s work for your Orkin Canada technician. From our learnings, we rounded up 100 facts about bed bugs! To give you a little preview of some of these bed bug facts, we've listed 10 interesting facts from our top 100.
4 Easy Tips To Pest Proof Your Garden
Spring is the perfect time to get the garden tools out and start getting the garden box ready to grow some vegetables and your favourite flowers. You might do this every year, or this is your first attempt at gardening, regardless of your experience level, we're here to help you keep pests out. Our experienced Ph.d. entomologist Alice Sinia has put together a few easy and simple tips keep your garden pest free.
Remove pests from your home, and stop them from coming back
We work hard to listen, understand and assess your unique situation. Request a free, no-obligation estimate today for a customized pest program that fits your needs.
Request a Free Home EstimateRequest a Free Business Consultation