A year of small habits
Keeping pests out of a house can come down to small, repeatable checks rather than a single big treatment. Spread across the calendar, those checks can fit into an hour here and there, and each one is a chance to notice something early.
Spring checks
- Walk the outside of the house. Look along the base of each wall for gaps, cracks and spots where pipes, cables or vents pass through.
- Inspect door sweeps and weatherstripping. Replace any that are torn, flattened or no longer touching the threshold.
- Repair window screens. Patch small tears and replace frames that no longer fit snugly.
- Clear the gutters. Remove packed debris so water drains away rather than sitting against the roofline.
- Look under sinks. Check for drips, damp cabinet floors and openings around the pipes where they enter the wall.
Summer checks
- Empty standing water. Tip out buckets, plant saucers, toys, tarps and anything else that holds water in the yard.
- Keep plants off the house. Trim shrubs, vines and branches so they do not touch walls or the roof.
- Watch the trash and recycling. Keep lids closed, rinse containers before they go out and set bins away from doors.
- Store pet food sealed. Pick up bowls after meals rather than leaving food out all day.
- Check outdoor lights. Ask a pest professional whether a different bulb or fixture near the doors might draw fewer insects.
Fall checks
- Seal the openings you noted in spring. Use materials suited to each gap, and ask a professional about any opening you are unsure how to close.
- Inspect the attic. Look for droppings, nesting material, chewed insulation or daylight showing through vents and eaves.
- Look over the garage. Check the bottom seal on the garage door and the gap where the door meets the floor.
- Move firewood away from the house. Stack it off the ground and a distance from the walls, and bring in only what you plan to burn soon.
- Shake out stored items. Before bringing patio cushions, holiday decorations or boxes indoors, check them outside.
Winter checks
- Check the basement or crawlspace. Look for damp spots, droppings and gnawed materials along the walls and around stored items.
- Look at what is stored in cardboard. Consider moving it into bins with tight lids, and check the contents as you go.
- Clean behind appliances. Pull out the refrigerator and stove when you can and clear crumbs and dust from underneath.
- Review your notes. Look back over the year's sightings and repairs and decide what to raise with a pest company.
Every season
- Wipe counters and sweep floors where food is prepared and eaten.
- Store dry goods in sealed containers.
- Fix leaks as soon as you find them.
- Keep a running log of any pest sighting, with the date and spot.
Moisture to look for in any season
Damp spots can draw insects and give them somewhere to settle. A few places to glance at whenever you pass:
- where each downspout empties, and whether water pools near the wall;
- the hoses behind the washing machine and the line feeding the refrigerator or dishwasher;
- closets and cabinets on outside walls, for a musty smell or a damp shelf;
- the base of the water heater and any floor drain nearby.
If you find a leak you cannot fix yourself, call a plumber before the next pest visit, and tell the pest company what you found.
After other work on the house
Whenever a contractor runs a new pipe, cable or vent through a wall, replaces a door or opens up siding, ask how the gaps around the new work will be closed once the job is done. Walk the spot yourself afterward, inside and out, and add anything that still looks open to your fall sealing list.
Working with a pest company
If a sighting keeps returning or you cannot find where something is getting in, call a company for an inspection. Get the proposal on paper: which pest it targets, which rooms and outside areas it covers, what will be applied and how many trips the company expects to make. Before treatment day, ask how long the label on each product says people and pets should stay out of a treated area.
Put this question to each company: "What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?" Ask that its proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation reach you before anyone starts.
Keeping the year's records
At the end of each season, add a line to your log: what you checked, what you fixed and anything you saw. Keep receipts and treatment reports with it. Over time the file can point to the spots that keep coming up, and it gives any technician you call a history to read.
NOAA design temperatures for Atlantic City
NOAA engineering weather data for Atlantic City, elevation 66 feet, gives a 1% summer design temperature of 88°F with a mean coincident wet-bulb temperature of 73°F, and a 99% winter design temperature of 12°F.