Spreading the work out
Prevention can be a matter of short, regular look-arounds rather than one big push. The lists below split the year into four seasons, each with a few jobs outside and a few inside. Many of them can be done with a flashlight, a tube of caulk, a pair of gloves and a little time. When a job turns up more than you want to handle, that is the point to bring in a company.
Spring
Outside
- Look at wood that touches the ground. Check porch steps, deck posts, fence ends and door frames near the soil for softness or crumbling.
- Walk the slope beside the walls. Notice whether soil and mulch drain away from the house or pile up against it, and pull them back where they bank against siding.
- Run each outdoor faucet. Watch for drips at the spout and the handle, and have a leaking one fixed.
- Open the shed or garden storage. Look in corners and under shelves for nests, droppings or chewed bags before the season's gear comes out.
Inside
- Check the caulk at windows and door trim. Fill cracks where the frame meets the wall.
- Look under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. Note any spot where the pipe hole is wider than the pipe.
Summer
Outside
- Pick up fallen fruit and nuts from the yard so they do not sit and rot.
- Rinse the recycling bin. Sticky residue in bottles and cans can draw insects; a quick rinse before they go in helps.
- Look at the pet door. Make sure its flap closes fully and its seal is intact.
Inside
- Clean the sink and shower drains. Clear built-up film with a brush, which can matter for small flies that gather around drains.
- Check the refrigerator's drip pan if yours has one, and wipe it out.
- Look through the pantry. Open flour, cereal, pasta and dried goods and check for tiny moths, beetles or webbing; throw out anything affected and wipe the shelf.
Fall
Outside
- Clear plant debris and clippings away from the foundation.
- Look up at the chimney and roof vents. Check that caps and screens are in place and undamaged, using binoculars from the ground rather than a ladder if you prefer.
- Bring outdoor pet food and birdseed inside or into a container with a tight lid.
- If the house has a crawlspace, make sure its door and vent screens close properly.
Inside
- Check the garage's inner door to the house for a gap at the bottom and fix the sweep if light shows through.
- Look along baseboards in closets and the laundry room for droppings or chewed material.
Winter
Inside
- Open stored clothing and blankets. Look for small holes or casings in wool and other natural fibers, and wash or clean what you find.
- Unpack holiday boxes in good light and repack them before they go back up.
- Shine a light behind the water heater and furnace for droppings, nests or damp.
- Read the year's service reports. Pick out the spots that came up more than once and plan repairs for spring.
Outside
- Check materials stacked beside the house. Lumber, bricks or pots leaning on a wall can hide activity; move them a little way off and look where they stood.
Signs to bring to a professional at any time
- droppings or gnaw marks in food storage areas;
- mud lines on a foundation wall, pier or slab edge;
- wings collected on a sill or in a light fixture;
- a pest you see again and again after your own efforts;
- anything you cannot identify.
Getting the house ready for a visit
Clear the cabinets under sinks, pull pantry bins away from the walls, make the attic hatch and any crawlspace door easy to reach, and put pets in a room the technician will not need. Have your notes ready: what you saw, where and when. Ask for every product name and what each label says about when people and pets may go back into a treated room.
Alabama's annual permit for pest work
The Department of Agriculture and Industries posts Alabama's Professional Services Law. Under Code of Alabama § 2-28-4, a person must apply for and obtain an annual permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries before engaging in professional work or services as the chapter defines them, which include structural pest control work, or soliciting that work through advertising or in any other manner. Under § 2-28-11, doing so without the required permit is a misdemeanor.
The permit question
When you call a company, ask: "Do you hold the annual permit Alabama's Professional Services Law requires for structural pest control work, and what is its number?" Write the answer down with the date and the name of the person who gave it. Ask as well for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation before the first visit.
A one-page yearly record
Keep a single sheet for the year with four short blocks, one for each season. Under each, write what you checked, what you repaired and anything you saw, with dates. Staple the company's service reports, product names and receipts behind it. Read it over before calling a company; it can save you trying to remember what happened months ago, and it gives a technician a history to work from.