A common question from locals is, “How are these bugs even getting into my house?” The response? Whatever they can get away with. Many pests in the Phoenix area can fit through tiny gaps; for example, bark scorpions may work through a space 1/8″ broad or the width of a credit card. Roof rats need more space for obvious reasons but may still enter via relatively tiny holes. The table below depicts the four most common pest entry points into Valley homes.
Common ways pests enter your home:
- Improperly sealed doorways
- Cracks in the foundation
- Foundation utility penetrations
- Roof vents
- People
Common pest entry points
Under doorways
This is the most common way for pests to infiltrate your home. Many front doors may not seal properly against the threshold, allowing vermin to enter via a small space. Alternatively, wear and tear on the garage door has caused it to fail to form a tight seal against the concrete.
Many pests, including roaches and scorpions, can squeeze into tight spaces. They’ll exploit any daylight near your doors to break into your home. The same may be said about Windows. A shredded window screen is obvious, but bugs may enter a closed window via gaps around the frame.
These problems may be rectified by applying weatherstripping around the door and tightly fastening it to the frame. The door may also need replacement. If your garage door does not seal with the ground because the rubberized seal—technically called the “astragal”—is torn, fractured, or worn, you must have a garage door specialist fix that rubber seal. Replace any screens with holes or rips, and look for any in the window’s vicinity gaps.
Inside of foundation cracks
The foundation of your home is where it meets the soil and where the majority of pests enter. It’s only natural for bugs to exploit foundation faults that allow them to infiltrate barriers. Ants, cockroaches, termites, and spiders may squeeze through tiny foundation fissures and gaps. They are drawn to wetness, food, and heat, all accessible in your home. They may cause property damage, contaminate food, and breed once inside. The first step to keeping these pests at bay is prevention out of your home. In the section below, we’ll go over the benefits of our home sealing service and how we seal foundation cracks.
Penetrations in foundations
Utilities are required to go through the foundation of every home. Insects can tunnel up inside your home in each of these places. In the Valley, termites are notorious for growing under toilets and sinks.
Through roof vents
There are several roof vents along the roof line on Phoenix stucco homes. Because they allow heat and moisture from the roof to escape from the eave or roof vent to the ridge vent, these vents are essential for your home. Pests, especially roof rats, may exploit them to access your home if they are not secured.
This most often occurs when nearby or overhanging trees are present. Rats scale the trees before emerging upon a branch and breaking into your home. They will then approach the attic’s open vent and climb inside.
So how exactly can you limit access? The roof vents should always be allowed, to start with. Moisture buildup in your roof and attic might result in significant issues. Instead, you should use a metal mesh or other grate-like material to cover each slit. This lets air come in and out but stops more enormous creatures like roof rats from getting in. These covers are already present on your property. Therefore it’s essential to keep them in good condition so they can continue to prevent access to each vent.
The homeowner
This aspect of bug defense isn’t within the scope of home sealing. You should be aware, however, that many pests, including bed bugs, roaches, crickets, and rats, are unintentionally introduced into a property by the owner. These hitchhikers can travel in the luggage from your most recent vacation or the cardboard box containing your online purchase. They all reside there since the homeowner mistakenly allowed them in, regardless of how they arrived.
To prevent this sort of pest infestation in your house, you may take several steps:
— When traveling, take precautions like storing your luggage and personal items on hard surfaces and checking your mattress and couches for bugs before sitting or laying down to prevent the spread of bed bugs. Immediately wash and dry your clothing
you arrive home, along with your luggage.
To avoid allowing more pests in, open any cardboard boxes left outside on the porch before bringing the contents inside one at a time.
– You may open boxes on the porch or in the garage, take the contents inside, and throw away the packaging outside.
With the assistance of our experts, you prevent pest entrance.
At Escondido Pest Control, we provide home sealing as a service to help keep pests out of your home. For an evaluation to determine the pest entrance points, the first step is to move into your house through this 25-phase process. Our team gets to work right once to shut down or prevent those points of access. We weatherstrip windows, screen roof vents, caulk around air conditioners, electrical boxes, and other equipment, and install weatherstripping.
If pests have overrun your Valley home, call us for a free pest check. Ask our professionals about our home sealing service.
