Pest Proofing

Keeping Unwanted Guests out of your Home

To help keep a lot of pests out of your home, you want to find where they could enter and close those spots off best as possible. There are many ways to make your home more pest proof, most being really easy to achieve. Accomplishing the following steps can greatly reduce the amount of pests that get into your home. Here are just a few steps that make pests unwelcome:

1.  Seal & Repair Openings:

When sealing off unwanted openings walk around the exterior of your home with caulk and closely look for cracks or openings that could be big enough for pests to fit through. Especially be sure to look around the utility openings, where wires or pipes are exiting the walls, to be sure those are fully closed off. 

2. Keep a Clean Kitchen:

The most common thing that attracts pests if food. They can smell your food that is not stored correctly and even those tiny crumbs that are on your kitchen floor. Try to keep your kitchen clean by vacuuming all over your kitchen at least once a week. Doing so will reduce the amount of pests in your kitchen. 

3. Clean up the Yard:

You know those really big trees that are in your yard that’s branches are really close to your home, well bugs are very intelligent and use those branches to get onto your house and find an entry spot to enter the home. Make sure to keep all trash bins and compost heaps completely covered and away from the house. 

4. Repair Gaps & Tears in Window/Door Screens:

Flying pests will always look for entry points in window or door screens that have tears or rips in them. Make sure to fix or replace those screens. Even though you have screens on every window or door, some pests can still fit through the mesh and only keeping doors and windows shut can keep those out.  

5. Install Door Sweeps:

Some door sweeps will not completely cover an opening. To check these lay down on the floor, so that you are eye level, and look for any light coming through. If you can see any light you may want to change or add a new door sweep to your door to keep pests out. 

6. Keep your Pets Food Cleaned  up:

Like it was said earlier, pests are looking for food. It doesn’t matter where you feed your pets, inside or outside, pests will almost always find it. Therefore you should always keep your pets food cleaned up and put away if they are not eating it. 

7. Store Boxes Off the Floor:

If you leave boxes stored on the floor in your home, pests will take that as a welcoming and will move into those boxes and make their own homes. Try to find room on your shelves to store your boxes to reduce welcoming pests into your home. 

8. Store Firewood Away from Home:

A lot of pests like dark and damp places to live or hang out in. Firewood stacks is always a good place for this. Always keep your firewood stacked on a surface off the ground and as far away from the home as possible. 

9. Check Attic & Crawl Space Vents:

Most Normal window screens are not strong enough to keep like squirrels out. To prevent squirrels and other pests use ¼” hardware cloth on the outside, followed with small mesh screening on the inside.

10. Call Morgan Pest Control:

After doing all, if not most of these things, call Morgan Pest Control to have one of our trained and licensed technicians come out and spray your house. Either the exterior, interior, or both you just let us know what you would like. 

Try all of these steps and see the difference with how many pests are inside your home. Keep those unwanted, unexpected guests out of your home. Make it harder for them to enter into your home. Enjoy living in your home that is now more pest proof than it was before.

Termite Prevention Tips

There are two different types of termites that live in Southern Utah, Subterranean and Drywood Termites. These pests will destroy the wood on your home and it is important to inspect your home and property thoroughly for proper identification is the main key to control these pests. The process to treat these different kinds of termites is different for each type of termite and is very important to perform the proper treatment. 

Subterranean Termites:

These termites live underground and will build tunnels, referred to as mud tubes, to reach food sources. Like most other termite species, they feed on products that contain cellulose. Subterranean termites swarm in the spring, when groups of reproductive termites go off to start new colonies. Subterranean termites need contact with the soil to survive and live underground. They can build tunnels through cracks in concrete to reach the wood structures of you home. 

Drywood Termites:

Unlike subterranean termites, Drywood termites don’t need contact with soil to survive or any other water source. Drywood termites live in dry wood, hence their name, that may be above ground level. Drywood termites build colonies in structural wood, fence and utility posts, furniture, moldings, door and window frames, and so forth. Because termite workers can be difficult to identify, species are often determined based on geographical locations, location of colony, and/or type of wood damage. Most often homeowners find these termites by the piles of debris found in window seals and under location of infestation.

Termite Prevention Tips:

  • Eliminate or reduce moisture in and around the home, which termites need to thrive.
  • Repair leaking faucets, water pipes, and exterior AC units. 
  • Repair soffits and rotted roof shingles.
  • Replace weather stripping and loose mortar around basement foundation and windows.
  • Divert water away from the house through properly functioning downspouts, gutters, and splash blocks.
  • Routinely inspect the foundation of a home for signs of mud tubes, or uneven/bubbling paint and wood that sounds hollow when tapped. 
  • Monitor all exterior areas of wood, including windows, door frames and skirting boards for any noticeable changes. 
  • Maintain an 18-inch gap between the soil and any wood portions of your home.
  • Consider scheduling a professional inspection annually. Wood-boring insect damage is not covered by homeowners’ insurance policies.
  • Store firewood at least 20 feet away from your home. 

Signs of Termites:

  • Quiet clicking sounds coming from the walls
  • Flying termites/ swarming termites
  • If you see White Ants (they aren’t ants they are most likely termites)
  • Hollow sounding wood when tapped on 
  • Mud tubes

Call Us:

If for any reason you feel you have termites in your home, please call and schedule an appointment so a Morgan technician can come and properly identify and solve any issues that are found. Don’t wait as the problem could get worse over time. If you have the littlest thought that you have termites call us at (702)467-8224.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

We would like to wish you and your family a very Happy New Year from all of us at Morgan Termite & Pest Control! We hope you have a great New Years!

-Morgan Termite & Pest Control