5 Most Common Household Pests and How to Control Them

You’ll find the country’s most common household pests here in Roanoke. The top five are cockroaches, mice, rats, termites and ants, the National Pest Control Association says.

Want to keep them out? Keep your home in good repair, don’t provide a food source and repair anything that allows standing water to collect inside or immediately outside the home.

Here are a few tips to help control each of these kinds of pests.

Cockroaches

Roaches like to hide under things, so remove clutter, such as boxes stacked on a basement floor. Next, eliminate any food source, such as crumbs on floors, spilled pantry items in cabinets or open bags of pet food. Use baited insect traps to eliminate them and track your success. Bug sprays can be ineffective against roaches.

Mice

A mouse can get inside through a hole the size of a dime, so take the time to inspect the exterior of your home and seal up any cracks or holes that could offer an enterprising mouse an entrance. Look for gaps around pipes, cables, utilities, older windows and garage doors and seal with caulk, spray foam or weatherstripping. Once inside, mice will leave droppings everywhere and will reproduce often, so take immediate action. There are a range of control options to meet your comfort level at either trapping or killing the mice.

Rats

Rats can also squeeze through small holes and crevices to get inside, where they seek out food and a warm spot to nest. Rats also cause costly damage by gnawing on wood, insulation and wires. Because they’re larger than mice, rats are often trapped instead of poisoned. 

Termites

Termites destroy lumber and other wood products and often must be professionally removed. To guard against termite infestation, make sure water drains away from your foundation, that your home is well ventilated and that you remove any dampness from inside using a dehumidifier or mositure barrier. Make sure any wood being stored is kept off the ground and keep wood piles and firewood far away from your home.

Ants

One solitary ant exploring your house can quickly lead to many others if that first ant finds a food source. The best defenses are to caulk up cracks or holes on the exterior of your home and to clean up crumbs or food spills inside the home. Soapy water is effective in killing and removing any ants you find crawling around inside. Bait traps designed especially for ants are also effective.

Bug Man Exterminating Can Help

The pros at Bug Man Exterminating can exterminate these common pests and anything else that you encounter in Roanoke, so contact us today.  Bug Man has been Roanoke’s trusted source for pest control since 1994. We specialize in green pest control solutions, and all our experts are extensively trained and fully certified.