64 Do It Yourself Pest Control & Pest Prevention Tips

With springtime right around the corner, not only do we get the pleasure of the trees and flowers coming back to life, many homeowners find that their homes are a safe haven for pests. Whether it’s bugs, mice, critters or snakes, almost every home has some kind pest control need that needs to be addressed as part of your annual spring cleaning chores.

Te help you decide if Do It Yourself Pest Control is something you want to attempt, we decided to put together a list of simple tasks you can do to prevent pests from entering your home this year. We also review how they may or may not help you with your DIY pest control needs. If you’re a homeowner who has successfully taken on your own pest control project around your home, please jump in below and share your efforts and results.

If you are like us and prefer to use a professional exterminator service that takes care of everything from prevention to management, get a free quote for pest control, and eliminate the worries all season!

Ants | Roaches | Flies & Mosquitoes | Snakes | Mice & Rats | Birds | Critters | Spiders

64 Tips for Keeping Pests Out of Your House

We’ve compiled a list of preventative tips for DIY pest control. Please send in your own tips by using the comment form at the end of the page. Lets see how high we can get the number of tips up to! If you prefer to let a Pro handle it, get a free pest control quote now.

9 Tips for Ants

1. Use weatherproof caulking to seal all cracks around doors and windows.
2. Keep all counters and kitchen surfaces clean and dried at all times. (ants like sugar and food)
3. Get a commercial pesticide specifically designed for ants from Lowes or Home Depot, and use a small pump sprayer to spray around the entire perimeter of your home
4. Keep tree branches from touching your home or hanging over the roof, ants will drop in from above.
5. Never use wooden landscaping chips or bark mulch directly against the side of your home.
6. Apply or replace weatherstripping at the bottom and sides of all doors and windows.
7. Don’t bring firewood into your home for storage.
8. Keep boxes off the floor and away from your walls
9. Keep window sills and corners of your walls swept or vacuumed

6 Ways How to Control and prevent Cockroaches and Beetles

1. Sweep the floors daily
2. Keep trash and waste cans away from the home
3. Rinse out old food containers and dispose of immediately
4. Nevel leave open food containers lying around
5. Pull out and clean behind appliances regularly
6. Maintain clean cabinets and food storage areas

9 Tips for Controlling Flies, Bees and Mosquitoes

1. Kill bee nests immediately
2. Standing water
3. Citronella candles or torches
4. Fill baggies with water and lie around the outside
5. Only plant flowers that attract bees away from common areas
6. Make sure screens fit tightly and have no holes
7. Keep garbage can lid firmly attached
8. Wash down spilled drinks or food spills immediately
9. Keep outdoor lighting off structures and away from doorways

6 Methods of Keeping Snakes and Other Reptiles Away

1. Seal all holes in exterior of home
2. Avoid stacking firewood against the house
3. Use moth balls around perimeter of yard
4. Keep grass and natural areas trimmed neatly
5. Remove fallen limbs and old tree trunks from yard
6. Avoid rock piles around your home

Knowing which snakes live in your area, and which are good and bad is very important.

5 Tips to Get Rid of Mice and Rodents

1. Don’t kill the good snakes in your area.
2. Get a cat. 🙂
3. Use mice bait that they can take back to nest and kill the infestation
4. Put down mousetraps in the pathway you see them running
5. Keep cabinets and food storage areas clean and make sure no open boxes exist.

9 Tips to Prevent Birds and Bats from Living in your Home

1. Seal all attic vents with heavy screen
2. Attach fake owls to gutters to control Woodpeckers
3. Learn to identify bat droppings to prevent large manifestations
4. Place bird feeders away from doors and windows you open often
5. Keep your doors and windows shut after dark
6. Put a menthol or eucalyptus scent in your attic; like Vicks VapoRub
7. Have a good quality Chimney cap installed onto your fireplace
8. Make sure all vent pipes and tubes on roof have screens installed over the top of them to keep the birds out.
9. Build a birdhouse and locate it away from the house where they can live

9 Ways to Control Racoons and Other Large Critters

1. Secure garbage can lids with bungee cords
2. Get an outside dog
3. Don’t leave pet food outside
4. Place sheet metal band around trees so they can’t climb them
5. Scrape food particles off grill after use
6. Secure doggie doors to prevent entrance to your home
7. Clean up the ground under bird feeders
8. Keep vines and branches away from your home so they can’t climb them to gain access to your roof
9. Consider installing wire garden fencing to keep out larger animals

How Do You Control Pests in your Home?

Contribute your own Do it Yourself pest Control Tips to the comments box below.