NOVATO — When it comes to keeping your home free of pests, rodents are a primary concern. Here are a few tips on how to both prevent rodents from entering your home and remove them after the fact.
Prevention 
The most basic way to prevent rodents from accessing your home is to identify and seal any exterior openings that may potentially serve as entrances. Walk around the perimeter of your house and look for cracks, gaps or breaches that are larger than your little finger. Additionally, inspect the condition of all basement screen vents to make sure they don’t provide any kind of access. When repairing damaged screens, be sure to use quarter-inch galvanized mesh, which is strong enough to deter rodents.
Removal 
If rodents have already made their way inside your home, there are several ways to deal with them. While poison is a common treatment, it’s not recommended, as rodents that ingest the poison are then free to roam throughout your home before expiring, which makes carcass recovery a difficult task. In contrast, traps are a much more convenient method. When using traps, make sure you choose bait the rodents are attracted to, like nuts, fruits or vegetables. Using the right bait on the trigger will improve your chances of getting rid of these pests.

by Richard Estrada, a Diamond Certified Expert Contributor

How to Prevent and Remove Rodents

Avoiding Pest Problems Caused by Subterranean Moisture

How to Deal With Ants in Your Home

Pest-Proofing Your Home Exterior

Video: Dealing With Ants in Your Home


whether you want to prevent ants or get
rid of an existing infestation you can
benefit from an expert's advice today
we're in Petaluma with diamond certified
expert contributor Richard Estrada of
ATCO pest control to learn a few tips at
various times of the year ants make
their way inside our home the common
question that we get is what should I do
I would avoid using any over-the-counter
sprays this tends to make the problem
worse
they're usually insecticides that flush
insects out and so when used on ants
they tend to just scatter they will have
some control but we strongly recommend
that you just take a washcloth or a
sponge soaked in water and soap and wipe
up that trail this will do away with the
problem that you're facing and then take
a look around and see what they're
attracted to strongly encourage
homeowners to rinse out containers
before they put them in recycling if you
can keep recycling in garbage away from
the kitchen area if that's at all
possible it just it doesn't give them
any food source when you do that and
then the other thing I would recommend
is find the trail of ants where did it
come from
and show your pest professional when
they arrive this will help them in being
able to effectively treat those ants for
you
to learn more from local top rated
companies visit our diamond certified
expert reports at experts diamond
certified org


Video: Keeping Rodents Out Of Your Home


if there are rodents disrupting your
neighborhood there are some ways that
you can keep rodents out of your home
today we're in Nevada with diamond
certified expert contributor Richard
Estrada of at coest control to learn how
the easiest thing you can do in keeping
rodents out of your home is to identify
all the openings around a home if you
take your pinky and just walk around the
side and identify all the openings that
are the size of your pinky seal them
you'll be able to keep rodents
out the other thing is inspect all of
your screen vents they should be in good
repair if any of them are damaged repair
them also when ceiling openings use
quter inch galvanized screen rodents are
not able to get through that
size in getting rid of rodents we
encourage you not to use
poisons rats can eat poison and die
anywhere instead use traps and the
easiest are these snap traps make sure
you choose bait that the rodents are
attracted to could be walnuts or acorns
or even fruits or vegetables using them
on the trigger will help you be
successful in getting rid of
rodents to learn more from local top
rated companies visit our Diamond
certified expert reports at expert .
Diamond certified. org

Video: Pest-Proofing Your Home Exterior


one of the things we recommend
for
homeowners is to walk around your home
on a regular basis
and identify any openings
around your home that could be allowing
rodents to enter
so typically you can take the size of
your pinky or even your index finger
and probe around
if there are any openings that are the
size of your pinky or your index finger
most likely a small rat or a mouse can
enter
the other thing that you want to utilize
is a good flashlight as you walk around
your home
this will reveal to you where all those
openings are
and then should there be any openings
instead of just filling them with steel
wool
we recommend using quarter inch
galvanized hardware cloth
this will keep rodents out they will not
be able to chew or poke through it
and as you walk around your home
take a look at the
screen vents
these allow your home to be able to
breathe underneath the home
and oftentimes these will be damaged so
if you see these damaged
then you can replace these just by
picking these up at the hardware store

to learn more from local top-rated
companies visit our diamond certified
expert reports at
experts.diamondcertified.org


Video: Preventing Moisture-Related Pest Issues


few homeowners realize that moist
conditions beneath the home can lead to
pest issues today we're in Petaluma with
diamond certified expert contributor
Richard Estrada of ATCO pest control to
learn more throughout the course of the
year we recommend that you have a
professional take a look under your home
if there's standing water or moisture
issues these can create pest issues such
as subterranean termites or it can lead
to surface decaying fungus forming on
wood below your home so it's just a good
idea to take a periodic look and make
sure that there's no standing water if
there is look for ways in which this can
be removed or covered by means of the
vapor barrier to learn more from local
top rated companies visit our diamond
certified expert reports at experts
diamond certified org


Richard Estrada: Getting the Bugs Out

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