Your House is Your Haven: Don't Neglect the Interior

Home Protection Strategies To Keep Your Home Safe From Fall Pests And Moisture Instrusion

by Cherly King

With fall approaching and cooler temperatures, it is important to protect your home against threats from outside. This includes pests, such as insects and mice, and water intrusion from fall and winter weather. Here are some recommendations to prepare your home for fall and protect it from intrusion from pests and moisture through openings, gaps, and around your home's foundation.

Seal Up Home Openings

One of the first things you can do to protect against mice from entering your home seeking a warm place to hide is to check around doors and windows for any openings. Any small gap that exists around your door's threshold and the door as small as one-fourth of an inch can allow a rodent access into your home. This is also the case around your window screens and glass. Install new weatherstripping around your exterior door frames if you can see any daylight shining through the gap between your door and its frame.

Apply caulk and some steel wool to seal up any small openings and gaps around your windows and screens. Then, check around any electrical or internet wiring and plumbing or gas lines that enters your home to seal up openings around them with caulk and steel wool. You can also talk to a pest control professional to make sure your home is properly sealed.

Treat for Insects and Spiders

Mice are not the only intruders that can enter into your home when temperatures fall. Spiders and insects are also seeking a warm place to live and can get into your home through your doorways and open windows.

You can prevent this from occurring by applying an insecticide around the frames of exterior windows and down around inside any window wells. Then, apply the same treatment to any exterior door frames and the doors to create a pesticide barrier, which helps keep them from making it into your home alive.

Protect Home Foundation from Moisture

In addition to causing water damage to your interior, moisture entering your home can also attract home pests as it provides a source of water for them to survive on while they make your home theirs. If the soil around your home's foundation can become saturated enough during a storm, the water will seep into your foundation and basement through small cracks and gaps.

Make sure your home's exterior roof drainage and gutters are working right to deliver water well away from your home's foundation. If your home does not have properly functioning gutters, hire a gutter professional to have them repaired or install a new gutter system.

The aforementioned tips will help to seal your home to prevent mice and other rodents from entering it, but if you need further assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to a pest control professional.

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