Oct 24, 2023 | Florida Pest Control
Silverfish are a prominent pest found in most Florida neighborhoods, including Hialeah. They typically show up in homes that offer high humidity and moisture, which is the perfect environment for these pests. These creatures aren’t harmful to humans but can become a nuisance if they infest your home.
How to Identify Silverfish in Hialeah
These brown-gray to bluish-silver colored pest can get up to ½” in length and have six legs and an elongated body. They are known to rapidly move with fish-like movements and do not have wings.
You will typically find these pests in bathrooms, usually in the sink, bathtub, or crawling along the floor near a wall. They can survive a year without food but need humid temperatures and moisture to survive. Paper and photos make an ideal meal for these pests, but starchy substances like carpet glue, book bindings, wallpaper, plaster, and some paints will also attract these creatures.
How to Prevent Silverfish in Hialeah
Other than spotting silverfish themselves, there are various signs that these pests have infested your home. Pay attention to their feeding marks, these can look like holes, notches along an edge surface, or surface etchings. Here are some steps you can take to prevent these pests:
Control humidity in home
They prefer to live in areas that offer 75-95 percent relative humidity, which is not uncommon in South Florida. Air conditioners and dehumidifiers are vital for making your home environment less attractive to silverfish.
Store items in plastic bins with lids over cardboard boxes
Silverfish and other pests like to hang out in cardboard boxes, so utilizing plastic bins for storage is a good way to prevent silverfish and other pests.
If you’re having issues with silverfish in your Hialeah, FL home, call your local pest control company today to request a free inspection.
Oct 17, 2023 | Florida Pest Control
Seeing roaches in your Lauderdale Lakes home?
Roaches are highly adaptable creatures and can find their way inside your home through the tiniest of gaps. Once they begin reproducing is when you start to see the problems that roaches bring. Understanding the factors that attract these pests into your home is the first step to preventing them!
Best ways to prevent roaches in your Lauderdale Lakes home:
Remove Food Sources
Roaches prefer to eat sugar, carbs, and protein but will eat about anything they can find. Regularly clean up any leftover food, spills, or crumbs on tables, countertops, and appliances, especially after cooking or eating a meal. After a grocery trip or storing leftovers, look to place your food in airtight containers. Be sure to also empty your trash at least once a week and clean out the trash container of any spilled liquids or leftover food regularly.
Remove Water Sources
Did you know that roaches can survive without water for 2 weeks? It’s true! Despite this, they still seek out water as much as they can and will enter homes if they’ve found it. It’s important to remove any standing water inside or outside of your home. Look to remove water near drains and sinks, particularly overnight. Your crawlspace and basement can create excess moisture; consider utilizing a dehumidifier or installing a moisture barrier or crawlspace enclosure to help.
Remove Shelter
Roaches love clutter, making it essential to remove any unnecessary items from your home, garage, and attic. Get rid of any old cardboard boxes, newspapers, and magazines. Check your interior walls, skirting, electrical outlets, baseboards, sinks, and cabinets for any gaps or openings, sealing them as soon as possible. Make sure your windows and doors are sealed and consider utilizing weatherstripping. Likewise, ensure all your exterior lighting turns off at night as it can attract rodents and household pests.
If you notice more roaches than normal in your Lauderdale Lakes home, be sure to give your local pest control company a call today for a free inspection and a customized pest plan to help prevent cockroaches!
Oct 10, 2023 | Florida Termite Control
Termite Control Oakland Park
Once termites have infested your Florida home, it’s hard to stop their damage. Both drywood and subterranean termites can wreak havoc, often going undetected for long periods of time, with repairs costing thousands of dollars. The best way to avoid termite damage is investing in termite control. Check out some termite control options for your Oakland Park home.
Termite Treatment Options in Florida
Bait Stations
Bait stations, including the Sentricon Always Active Station, are installed by a pest professional and placed at the perimeter of your home to eliminate subterranean termites. The bait stations provide termites with a food source, which contains a slow-acting termiticide treatment that termites will take back to their colony, eventually eliminating it. A bait station is great to utilize where surface treatments cannot be used, including near foundation drains and areas covered by slabs or flooring. This option is a long-termite preventative solution to avoid termite infestations.
Liquid Termite Defense
Liquid termite treatments are a great way to combat subterranean termites and their colonies. This treatment option is a great way to prevent termites from invading your home. The treatment requires a pest control company to dig a trench around the perimeter of your foundation. Once the trench is dug, a termiticide is injected in the proper intervals. The treatment utilized isn’t instant to give enough time for termites to bring it back to the queen and ultimately eliminate the entire colony at hand.
No-Tent Termite Treatment
The no-tent termite treatment option is best used when drywood termites have infested your home. This option is a great alternative to tent fumigation when you’re not able to vacate the home for treatment. A no-tent termite solution utilizes a non-repellent product into drywood termite galleries to eliminate the termites found in your home. The treatment is slow acting to allow the termites who have come in contact with the product to take it back to the queen and colony to eliminate it.
Dealing with a termite infestation is less than ideal so it’s important to understand preventative measures that you can keep in mind and place throughout your home to avoid their infestation.
DIY termite control tips:
- Reduce openings that offer access to termites by filling cracks in cement foundations or around gaps where utilities enter the home with cement, caulk, or grout.
- Eliminate sources of water, including fixing leaks found inside or outside of your home immediately
- Repair and close any entry points that are leading into your home
- Keep your attic and crawlspace well-ventilated to help reduce moisture; consider utilizing a dehumidifier.
- Remove old trees, lumber, or tree stumps found throughout your property
- Contact your local pest control company to provide you with a thorough termite inspection and the best termite control plan based on your home’s needs.
Oct 3, 2023 | Florida Mosquito Control, Florida Pest Control
Mosquito season is still in full swing in Homestead, Florida, which means there’s still time to implement some mosquito prevention strategies to lessen the population of mosquitoes around your property. Let’s go over the best tips to get started right away.
Florida Mosquito Prevention
Prevention Tip 1: Remove All Standing Water
Mosquitoes love standing water and even utilize these areas as breeding grounds. The easiest way to identify the worst of these areas is noticing clouds of mosquitoes flying above still bodies of water such as ponds and lakes. If you have any stagnant water in your garden or yard, whether it’s a bird bath, bucket, pool cover, gutters, or even some landscaping, it’s best to remove it or change out the water. Additionally, remove any mosquito eggs that have been deposited along the edges of these items by scrubbing the surfaces.
Prevention Tip 2: Maintain Your Landscaping
Did you know that mosquitoes, just like humans, prefer to be out of the sunshine every once in a while? They prefer to hang out in tall grass, shrubbery, bushes, and foliage. Here are some quick tips to help maintain your lawn to lessen mosquitoes:
- Trim bushes, tree limbs, etc.
- Mow lawn regularly
- Use plants that act as natural mosquito deterrents – Citronella, Lavender, Marigold, Basil, and Catnip!
Prevention Tip 3: Recurring Mosquito Service
Mosquitoes can seem like an endless battle, but you should never have to handle it alone. There are several mosquito control options you can invest in for your Homestead property. A local Florida pest control company can provide you with a mosquito reduction plan that is perfect for your needs and schedule. Request a FREE mosquito estimate today!
Sep 28, 2023 | Florida Pest Control
It’s inevitable to come across certain pests, especially during the warmer months of the year. Though, with Florida’s tropical weather year-round, it can seem like dealing with pests is nonstop. Roaches, mice, mosquitoes, and ants are just a few pests that can take over a household, become an annoyance, spreading disease, and causing damage to your home. One of the best ways to avoid a pest infestation is preventing them in the first place by placing do-it-yourself pest proofing measures throughout your home. Check out our list of DIY pest control tips you can utilize:
Make Your Home Less Pest-Attractive
Pests are attracted to three things: food, shelter, and water. The best way to keep pests from entering your home is to get rid of what they’re attracted to. Try to keep your home as clean as possible, vacuuming and sweeping on a regular basis. Likewise, repair any leaky pipes and faucets both inside and outside of your home. Avoid leaving your pet’s food and water bowls overnight, taking them in and storing their leftover food in plastic containers with lids. Declutter your home, removing any old magazines, newspapers, and cardboard boxes you don’t need.
Seal Them Out
Mice, ants, and roaches can enter through the smallest hole or gap they find. It’s important to take the time to inspect the outside of your home for any potential entry points, sealing them up with either caulk or steel wool, depending on how large it is. Don’t forget to check foundations, food frames, windows, utility pipes, cables and wires, and the roof for any potential opening pests could enter in from. Repair any broken windows or screens and fil openings in pipes and vents.
Don’t Forget Outside
To get to your home, pests must enter your yard first, so it’s important to keep it less attractive to them as it is your home. Regularly mow your grass, keeping it short and eliminating any weeds. Remove piles of leaves, debris, and fallen branches from your yard. Look to eliminate any clutter or items you don’t need, such as old automobiles, trashcans, tires, and dumpsters. If you store wood, keep it elevated from the ground and at least 20 feet from your home.
Eliminate Moisture
Pests need water to survive, and the smallest amount of standing water will attract pests like termites and mosquitoes. Keeping your home as dry as possible is key to avoiding their infestation. Check around your home for any water leaks and look for loose fixtures or dripping faucets too. If you have a crawlspace, consider utilizing a dehumidifier to decrease excess moisture. Make sure you clear any debris and leaves from your gutters, especially after a hurricane or thunderstorm.
Consider the Pros
Sometimes, a pest infestation needs more attention than DIY pest control methods can provide. If you’re still seeing an influx of pests or would like to get ahead of pest prevention, consider reaching out to a local pest control company for some help. These professionals will identify the pest at hand, provide proper treatment, and recommend the best prevention techniques you can use at home to avoid a future pest infestation.
