How to Find and Stop 4 Common Infestations Before You Sell Your Home
How to Find and Stop 4 Common Infestations Before You Sell Your Home
Sep 2, 2019 by Lauren Norris
Trying to sell your home with a pest infestation is going to be very difficult, and those unwanted critters could greatly decrease the value of your property. Luckily, most rodents and bugs can easily be eradicated as long as you catch the infestation early on.
Mice
In addition to being an extremely unpleasant problem, a mouse infestation can also be highly dangerous. Rodents often carry a wide range of diseases including the hantavirus, meningitis, the plague, and rat-bite fever. The most common signs of a mouse infestation include scurrying noises in the walls, musky smells in the cupboards, gnawed plastic, and dark brown tracks near the baseboards. To get rid of unwanted rodents, you will need to set out traps, hide all of your food, and make sure that there is no standing water on your property.
Cockroaches
While cockroaches don’t bite or sting, they can bring bacteria in your home. If you have a cockroach nest nearby, then you will most likely notice piles of egg casings or fecal droppings. Those piles often resemble dirt, but they tend to be grainier and drier. The most effective way to keep cockroaches out of your house is to make sure that you clean up as often as possible. When cockroaches can’t find food and water, they usually die off on their own.
Termites
A termite infestation can bring your life to a grinding halt, and those bugs could easily cause thousands of dollars in damage in a matter of months. Some insecticides will kill termites in a small area, but you must contact a termite treatment specialist if you are dealing with a major infestation. You can also have a termite specialist spray an invisible barrier around your property so that those bugs never make it into your home in the first place.
Bed Bugs
Some people are incredibly allergic to bed bug bites, and that is why you should never ignore the warning signs of a bed bug infestation. When these critters nest in your home, you might begin to notice dark red or deep brown spots on your sheets. Bed bugs also produce a musty smell from their scent glands, and that odor is usually the strongest around beds, couches, and piles of clothes. To eradicate bed bugs, you will need to thoroughly sanitize every single piece of fabric in your home.Even if you haven’t found any signs of an infestation on your property, you still need to schedule preventative pest control services. In many cases, infestations can be prevented entirely with a long-term pest control plan that includes biannual service calls.
Meghan Belnap / Blogger, Researcher and Freelance Writer
Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.
