Get Your Home Ready To Avoid Fall/Winter Pests!

Maybe your summer was like mine and went by way too quickly.  It is still warm out here in the Portland, Oregon area, but within about a week or so, things will start to cool.  As we all pack up our things and go inside to avoid the coming cold, some pests are looking to do the same thing and it is important that you prepare your home to keep them out.  Here are some common pests that you will see more of in the winter and ways to avoid them.

Spiders

I think that this might be the worse year for spiders that I can remember.  I have had more phone calls for spiders this month then I had all of last year!  Much of this has to do with the mild winter that we had last year.  The spider population managed to gut it out and survive far better then in past years and now we are feeling the effects of it.

There are a few things that you can do to keep spiders out of your home.  First, if you have shrubs close to your home that are touching the structure, you should trim them back.  First, this gives shelter to all kinds of insects and where insects are, spiders will follow to get a free meal.  Also, think about winterizing your home by installing weather stripping and door sweeps.  This will not only keep the cold out, but also the spiders.

Rodents

Rats and mice are by far the most troublesome winter pest.  They do a good job of getting access to your crawl space and nest in your nice, warm insulation without you even knowing about it.  The problem is that this can create a contaminated crawl space and may require you to consider doing a costly crawl space restoration if it gets out of hand.

There are some simple preventative measures that you can take that will go a really long way.  First, do a quick walk around your home and check the foundation vent screens.  Are they all intact?  Are there any gaps where rodents can get in?  I cannot tell you how much money you could save just by plugging up holes in your vent screens.  Many times, your cable guy will come in and punch out a screen to run a wire and just leave a gaping hole for rodents to enter.  You can repair these using screen mesh and some screws (this is better aesthetically if you do this from inside the crawl space, not outside).  But, if you want to go the easy route, you can just put one of those foam inserts that are designed to insulate your vent screens during the winter.

Lastly, you can look for burrowing holes.  As a rule of thumb, look for golf ball size holes (mice) and tennis ball size holes (rats).  If you do see burrow holes, I would caution you from covering them up.  This might cause the rodents to be trapped and die under your home.  My recommendation is going to be self serving, but I recommend you call New Leaf Pest Control to take care of the problem first and then cover the holes.

If you do these simple steps, you can go a long way in eliminating pest problems during the fall and winter.  If you need some help or just have a few questions, we would be pleased to take your call!

How To Prevent Rodents Getting In Your Home This Winter

Rodent Prevention Ideas

As the warm day begin to be fewer and fewer and our cold, wet winter months quickly approach, we start to see fewer bugs in our industry.  However, the rodents are just getting started and there are several things that you can do to avoid having to call us later on.  Here are some simple rodent prevention tips:

1- Eliminate food sources
Probably the best way to get your home overrun with rodents quickly is to give them easy access to a food source. Of course this is not intentional, but many people make this mistake.  For example, if you are feeding birds with a bird feeder or even a squirrel feeder, you are inviting mice to your home.  Rodents are drawn to these areas to pick up all the scraps that fall on the ground. Another less obvious food source is a composter.  Believe it or not, a rat eats pretty healthy food like fruits and vegetables and will often find these scraps here.  If you are willing to take your chances and continue to have these in your yard, at least be aware of it and clean up as much as you can.  You can even have bird feeders that have large plates underneath to stop scraps from falling.

2- Check for missing screens
Rodents love your crawl space and really want to get in.  It provides them with an ideal environment to be safe, create a nest and start a huge family.  Whenever I walk up to a house and see one of their foundation vent screens out, I can almost guarantee that the crawl space has rodents (or worse even worse, raccoons, cats, etc).  These vent screens can be a little tricky to repair correctly.  To make it look nice, you want to reattach the screen from inside the crawl space and nobody likes to go into their crawl space (especially when you know there are rodents down there).  A good temporary solution would be to insert a foam cover inside the broken screen.  You can purchase these at just about any large hardware store and they are pretty universal in size.

3- Look for digging around your foundation
Like I said, rodents really love your crawl space and badly want to get in.  By doing a quick walk around your perimeter you can see if they are trying to burrow their way in.  This of course would not be much of a preventative measure because if you are seeing burrowing, you probably already have rodents, but you can prevent it from getting worse.  What you are looking for are quarter sized holes for mice and larger holes for rats.  If you do see them, you might not want to just cover them up.  This can cause them to die under your home, so doing a rodent treatment might be necessary at this point.

If you are having rodent issues in your home currently, please feel free to call our pest control company.  If not, be sure to do your best to avoid it!

How To Install A Vapor Barrier In Your Crawl Space

Installing a vapor barrier in your crawl space can go a long way in protecting your home from moisture that can damage your subfloor.  Most homes have vapor barriers covering the soil under their houses, but surprisingly many do not.  If your home is one of them, pay attention and I will tell you step by step how it is done.  There is nothing scientific about laying down a vapor barrier.  It is really hard work and is not for the claustrophobic, but any motivated do-it-yourself person could get the job done.  Here is how...

What type of vapor barrier material is needed?

Many older homes have a vapor barrier in place, but are not up to code and may not be functioning the way they should.  The type of material that should be used is a 6 mil black plastic.  If your home is older, you might see a 4 mil plastic or plastic that is clear.  Both of these are not as effective and should be replaced.  Of course, going with a thicker mil is always going to be better, but the cost goes up substantially for anything over 6 mil.  There are many companies using a really high quality vapor barrier that is 20 mil, but this type of material costs thousands of dollars and I am not quite convinced it is worth the price.

Getting started

First, you need to clear the crawl space of debris and any remnants from older sections of vapor barrier.  It is not recommended to lay a new vapor barrier over an old one.  Vapor barrier is often called "Visqueen" which is just a brand name, but there are actually a few brands out there that you can use.  We generally use "Husky" brand which can be purchased from Home Depot.  They come in rolls of 1000 square feet or 2000 square feet, but you want to buy more than the actual square footage of your home because you will be overlapping a lot.  If your home is 1000 square feet, you are probably going to end up using about 1200 square feet of vapor barrier, so plan accordingly.

Installing the vapor barrier

Look for the path of least resistance to roll out the vapor barrier.  Find the longest, widest run between the posts under your home to unroll it.  It is easier to start from the back and work your way towards your crawl space entry.

Cutting the vapor barrier

Like I said earlier, you are going to want to overlap it.  You should have about one foot of plastic overlap the foundation wall and about one foot overlapping the seams of the plastic.  The trickiest part of installing the vapor barrier are all the posts in the way.  When you unfold the plastic, take a sharp box knife and cut flaps to lay on either side of the posts.  It is okay if there is little gaps around the posts. 

Smooth it all out

Once you have it laid out and the flaps between the posts cut, you need to start crawling around and smoothing things out a bit.  Remember to keep about a one foot overlap on the seams and the foundation and realize that some gaps are okay.  A rule of thumb is that at least 95% of the ground must be covered.  

A couple things not to do

Many people ask about taping all of the seams.  This is a lot of extra work and can be useful, but we do not recommend it.  We prefer a floating vapor barrier so that water can drain if a pipe ever bursts or if water gets on top of the vapor barrier.  Think about it, if water cannot drain off the top of the vapor barrier, it is counterproductive to even have one!  

If you think you want to try doing this on your own, you certainly could do it.  Just be prepared for some hard work.  If you are in the Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Washington area and need some help with it, be sure to give us a call.  We can give you a free estimate or at the very least, we can give you some advice.

Why Am I Hearing Scratching In My Walls?

It is a creepy thing to wake up and hear noises you cannot explain.  I once moved into a house and was awakened by a strange scratching noise in the walls of my bedroom.  I was living in Vancouver Washington and wasn't sure if I should call a pest control company.  I let it go on several more nights and I would start hearing the scratching in the middle of the night and it would always keep me up.  I hated that noise, but I couldn't figure out what to do about it.  Should I smash a whole in the wall and find it?  And, what was it anyway?

Now that I am actually running a pest control company, I am a little more informed as to what that scratching noise and other noises really are.  When people “hear something” at night, I can usually help them determine what they are hearing by asking a few questions.  So, let’s go through it together.  I would assume that if you clicked on this blog, you probably have had this issue in the past or have it now.

What was in my walls?

After looking around, I found out that I had mice in my attic and they were pretty bad.  What I found is that the mouse had fallen down into a wall void in an interior wall in my bedroom and was trying to chew its way out.  I decided to let things run its course and did not open the wall up and the mouse actually ended up dying in my wall.  It stunk for about a week and a half, but it wasn't overpowering, so I think I would rather have it stink for a little while than have to repair a hole in the wall.

When the scratching noise is from a rodent

Usually if you are hearing a scratching, chewing or scurrying from a rodent, it is in an interior wall void (like what I had).  Most other animals are not going to fit in such a tiny place.  You will probably only hear it at night and the mouse will move around a little bit and not tend to focus on just one area.  It will also stop making noise if it hears you moving around.  However, if the noise is a constant scratching sound and it doesn't stop when you are making noises, it might be the sound of carpenter ants chewing through the wood.

When you hear noises in the attic?

Depending on how loud the noise is, this can be a few different things.  If it is a really loud banging around, it could be a raccoon or an opossum.  If it is a lighter scurrying, it could be a mouse, but they are so light that they are hard to hear in an attic.  Most likely it is a rat or squirrel.  Rats and squirrels make their way into the attic through openings in the eaves of your roof line.  One thing to keep in mind is that they might not be in your attic at all, but could be running along your roof.  A lot of pest control companies go out to customers home just to find that they don’t have a problem at all and nothing is invading their home.  Lastly, if you hear chirping in your attic, you probably have a birds nest, which are common in this space.

When you hear noises in the crawl space?

Most of the time, if you hear noises in your crawl space, you have something large down there.  Raccoons commonly find their way into your crawl space and can do a lot of damage.  Again, rodents can be down there as well, but they are just not usually very noisy.  In fact, you probably would not hear rats or mice, but if your dog is going crazy and barking at the vents, then he is probably hearing them.

If you are hearing any strange noises and aren't sure what to do about it, please call a Portland pest control company that you can trust.  We are available to answer any questions and help you get rid of that creepy noise so that you can get some sleep!

Will Insurance Cover Raccoon Damage To My Crawl Space?

Maybe you have seen the Allstate commercial where "Mayhem" is a raccoon living in an attic.  Like any good raccoon, he is having the time of his life playing in insulation, chewing on wires and having babies.  Although many people found this commercial humorous, if you have recently had a raccoon in your attic or crawlspace, you are not laughing.

A raccoon can do an enormous amount of damage in very little time.  They generally will start to pull subfloor insulation down to nest in, detach air ducts and possibly chew on wires.  On top of all the damage that they can cause, they leave behind an extremely contaminated space in their wake, so if you think you might have a raccoon (or any other wildlife for that matter) living under your home, it is time to do something about it.

Luckily, many of you have this on your insurance policy right now.  A typical crawl space restoration bid can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars depending on the extent of the damage.  There have been many times that we have come to a customers home and found damage and suggested that the customer call their insurance agent before we start the work.  Many times we have found that the restoration was completely covered and the customer did not even realize it!

Steps to take if you have wildlife living under your home:

1) Call a Pest Control Company:  You need to first get rid of the wildlife in a safe manner.  This can be especially challenging if it is a mother with babies.  A pest control company can professionally trap and remove the animal/s and help you seal entry points (typically they get in from open vent screens in the foundation).  If there is damage in the crawl space, most pest control companies do this kind of work and will give you a bid.

2) Call your insurance agent:  Do not let the pest control company start until you have discussed the matter with your insurance agent.  They may need you to take pictures and allow an insurance adjustor to make sure that the price quoted by the pest control company is within their guidelines.  Unfortunately, there are companies out there that will bid crawl space restorations at outrageous prices, but your insurance company will alert you if this is the case.

3) Get the work done:  Make sure that the pest control company both cleans and disinfects the area.  There can be a lot of contamination left behind when dealing with wildlife.  Also, ask them if a flea treatment is necessary.  Raccoons and other wildlife are loaded with fleas and if they have been living under your home, you might have a problem with them as well.

If you are unsure if you have a wildlife problem and just have a few questions, please give us a call.  If you live in the area and need a Portland Metro Pest Control Company, we would love to hear from you!

Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar / Foter / CC BY-ND

Do Bug Bombs Really Work?

I am sure that you have done this before.  You made everyone clear out of the house and you set up a couple bug bombs around the house, set each of them off and then booked it out of the house.  Listen, I get it.  It seems like the perfect solution for your pest problem.  You nuke them with an aerosol that is supposed to get every nook and crevice.  Unfortunately, all it really accomplishes is coating your home in an oily chemical residue that is basically just a pesticide cocktail.

I remember when I was a kid my parents used these all the time to get rid of fleas.  We would have to leave the house for several hours and after we returned, the place stunk and it just felt gross.  That stuff had to be incredibly bad for us and pretty toxic.  Again, the logic seemed perfect, the fogger would get everything.  However, the only thing that really happens is that the pesticide pushes the insects even farther into walls, cracks, crevices, etc.  If you have had some success with foggers, it probably didn't last, right?  What happened was that the pests retreated and then came back with a week or so.

A recent study from Ohio State University concluded that bug bombs are entirely ineffective on crawling or biting insects.  They did so by placing bed bugs in plates around a room.  They placed various foggers around them and set them off.  The results?  Not much, only a few of them died while the rest seemed completely unharmed.  They did a second test with a tiny bit of paper placed over the dishes for shelter.  In this case, none of them were harmed.  The conclusion is that bed bugs are nearly immune to the effects of bug bombs and the same can be concluded for other types of crawling insects.

In addition to the limited effectiveness, there have been illnesses reported from inhaling the insecticide.  A study that included 8 states in 2008 reported that there were at least 466 injuries from the use of bug bombs and 21 of those had to be hospitalized.

So what are they good for?  Well, they actually work pretty well on flying insects.  If you are going to use them, this is your best bet because it should take care of flies, gnats, etc.  Other than that, they are kind of a waste of money that puts your family at risk.

If you have questions about foggers or any other pest questions, please do not hesitate to call or email.

If you would like assistance with Vancouver Washington pest control, please give us a call.

Will Rodent Bait Hurt My Dog?

One of the first questions that I am always asked when providing a pest control treatment is "is this safe?"  It is a viable question to ask since what I am providing is designed to kill something, right?  If you are reading this article, I would assume two things.  First, you need a pest control treatment and second, that you have a dog or a pet and want to make sure that it is safe.  So, let's see if we can answer that question for you

Why rodent bait is not safe for rodents
Rodents are built a lot different than your dog is.  I am sure that you have seen your dog eat something that it shouldn't have, get sick and throw up all over your carpet.  A rodent, on the other hand, does not have the ability to vomit.  If a rodent eats something that disagrees with it, it has no way to get it out of its system.  This is important because if your dog eats rodent bait, it will get sick and probably throw up, but if a rodent eats that same bait, it cannot do anything about it.  Taking into consideration the differences in body weight, you can see how a little bit of rodent bait is drastically more toxic to rats or mice than it is to dogs.

What will happen if my dog eats the bait?
It would be foolish for anyone to tell you that there is no way that your dog would be harmed if it ate rodent bait.  However, it may not be as harmful as you may think.  For example, a quick look at a common rodenticide product label (Contrac Blox), shows that a possible lethal dose of a 20 pound dog would be approximately 20 blocks.  A standard rodent control treatment generally uses less than this amount, so that would mean the dog would have to eat all of the bait that a pest control company put out, which is not easy to do considering it is required to be placed in a locking tamper-proof box.  (Although they are "tamper-proof", I have a friend who works for a Portland pest control company who said that a Labrador Retriever chewed through two of his rodent bait stations, eating all of the bait inside.  Luckily, it showed no signs of poisoning, but the dog was taken to vet clinic to get treatment just in case.)

What are the signs of rodenticide poisoning?
So, what would happen if it ate just a little bit of bait?  It would probably get sick and despite everything I just said, it should be taken seriously because every dog (or person for that matter) reacts differently when you introduce something new to their digestive system.  A sign that something is wrong is when the dog starts vomiting and has diarrhea.  Sometimes you can see a discoloration in the vomit or diarrhea that is the color of the rodent bait (usually a bright color blue, green or red).  The dog may also start to pant, slobber and seem disoriented.  For any of these signs, we recommend that you take the dog immediately to veterinarian.

The verdict
So, is it safe to bait for rodents when you have a dog?  Well, it is probably safer than most people think, but you still have some risk.  In all my years of pest control, I have never had a dog die, but I have seen a few get sick.  If you do choose to have a pest control company treat for rodents, you should take some extra precautions in keeping your dog away from the baited area.  If you take some simple steps, I think that you can safely and effectively get rid of rodents.