Tips to Keep Your House Bug-Free

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You've gone to great lengths to get your house ready to show and sell.

It's beautiful.

Your home's curb appeal is outstanding, your lawn is full of environmentally friendly native plants and grasses and your backyard could be featured in Home and Garden. You've done all the recommended updates to your home.

And your kitchen? Wow! You've spared no expense to make it perfect. From granite counters to professional grade stainless steel appliances to that new porcelain sink -- it's fantastic. And when your prospective home buyers check out that brand new sink, they might just notice the two-inch cockroach enjoying it as much as you do...

Cockroach? In your brand-new kitchen? Don't panic just yet.

Just as sure a sign of spring as the trees turning green, the warm weather brings out the creepy crawlies and flying fiends. While bugs may be an extremely important part of the ecosystem, they belong outside, not in your kitchen sink. Many are just a nuisance, but some are actually destructive to your home -- especially termites and carpenter ants -- and can cause very expensive damage.

The good news is that by following a few simple steps, you can make your home bug free:

  1. Make sure all exterior wood is finished or painted. Several types of bees and ants prefer to nest in unfinished wood. Finishing your wood is best all-around, because unfinished wood deteriorates faster.
  2. Termites are attracted to firewood piled against the side of your house or fence, so keep these dry and covered.
  3. Repair all water leaks and replace rotted wood right away.
  4. Keep your food in sealed containers and keep your kitchen clean. Ants love food that's sitting out (yes, even pet food), especially small traces of crumbs and spills you might not notice. But ants do! Wipe down countertops and rinse sinks to eliminate attractive fruit juices.
  5. Insects love animals, so keep your pets clean and use flea and tick repellent.
  6. Seal all cracks and holes that give bugs access to the inside of your house. Be sure to check crawlspaces and along the foundation.
  7. While they might scare you, spiders are actually your best defense against bugs. They love to eat bugs! So think twice about getting rid of all spiders.
  8. Indoor plants may attract bugs, so check them regularly. If you find evidence of bugs, find a spray that targets just those bugs.
  9. Get those dirty dishes off the table, out of the sink and washed up (or at least in the dish washer), right after every meal. Standing water and food particles attract all sorts of pests.
  10. Get garbage out of the house as soon as possible. Garbage should be in plastic bags, tied and placed in sealed/covered cans out of the sun as much as possible.
  11. Get rid of all accumulated water and puddles near your home. These are choice breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
  12. Keep bird feeders near your home. Birds also love insects, so having them around can't hurt the fight. Just don't place the bird feeder on your deck, unless you enjoy hosing off your deck every day to eliminate bird droppings.
  13. Termites love damp areas, so make sure all rain water drains away from your home and doesn't seep back into your foundation.
  14. Try using motion-sensing outdoor lights. These not only save electricity and money, but they don't serve as a constant attraction for bugs the way normal lights do.

Bugs in your home can be a distraction and even cause serious problems. But you can easily keep them at bay. Keeping your home as bug-free as possible will make it easier to sell and more enjoyable for you until you do sell your home. If you think you may have a serious bug problem, call a professional. They will inspect your home and remove bugs and bug nests. These tips will help, but a serious infestation should be handled by professionals before expensive damage is caused.

This article is reprinted by permission from Quicken Loans © 2007 Quicken Loans Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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