All posts in “crawlspace”

Rodents in attic

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Rodents and your attic

The attic and mice or rodents can be a real issue for homeowners. By now you should know that flies are my evil #1 pests and rodents rank as #2. That whole thing of flies landing in your backyard and then getting in and laying on your food just grosses me out. But anyway back to rodents, mice urinate as they walk and rats and mice will defecate almost anyplace. They can track over the ground and then scurry across your food, they can spread salmonellae and other parasitic diseases.  They also are known for the carry of Black Death or Bubonic Plague.

Just one mouse or rodent in the house, is one too many. So what do you do to prevent rodents from getting?

attic

  1. Check your property for holes and entry points.
  2. Fix screen, windows and doors. Use thresholds and door guards.
  3. Check weep holes and replace, they do wear out.
  4. Don’t allow clutter around the house.
  5. Trim trees and bushes from the home.
  6. Don’t allow sprinklers to hit the home.
  7. Call ProBest Pest Management 602-249-7378 for help in any matter related to pests.

Great information on Mothballs.

Comments Off on Great information on Mothballs.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi254

I’ve always been worried when I hear stories about people throwing them into attics or crawlspaces.

This product can be dangerous and shouldn’t be used without reading and following the label and sds.

Are there more issues with termites in crawlspace homes?

Comments Off on Are there more issues with termites in crawlspace homes?

There are probably no more issues than with a monolithic or floating slabs and some would say crawlspaces are easier to see.

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I would venture to say that in my opinion Post Tension is probably better, the ability to pull concrete together helps to avoid the pitfalls of cracks developing. Crawlspaces can be tricky because I have seen some that were impossible to crawl, less than 18 inches high or so many obstacles in the way. But with the right height and limited obstacles crawlspaces can easily inspected. I would suggest a yearly inspection and that inspector can also mention things like:

  • water pipes leaking
  • air conditioning vents on ground
  • sometimes under mobile homes they leave the wheels in place, these need to be inspected as well
  • pillars (block or metal) checked
  • insulation falling or loose
  • crawlspace access points not sealed or in place, loose or non existent metal
  • dirt falling in

Anyway you get the point, yearly inspections

Does your pest company still power spray or spray inside monthly?

Comments Off on Does your pest company still power spray or spray inside monthly?

 

There are several things happening around the U.S. which may impact pest control in your specific area.

  • The EPA has been trying to reduce the use of rodentcides, mainly due to secondary poisonings. My hope is that people use common sence in placement of poisons, don’t randomly throw packets throughout attics or crawlspaces. ProBest has not used any of those packets since 2005 and we have swtiched to Terad3 in rodent stations.
  • The restrictions of pesticides continue, power spraying of Permethrin type chemicals are just one of the ways the EPA is limiting chemical usage.

The use of IPM or Integrated Pest Management continues to be the choice of real prevention of pests. So here are a few tips to reduce the use of pesticides and allow them to continue to be used in the future.

  1. Be aware of placement especially of rodentcides. I’m a big fan of not using any rodenticide within a structure, use of snap traps can be just as effective.
  2. Use pestcides that can be hidden and placed where insects will find them, crack and crevices, block voids and wall voids.
  3. Don’t spray any flowering plant.
  4. Follow IPM standards.
  5. Always read and follow label and use directions.
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