All posts in “storage”

Garage Trim

Garage Trim

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Garage Trim

The garage trim is an important feature in your home, its supposed to keep out stuff. Mice, bugs etc come around a corner and quite possibly find an easy way in. We feature a wide variety of home-seal techniques to keep the bugs/rodents out. Storm Shield is just a easy way to keep rain and bugs out, it compresses against the garage trim to make a seal. Over the years of living in a home, things wear out and need replacing. Door seal, window seals and even weep screens need checking. We also install Garage Door Rodent Guards, they adhere to the bottom of the runner/plastic trim on garage seals. They deter mice/rodents from gnawing at the base and gaining entry.

Wildlife & birds

I had a customer call once with a skunk inside the garage, I really thought it would just mousey on but it didn’t. They had left the garage door open and it decided to take up home in a cabinet. We had to trap the skunk, it wouldn’t leave. But is wasn’t before it decided to squirt one day, then they had to leave the door open. It even permeated the house, yuuuuuck! Birds and wildlife can also build nests in the dryer vent exhaust, we clean them and install a device to stop them from building or getting inside.

Kitchen tubes

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Kitchen tubes termites

Kitchen tubes and termites, always a freaky thing to discover. This was of course unusual and of course there was a shower bathtub on the other side. This makes it difficult to treat, almost making it impossible to get to the bath-trap. Maybe the possibility of angle drilling, but whoa pipes in the way.

Checking your home monthly for signs of termite tubes is helpful in determining an active infestation. Check for signs outside at the foundation and check inside for any signs of soil/dirt tubes and stains. In Arizona termites become more active after monsoon and the rains. This year we have had a lot of rain, so keep an eye out for signs.

 

Storage Firewood

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Storage Firewood

The correct way to store firewood, keep it high and dry and away from the pests. This keeps the air circulation around the firewood and allows the firewood to dry and age correctly. At the same time it prevents pests from coming straight up the ground into the wood,. Still have to be careful and rodents and other critters may still be able to hide within the spaces of the wood. Be especially careful of Black Widow spiders, and always wear gloves when moving firewood. This simple device below is ideal, it keeps the firewood dry and off the ground, you can also put a tarp over it. I also like the cement pads. You may get other pests like wasps or spiders but as I mentioned use gloves and check things out before you begin to move the wood.

Bring in only what you need and don’t store it inside. I have seen Powder Post Beetles come out of the wood, stored in the winter inside when it became wood enough to let them think it was summer.

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What can you do to prevent termite activity in your garage?

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Soapbox Alert  —–  Soapbox Alert

 

One of the hardest things that I run across when dealing with termites in the garage are built in shelves. The problem is their location in regards to the expansion joint. Now I agree where else would you build the shelves, certainly not the center of the garage – that would be impractical. Here is my suggestion – don’t secure the bottom shelf. This would allow us the option of removing that shelf and drilling our necessary holes to prevent termites.

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Why do they allow import of old used tires?

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How often do you think a new bug makes it to our shores? Have you ever thought how did that bug make it into the USA? Sometimes we make it easy for the bug to travel, like when you move from one state on the east coast to the west and you bring boxes which were in storage. We brought Mongoose to Hawaii for the rats and that didn’t work, nobody thought about the rat being nocturnal and the Mongoose is out during the day. Asian Tiger Mosquitoes (carries viruses like Dengue & West Nile) were accidentally introduced in tires brought in from China in 1985, the Black rat probably hitched a ride on early European ships, Asian Longhorned Beetle native to Asia and the Cotton Whitefly came from India.

Photo provided by PPMA

Photo provided by PPMA

Thanks to all our Border Agents tasked with checking and rechecking all those shipments.

How do those scorpions get into your home?

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One of my favorite calls relates to how scorpions get into bathrooms or showers. People tell me they come up drains and that is incorrect. Arizona Bark Scorpions enter your home by crawling up stucco and gaining access into your attic. They then crawl around and under the insulation and finally they come to a recess light or something that was cut through the ceiling drywall. See all those cracks and if your home isn’t sealed well enough they will fall right into your house. Sometimes there are lights or fans right above the bath or shower and they just fall in. So here is my advice, pull down the plate that covers these holes and caulk the hole. This should be done on the top floor ceiling or if you live in a single story house the ceiling. On our website is a list of things we attempt to seal when we perform a Home-Sealing.

Self Storage pests issues

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“Why self-storage operators should use Professional Pest Management services“. Excellent article from the National Pest Management Association on the truth and myths of storage facilities. Here are few ideas that I had in regards to this topic:

  • I’ve actually used a few storage facilities over the years and I must say that the ones I have used have been extremely clean and well kept. But with that being said you never know what someone can or will bring in.
  • If the building is older – when was the termite work done. Termite treatments don’t last forever and something popping in and damaging someone’s personal possessions can account for some serious agony.
  • Each unit is maintained by the person storing the stuff and each person is different in how and what they see or don’t see. I’m sure you’ve seen the hoarders, so sometimes they may or may not see the problem until it spills out into another unit.

So my advice if you are using a storage unit, keep an eye out for possible pests and advise management if or when you see something strange. Maybe it won’t be anything and then on the other hand it may be something serious.

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Photo by PPMA

 

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