How to Prepare Your Home for Pest Control & Exterminator Visit
A DIY pest management takes a lot more time and money than hiring a reputed pest control expert. These experienced professionals will take care of everything from spiders to roaches, bees, flying jackets, and wasps. Professional pest control aims at eliminating nasty pests from house and preventing future problems. They will make your home a safe, comfortable, and healthy place to live in.
In order to ensure smooth operations of pest control service, you must prepare your home for the arrival of the exterminator.
Here’s how you must prepare your house:
- Clean Up
Cleaning your home may not impress the exterminator. When you move boxes, trash, dirty laundry, and dishes, these may get in the way of treatment. This will also make it harder for the technician to treat the problem effectively. Cleaning up your home is not recommended as it will make the environment for a less attractive for pests for the time when exterminators do their work.
- Give Access
Remove large appliances and piece of furniture away from corners of home. This is important to provide ease of access to pest control experts. They can easily get into the corners (this is where most pests thrive). Removing these will keep them from spills and spray of the chemicals used during the treatment.
- Furniture and Clothes
Pack away all of your clothes, toys of children, toiletries, jewelry make-up, etc. You must cover them in plastic wrapping and store them inside cabinets. Try sealing the gaps of the doors and drawers using a wide cello-tape. Remove all bed covers, sheets, cushions, pillows, mattresses, etc. Use plastic wrapping once you run out of storage space. The sofas need to be covered by sofas, chairs, and tables with plastic wrapping.
- Kitchen and Dining Areas
Start by clearing out the dustbin! The next step is to clear out countertops and store all of the cups, utensils, cutlery, glasses, plates, etc. The professional pest control & exterminator will focus on cabinets and shelves. So you must small kitchen appliances out of the kitchen. You may also unplug and cover them thoroughly using plastic wrapping. Cover the water outlet of your water filter.
The food must be stored in thick air-tight plastic containers. Pests may chew through thin plastic and seek refuge inside. Place snacks inside your home. Unplug the fridge. Also, finish off any perishables and discard any leftovers.
- Pets
Since pets are very sensitive to the chemicals used during pest treatment, you need to take extra care. Try dropping off your pet at a friend’s/ neighbor’s place. You need to store toys and bedding of pets carefully. Cover the aquariums tightly with plastic. Leave adequate food to last for the duration. You must turn off any aquarium air pumps to avoid them sucking in air-borne chemicals.
- Kids
It is better to keep kids away during and 24-48 hours of pest control treatment. They are sensitive to chemicals used during spray.
- Home Décor
Special attention needs to be paid to paintings on walls. These may react adversely to the chemicals sprayed. So make sure you cover these with plastic. Flower pots and vegetation used for decorating homes should left in the open. You can shift these to a balcony/roof that won’t be sprayed.
- Bathroom
In case, bathrooms need to be sprayed, empty them out completely. Make sure you take special care of shaving razors, toothbrushes, floss, etc. Replace soaps and detergents after the treatment.
Following the above-listed tips will help your home prepare well for professional pest control treatment.