7 Tips to Keep Your Home Pest Free

Here are 7 tips to keep your home ant free this summer:

1. Moisture Control
   • When it comes to combating carpenter ants, moisture is your greatest enemy as ants require moisture in order to nest in your walls. Be sure to repair leaky plumbing, leaky windows and other sources of moisture to deter carpenter ant colonies from nesting.
2. Keep Your Gutters Clean and Clear
   • Another major source of moisture is backed-up gutters. Keeping your gutters clean and clear will deny the necessary moisture for nesting in walls. Additionally, ensuring that the runoff water is diverted away from the foundation is essential in maintaining a low-moisture environment.
3. Trim Those Trees!
   • Trimming trees and shrubs that touch and overhang your home removes one of the common entry points for carpenter. This also allows for better airflow around your home and can help prevent additional moisture from entering your home.
4. Keep it neat!
   • We all have miscellaneous items (leftover home project materials, landscaping timbre, etc.) we store outdoors. Be sure to keep any items stored for long durations away from the exterior foundation of your home, as they are prime harborage for ants (and mice!).
5. Don’t Forget the Cords
   • Along with other items, be sure to store any cords of firewood away from your home. These are a prime nesting location for ant colonies and keeping them away from your home will help prevent the colony from upgrading locations.
6. Mulch!
   • Do you use mulch around your home? If you live in a heavily wooded or ant infested area, consider using stone instead of bark mulch, as ants can nest in bark mulch and the mulch itself can contribute to additional moisture around your home.
7. If you want them to leave, don’t forget the leaves!
   • We often ignore the accumulation of leaves under decks and in other hard to reach places. However, removing accumulated leaves in these areas will greatly reduce carpenter ant nesting opportunities.