5 Pest Control tips for a New House

Yes! You finally received the keys to your new home. What’s even better is that it’s in Texas, where the most fun people on the planet live.

What’s not so fun, however, are all the pests that live here too. Texas has pretty mild weather (well, sometimes it can be so hot the hens lay hard-boiled eggs) but we don’t get much snow and cold. This means we have a more hospitable environment for creepy crawlies. So, let’s check out 5 new house pest control tips:

1. Do a Deep Clean and Keep Things Tidy

Pests aside, the first thing you should do before moving into a new home is to thoroughly clean it. After all, the previous owner might have just spiffed up a few spots, sprayed some air freshener around, and decided that was good enough for government work. It’s also way easier to deep clean before you fill the rooms up with stuff, so take advantage!

This is going to be your new home and you want it to be pristine. Plus, any crumbs or debris left lying around is like sending pests an open invitation. Keeping a clean home is probably the best preventative measure you can take against pests. Insects and rodents alike are attracted to a steady supply of easy-to-access food.

2. Clean the Yard

When moving into a new house, pest control starts at the front gate. Your yard could appear as a welcome mat or a steel barricade depending on how you treat it. Proper landscaping and maintenance goes a long way toward deterring pests from getting too close.

Clean up brush piles and keep grass trimmed. This limits habitats for critters that might consider hunkering down. Trim trees and bushes near your home to prevent pests like mice and squirrels from using them as a bridge to your home. Likewise, keep foliage away from your foundation where termites and ants might travel undercover. Finally, don’t let standing water pool up in birdbaths, planters or waste containers. These pools become breeding sites for mosquitoes and other nuisance insects.

3. Seal Up Cracks

Go over your new home with a fine-toothed comb and a tube of caulking. Seal up every little crack and cranny you find. You’d be surprised what pests can use as an entry point. You won’t be able to button it up so tight that not a single pest gets in, but you can cut down on their presence considerably.

As a bonus, sealing up all the cracks can help your home stay dry and save you money on your cooling bills — something you’ll appreciate when it’s hotter than a stolen tamale outdoors.

4. Set Out Traps

Does a new house need pest control measures beyond cleaning and sealing? You’ll find out soon! Pests seem to have a nose for when people move out of a home. It doesn’t have to be sitting empty for long before they start coming in droves, looking to nest in a safe location. Consider setting around a few traps for mice and ants before you move into your home. This is the perfect time to do it before you have your kids and pets running around getting into things.

If you don’t catch anything, you can be reasonably sure there isn’t an infestation — yet.

Alternatively, you might consider calling a reputable pest protection company to do a full inspection. You can also set up ongoing pest protection services, which are far more effective (and less icky) than dealing with an infestation after it has already set in. At Buckaroo Pest Protection, we use non-toxic, eco-friendly products to protect your home (as opposed to the chemical-laden ones commonly used by other companies).

5. Install a Termite Baiting System

If you’re moving to a Texas home from somewhere else in the South, you already know there are far more termites here than you can shake a dozen sticks at. What’s more, they are sneaky little critters. By the time you realize that you have an infestation, they will have already done a whole passel of damage to your home.

Termites in Texas

We have two basic types of termites here in Texas: the Formosan subterranean and southeastern drywood termites.

As you might guess, the subterranean ones live underground. They tunnel through the earth looking for sources of their favorite food — wood. When they find that wood in your home, they create odor trails for the other workers to find the food source and they get to work hauling back the food. This, of course, means they are dismantling the structure of your home as they work.

Drywood termites are similarly destructive. However, instead of building their nests underground and traveling to your house, they set up shop right in the dry wood in your walls, roof, and foundation.

If you were smart as a hooty owl, you already ordered a pest inspection. This ensures there isn’t already an active infestation. But, you’ve got to keep those pesky critters at bay going forward.

Termite Baiting System

Now is the perfect time to install a termite baiting system. Unlike the liquid termiticide that is applied generously and indiscriminately as a barrier around your home, baiting systems are more refined.

Pest professionals like us who are smart as a whip know where to place the bait stations for maximum efficiency. When roaming termites find the bait, they take it back and share it with their friends, effectively enjoying their Last Supper together.

Baiting systems are less harmful than injecting bucketloads of pesticide into your dirt, but they work slowly so implementing this pest control before moving in or soon after is ideal. Protect your home from these pesky critters before they ever become a serious problem.

What Buckaroo Can Do for You

When it comes to protecting your home from pests, we ain’t all hat and no cattle, you can be sure about that. Our resident pest expert has plenty of arrows in his quiver with 30 years of experience behind him. If you find that the DIY pest control measures you’ve taken in your new house have come up short, call in the cavalry. 

Even if you don’t know where the pests are, or if you even have an infestation, we can help you figure it out and corral those critters in no time — or better yet, keep them from ever showing up. After all, those critters are about as welcome as an outhouse breeze, if you know what we mean.

Give us a holler today for a free whole-house inspection.