6 Spring Cleaning Tips to Prevent Pests

Spring is the time to fling open the windows and prop open the doors in many places, but in the Tampa area, this reality is slightly skewed. Yes, spring is often the open-air season for your home, but most of winter generally is. What spring really is for us locally is two-fold: one of the more popular seasons for a wide range of pests and a time to secure your home from the inside out before the long air-conditioned months of summer truly take effect. Having Tampa pest control professionals to help in this process can be important, but there are plenty of things you can do yourself.

While a Florida “spring” is a whole different animal from nearly any other place in the country, it can also be said that our spring just occurs a little earlier. Eighty-degree weekends are certainly not uncommon as early as February, and they offer the perfect time to do a bit of spring cleaning. Below are six friendly tips that you can incorporate to keep pests on the outside looking in.

• Check for cracks: As we seal up for the upcoming summer months in Tampa, we must also make sure our windows, doors, walls, and pipes are secure. A ripped screen is an open invite for pests and a huge problem year round in Florida. Leaky interior and exterior pipes are often a main attractant for insects.

• Check the trash: Keep all bins as far away from your home as physically possible, and, above all, check to make sure they are sealed as fully as they can be.

• Take away the trash: This extends to everything from loose food you may have inside your house (which attracts pests in the open window months of spring) to simply making sure there are no random pieces around the edges of your home. Without abundant food and water, pests are not particularly interested in your property.

• Pets & Fleas: Fleas commonly become a problem starting in spring; it’s also a time when your pets can spend a lot of time outdoors. Simple checks and (if need be) some sprays and solutions can solve a flea issue rather quickly.

• Clutter Trouble: Another thing that can help with everything from fleas to termites to mosquitoes is a spring cleaning of outdoor clutter. Anything that can act as shelter for pests over the upcoming heat of the summer needs to be cleared out and moved away.

• Break out the citronella: After the short relief of winter, mosquitoes come back early and often in Tampa (if they leave at all). It’s a good time to break out your mosquito gear: citronella candles, sprays, and common sense.

For more information on what you can do to secure your house this spring, contact the Tampa pest control experts at Apex today: (866) 675-4070. We offer free, no-obligation inspections and will return your call within 24 hours.