Pest Cemetery

Let’s take a look at another way unwanted pests enter your home. You won’t need your caulking gun this time & if you haven’t already, you can come down out of the attic.
One of the most under estimated ways in which a bug, mouse or other creepy crawly can enter is by ‘delivery.’ It goes without saying that most people understand this and so many of my customers can even site times that they know exactly when and on what they brought a pest in. So why is it important? Why not wrap this article up by saying “inspect everything that you cart into the house?” I guess we could and I’m quite sure I’ll end with that same notion. What I’d like to point out however is the many ways I’ve seen ‘pest delivery’ so that you can broaden your scope of understanding and perhaps be a bit more vigilant with your increased awareness. Let me start with the oddest way I’ve seen that actually happened to me.

Last year I declared war on my energy bill, it had climbed so high I knew I had to do something, anything before I went broke trying to keep my house comfortable. Insulation I thought would be the way to go. Being cheap I guess I decided to do it myself and I rented the machine and purchased 30 bags of insulation. These bags were tightly packed and hard as rocks. I instructed my boys how to cut the bags and feed the machine and I scampered up into the attic. We used walkie talkies to communicate and everything seemed to be going well. Right about bag 15 or so I got an urgent call.
“Dad, over”-( I insisted we talk walkie talkie lingo)”Go ahead, over”- “I don’t think you’ll believe this, over”- “What, over”-“There’s a roach in this bag, over”- “So what, he’s just a dead roach, over”- “He’s not dead, we opened up the bag & he’s running around the machine, over”-
A second later the roach got sucked through and was now on his way up. I never saw him & part of me wants to believe he didn’t survive the trip. The other part of me wondered HOW he made it through all the processing, got bailed into a tight plastic bag, trucked to the store and then waited there on a shelf until I bought him.
In 25 years I’d have to say that’s a first and one of the most unusual ways I’ve transported bug into my home. The following is a list for you to keep in mind to keep this from happening to you.

Groceries especially in boxed items
Items bought from yard sales or flea markets
New appliances or furniture
Flower arrangements
Neighbors dogs or cats come to visit (fleas)
Items brought home from storage facility
Luggage after a trip (bed bugs)
Firewood
Christmas or holiday items brought in from shed or attic
Mail or delivery of packages
Moving vans
New sod (bugs start outside but can move in looking for new home)
Plants brought in from the cold
Relatives or new roommates that visit or move in

Although this is not a complete list I’m sure, it may help you think ‘outside the box’ when a sudden< invasion of pests emerge and you really don't know why. One question I always ask in these situations is, "what’s the common denominator?" What has changed or is new that is right around the time you began seeing the problem? More times than not you'll have your answer and go right to the spot, treat it and remove any further dealings with the unwanted guests. Well, as I said up top, look at everything coming in with a little more discernment and you are one more step closer to pest proofing your home.

We’ve discussed how looking for light and trying to seal it out will also help keep the bugs at bay. Our next step is a bit more difficult but if we get some understanding of what bugs are looking for we begin to see what draws them into our homes.
While air currents can actually deter insects it can also lead them to the Promised Land. Restaurants and warehouses for example use ‘air doors’ on back or bay entries to keep flying bugs out. Also called ‘air dams’ they churn out a powerful blast of air every time the door is open. While it may only muss up your hair or send loosely held papers flying it’s more than enough to shield the entry until the door closes again. Also a well placed box fan will keep German roaches off certain areas in your home (like counter tops). Simply turn it on and point the air to the area you want clear and they’ll leave it alone but that remedy is usually only temporary.

However air is beneficial to bugs in that it’s like a roadmap. Currents of air carry information to them that they can follow to find a mate, food, escape, water, nesting sites or life giving heat. If any of these things lead to your living room then that is where they’ll go. Insects can detect these things from great distances and in very minute amounts. For instance on the colder fall days it’s not unusual to find some of the occasional outdoor roaches inside. How did they know to come in? Simply put they were trying to escape the cold and your home at some point offered warmer air and even showed them how to get in.

Now for the tricky part, locating air currents or leaks is no easy task. First let me explain about the two types of air leaks you can have. They are ‘wind effect’ and ‘stack effect. Wind effect is more the air that comes into your home from the outside, even while I sit here typing I can feel ‘wind effect’ on my arm coming from the window next to my desk, when my heat kicks on I don’t feel it near as much because of the change in pressure. (It’s cold tonight). To find wind effect leaks it’s best to wait for a windy day or you can create the wind with a partner outside pointing a leaf blower towards the areas you’re checking. Then turn off your air system, which will depressurize the home. Choose either a tissue draped over a hanger, an incense stick or even a candle. Move through the home placing your device over windows, door frames, and electric sockets, plumbing areas that exit the home, dryer vent pipes, cracks or seams in drywall or trim. Fluttering paper or flickering flame indicates wind effect. Much like our search for light, you’ll need to seal those areas up.
Stack effect is inside to out and more difficult to find. It’s caused by warm air rising through the house. It may leak out in hard to follow paths through cracks or gaps then into the interior walls and finally up and out of the attic. In any event if it exits the house you have stack effect. In the basement / crawl look for cracks in the foundation or gaps in the bricks, basement windows are usually a prime source. Plumbing pipes, electrical or cable lines that are not sealed will also allow for air leaks. In the living areas check recessed lighting, gaps in trim, the chimney area that meets the ceiling and any areas similar to your wind effect check list. In the attic look at vent pipes that come up through the ceiling or any other plumbing areas, also un capped wall voids are huge contributors. No tissues on a stick here it’s more inspect and seal. Of note you can have a blower door test done which will detect many leaks however I have a hunch it’s kind of costly.
So there you have it, just another taste of how and why insects enter the home. If you know of anything I’ve missed please let us know. It always amazes me when I learn of new ways of insect survival and I almost always learn from others experiences. We’ll pick up on our pest proofing series again real soon, perhaps from something you’ve shared.