Guide to Pest Control for New Homeowners

Last updated: 11/5/2021
Estimated read time: 5.5 minutes

Congratulations! You just bought your first house! You’re justifiably excited and proud to finally have a home to call your very own. But then, an unpleasant thought crosses your mind. “Help,” you think, “I just bought a home, what do I do for pest prevention?” Suddenly, the space seems so big and household pests can be hiding around every corner. We understand your worries, which is why we are here to arm you with the knowledge you need to make home pest control a breeze.

Common Pests in Maryland and Northern Virginia

The Mid-Atlantic has no shortage of pests. When buying a home in either Maryland or Northern Virginia, it’s always a good idea to become acquainted with the critters that you may soon encounter. Some of our most common household pests include:

• Ants
• Boxelder Bugs
• Centipedes and Millipedes
• Cockroaches
• Crickets
• Fleas
• Rodents
• Silverfish
• Springtails
• Stink Bugs
• Termites

Pest Prevention Tips

As with any large task, the key to home pest prevention is to be organized and break it down into smaller jobs. The best pest control methods are simple things you can do around the house as a part of regular maintenance, none of which require the help of a professional. Follow these few steps and pest infestations will be a worry of the past.

Deep Clean your Home

Step one in preventing a pest infestation is to keep your home clean. Before moving in, take the opportunity to deep clean your new home; a freshly cleaned environment is one that most pests won’t find attractive. Continue to clean your house regularly once you have moved in.

Tidy Up the Yard

It’s easy to see home and yard maintenance as separate things but in reality, each contributes to the other. Make an effort to keep your new lawn free of debris like fallen leaves, sticks and branches, grass clippings, and other routine lawn litter. In doing this, you’ll deprive many pests of areas to breed, hide, and stage their invasions of your home.

Avoid Moisture

Moisture management is a critical aspect of home maintenance. Not only will it limit the growth of harmful molds but it will also make your home unattractive to a wide variety of pests. Nuisance bugs like cave crickets, cockroaches, and silverfish are all attracted to high-moisture levels. Investing in a reliable dehumidifier can be a massive difference-maker when trying to manage moisture in your home.

Seal Cracks and Openings

Cracks in your new home’s foundation or openings in doors and windows may look small, but to many pests, they’re like highways. Ensuring that your doors and windows shut tightly and repairing any foundation cracks removes one of the main avenues that pests use to get inside. These issues should be caught during a routine home inspection but can easily be addressed yourself if needed.

Secure Any Food Sources

From ants to rats and everything in between, stealing your food is their main motivation for coming inside. Fortunately, this problem is among the easiest to address. Avoid storing food on countertops, use heavy-duty plastic containers to store dry goods, and make sure that you’re regularly disposing of expired produce. Without easy access to free food, most pests will simply move on. In addition, be sure to regularly remove garbage and store it in secure areas prior to pickup.

What To Do if You Have Pests in Your New Home

The most important thing to do when faced with a pest infestation in your new home is to stay calm. We understand that it’s easy to panic when faced with an infestation but doing so will only make it worse. Do your best to calmly assess the situation.

Where are the pests gathering? Is there an obvious source of the infestation? Are they spreading to other areas of the house? Answering these questions will help you develop a game plan and determine whether or not you need a professional or if it’s worth attempting to resolve things yourself. In the case of a rodent or termite infestation, however, we strongly recommend against DIY treatment and urge you to contact a qualified professional pest control company right away! 

Learning how to deal with pests can be a bit like trying to drink through a firehose, informationally speaking. There’s a lot to take in and we understand that you probably have questions. We get questions from concerned homeowners every day and want to take the opportunity to answer a few of them here.