Creepy Crawlies in Your Crawl Space: Tackling Pest Infestation

As useful as crawl spaces may be, they’re also often a site and source of pest infestations. Poor maintenance, disregard for precautionary measures, and changing weather conditions can lead to this, causing a pest attack within your home.

Let’s take a closer look at this issue.

Pest Problems: What to Watch Out For

There’s an entire range of insects and rodents that can creep up in your crawl space and cause property damage. These include:

• Mice
• Rats
• Possums
• Hornets
• Wasps
• Cockroaches
• Carpenter Ants
• Termites
• Powderpost Beetles
• Crickets
• Spiders

What Happens When Pests Crawl Into Your Space?

There’s a reason these insects and rodents are classified as pests; it’s because they can wreak havoc in your home once they find their way inside.

Crawl spaces may be situated away from your main area, but they’re still very much connected to your home. As it happens, once a pest crawls into this space, it’s only a matter of time before they get access to your living room or kitchen, making your home their abode. This tends to happen when these pests follow the electrical wiring, plumbing and water pipes, and/or heated air ducts connecting your crawl space with other parts of your home. Should this happen, you’re in for a surprise visit from an unwanted guest the next time you open the garage door or look below the kitchen countertop.

 

Not only do pests use the electrical wiring and plumbing as a navigation guide, but they also ruin it in the process. Gnawed wires, stinky air ducts, scraped walls and wooden surfaces, and damaged insulation is often a sign of pest infestation. The magnitude of this problem can vary, but it’s better to be safe than sorry! Make sure you’re regularly checking in on your crawl space to have it pest-free to avoid such unpleasant and inconvenient outcomes.

Preventing Pest Infestations

So, what can you do to tackle rodents and insects crawling into your crawl space? The key is to be vigilant and take preventative measures to nip the problem in its buds.

One way to do this is by closing off any openings that may give room for a rodent or an insect to get inside. Wood, caulking, or foam insulation can be used for this purpose, effectively sealing off any holes and cracks.

Despite this, however, smaller pests such as ants and termites still manage to enter your crawl space. To avoid this from happening, be very particular about the internal conditions of your crawl space. This means keeping it clean and well-maintained at all times.

It’s also super important for you to disallow any moisture or water from seeping inside, as damp areas serve as a welcoming habitat for insects. Using vapor barriers, ventilators, and encapsulation can help regulate the air inside your crawl space and keep the moisture from condensing.

Crawl Space Door Store provides a range of crawl space doors, air vents, vent covers, and ventilation fans to houses and buildings in Virginia Beach.

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