You don’t have to have a degree in biology or know the exact definition of a rat infestation to know that simply having one of the pests in your home is too many for you to deal with and that you want to get rid of them as quickly as you can. That’s why it makes much more sense to spend your time preventing an infestation than to spend it trying to get the animals out of your home so you can get back to living a normal life.
Having pests in your home can turn your life upside down and it will likely affect everything you do, no matter how mundane or common the activity happens to be for you. The simple act of using a bathroom in the middle of the night can turn into a nightmare when you have to worry about hearing scratching noises or dark shapes running around corners in your own home. The best thing you can do is make sure it never happens to you and you’ll be much better off.
Create a Line of Defense
The first step is to create a line of defense around your home and that includes the outside areas, no matter how often or how infrequently you go into your backyard or the space between your property and your neighbor. Any wood piles that you leave on the property will attract rodents and they’re going to do everything they can to move from your outside spaces into your living spaces. Keeping your back and front yards clean and free of debris is the first thing to do to keep the pests outside.
It’s also best to keep the space free of any empty containers that rodents can move into and turn into their homes when you’re not paying attention to what’s happening inside them. These containers can be anything from boxes to empty coolers and they need to be taken out of the equation as soon as you can manage it. Rodents can chew through almost any material and nothing is safe from being turned into a home for rats and mice on your property.
Check your foundation
Next up on your list of defenses is going to be the foundation of your home and this is where far too many people stop when they’re trying to keep pests out of their living spaces because they assume it’s safe from them. The simple fact is that rats can chew through concrete and can make quick work of the mortar in between the cinder blocks that your entire house rests upon. Once that happens, the pests will have a highway right into your basement and they’re not going to stop themselves from moving into the upper floors and causing damage to every surface that they come across on the way.
Heavy gauge iron sheeting is a great way to make sure the pests never get through your foundation but it can be a challenge to know how to install and then deal with the way that it looks to you and your neighbors. That’s why your best bet is to get in touch with a professional pest control company, whether or not you’ve seen the signs of a rat infestation on your property or the properties immediately surrounding your home. These professionals are going to know what to look for and they’re going to be able to take care of every detail to make sure that the rodents never stand a chance of getting into your home.