How Often Should You Have Your Home Inspected For Pests?

If you’ve never had an issue with pests in your home then you are definitely one of the lucky ones! According to statistics 84% of US homeowners have had a problem with pests in the last 12 months!

Having your home inspected will allow you to identify if there is an issue, what the issue is and how to best deal with it. If you have no issue an inspection can help it to stay that way by identifying vulnerabilities in your home.

The fact is that pests can enter virtually any home. You may not have had an issue and think it will never happen; but it can. This is why it is essential to book an inspection now and at regular intervals in the future.

How Often Do You Need To Inspect Your Home?

This is a difficult question to answer as it will be different for every home owner.

However, there are some guidelines which you should follow:

• Yearly

If you’ve not had an issue with pests yet then a yearly inspection in the spring should be sufficient. This is the time when pests are becoming awake and looking for a summer home.

• Twice Yearly

If you have experienced a pest problem then it is advisable to have your home checked at the beginning of the season and at the end. These are the most prevalent times for pests to find homes.

Twice a year is also a good idea if you’re in an area known to have termites. Waiting a whole year is too long; the termites can have eaten through much of your house during this time.

Between Inspections

It is likely that the inspection will have pointed out any issues with your home which will attract pests or allow them in. It is important to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

You should also visually inspect your home on a regular basis to ensure there are no new entrance points for pests.

This will help to keep them out!

Why Have You Home Inspected

You may feel that a few pests will not bother you. In fact in many cases you will not even see any sign of them.

However, this can be a costly mistake.

Termites can eat your wood and destroy the strength of your home.

Raccoons and rats chew through nearly anything; they can easily damage your electrical wiring. Even mice can cause a lot of damage inside your walls.

Smaller pests such as ants can bite, especially the red ant. They also leave pheromone trails which attract other ants, rapidly increasing the size of the issue.

All of these things can quickly end up costing you far more to put right than the cost of an inspection and a small amount of maintenance.

It doesn’t matter if no one in your area appears to have a problem with pests; prevention is generally much better and easier than treating the problem.