3 Ways to Keep Bugs Out of Your Home
Florida is well known for it’s sunshine. However, also on the list of noteworthy attributes of our beautiful state is undoubtedly the multitude of bugs and insects that occupy it. South Florida, has an abundance of critters that love to enjoy the outdoors and our homes just as much as we do! Unfortunately, this is because of the combination of rain along with high humidity. It makes for the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of insects. From termites, cockroaches, to simple no-see-ums, all sorts not only survive in our environment — but thrive! If your home or outdoor living area is experiencing a presence of unwanted pesky guests, you may be searching for a way to not only remove them, but keep them gone for good. Fortunately, in this blog post, we’ll cover the top ways to guarantee any bugs or insects stay out of your home.
Now Screening: Install Door, Window, and Patio Screens
One of the most effective ways to keep bugs out of your home is fitting the openings in your home with a screen; particularly, we recommend looking into screens that possess an insect mesh fabric, which is designed specifically to combat bugs and prevent them from entering through the opening. With an insect mesh screen, you can enjoy all the benefits of a given opening — such as letting the fresh air in and cooling down your home by letting a breeze roll through — without the potential danger of letting bugs enter as well. This holds especially true with a retractable screen, which is able to retract into housing when not in use. These provide all the protection of a permanent-fixed screen without affecting your home’s aesthetic, and extending the screen’s overall lifetime by keeping it protected, at the same time.
Protect your home from bugs today with a Phantom retractable screen fitted with an insect mesh!
For added protection, retractable door screens can be installed with Mesh Lock. These retractable screens provide a captured edge solution that secures the mesh fabric in place while the screen is extended. This means that even the smallest of bugs will be unable to crawl under the screen when it is in place. Regardless, a retractable screen is a surefire way to mitigate the presence of bugs in your home; providing barriers that cover the openings through which the bugs enter. With screens installed on the openings of your home, you eliminate areas where bugs enter such as through ajar doors and windows.
What’s That Smell: Natural Scents to Repel Bugs
If sealing the openings of your home with screens isn’t quite enough, the next step should be to ensure your home is as unattractive to bugs as it can be. Specific smells can act as a natural deterrent that will repel bugs making them uninterested in entering your home in the first place. Placing these smells in areas of your home where you’ve noticed a particularly active bug presence or near openings, you can cut down on the amount of insects in your home by a great deal.
You’ve likely seen artificial repellents sold at home improvement stores or other similar outlets, but we recommend creating natural “DIY” repelling scents at home since artificial repellents are exceedingly potent and can potentially be harmful to young children. Fortunately, homemade repellents are relatively easy to make, and are just as effective as the artificial alternatives. For example, you can create a natural repellent for common Florida roaches by adding 2 teaspoons of garlic or peppermint oil to 2 cups of water and mixing it together. Pour this liquid concoction into a spray bottle, then spray in areas where you’ve seen roaches or near your home’s openings, and watch as the roaches avoid this area like it’s wildfire. These easy, DIY repellents are a simple way to further keep bugs out of your home.
Take Away The Temptations: Cleaning and Storing Properly
While addressing the root cause of a bug infestation is never quite so simple, oftentimes the primary reason bugs find their way into your home is rather straightforward: food! At a base level, bugs and insects are attracted to the food in your home and the sweet sugar in your pantry; much as you might want a midnight snack, roaches and other critters are simply seeking sustenance above all else. This is why, if you’re finding an excess of bugs in your home, we recommend ensuring that all of the areas of your home are properly cleaned and that all food is properly stored in air-tight containers.
Photo Credit: Food Network
Again, this seems obvious, but it can be easy to miss when searching for solutions to a bug infestation. Is there an area of your kitchen that goes unnoticed when the rest of the kitchen is wiped down? Perhaps you may leave fruits out in a fruit bowl overnight or maybe you leave kibble for a pet throughout the day? While innocuous, small things like these can eventually lead to a major infestation. The bugs find the spots in your home with food, then once inside, spread throughout your home to find more. So, double or triple checking that any potential temptations in your home are taken care of and removed before resorting to calling an exterminator. Chances are that without a goal to be attracted to, you’ll see a significant drop in bugs entering your home.
There are a variety of solutions you can implement, from retractable screens to natural repellents, to take bugs out of your home and keep them out. We hope that this blog post has helped you find a way to deal with any potential insect dilemmas in your household.
If you have a bug problem and you want to implement retractable screens to keep them from coming in through the openings of your home, you can’t go wrong with Phantom Screens! Our Insect Mesh Phantom Screens are tailor-made to keep South Florida bugs out of your home while letting in fresh air and natural sunlight. Contact us today for a free estimate!
