One of the main reasons that pests find their way into your apartment is that there is some kind of food they have found. This can be as simple as leaving dirty dishes in the sink for too long. Once they figure out that there's a food source to be had, they are hard to get rid of. Ants are notoriously hard to eliminate. You can clean everything up and the next day if you leave a dirty dish in the sink for 5 minutes, there's already ants crawling around on it. During the dry months of summer, ants and other pests will come inside your apartment just to find water. Don't leave standing water anywhere - check your kitchen and bathrooms. Check under the sinks as well to see if there are any plumbing leaks that might be a water source attracting them.
Are you keeping fresh fruits and veggies on your counter? Put them in the refrigerator. Do you have open cereal boxes in the cupboards? Pour cereals and open snack boxes into tupperware or ziplock bags. Do you have bags of sugar or flower in the pantry? Make sure they are sealed up tight. Pour them into tightly sealed storage containers such as large mason jars. Check all of your food very carefully before you seal it up, you might be surprised to find that pests have been there already.
It's easy to forget about pet food, but this is a very common attraction for pests. Don't leave food out all day for your dog or cat, just feed at certain times and store it away in a sealed container when they are not eating. Ants, cockroaches and mice and rats all love dog and cat food. Check around your pets bowls for any food or water spills and clean them up daily.
Use this helpful Bug ID Tool from RAID to figure out what pests you are dealing with. They run you through a series of questions then give you potential culprits that you can read more details about and get tips on how to keep them out of your home.
If your pests are of the furry variety, such as rats and mice, you will most likely find chewed up messes and droppings before you actually see the offending critter. Clear up any cluttered areas in your house such as closets and inspect thoroughly for any signs of rodent activity.
If you want to keep pests out of your Chico or Redding apartment, you have to seal up the entrances. Look around the apartment for any cracks or holes that they can find their way in through. Make sure the screens on your windows are in good shape and seal tightly around the edges. Check weather stripping on the doors to make sure there is a tight seal all the way around. If you find cracks or small holes you should seal them up with caulk on the inside and outside. This is probably something that your property manager needs to do, as it falls under maintenance. This brings us to our next point...
One of the best things about living in your Chico or Redding apartment is that some of these normal annoyances are not totally your problem. The property management company almost always bears some of the responsibility to help eliminate pests from your apartment and help keep them out. They will most likely take responsibility for sealing up cracks inside and out, and if the pest problem is bad they will hire a professional pest control company to come out and take a look. You have to do your part and get rid of anything attracting the critters, but your property manager should be proactive about eliminating infestations and keeping these unwanted guests from coming back.
If you want to take matters into your own hands here are a couple natural and non-toxic ways to help keep the pests away.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE): This white powdered substance comes from a naturally occurring type of rock formed by the fossilized remains of diatoms, a common phytoplankton. You can get it at hardware and feed stores, and even pool supply stores since it's commonly used in water filtration. Because this is a very fine powder you need to avoid inhaling the dust, but aside from that it's extremely safe. There are even food grade options of DE available, which are used in things like toothpaste. Sprinkling this powder on carpets or along baseboards is a great way to get rid of fleas, ants and cockroaches. Basically, DE compromises their exoskeleton and they dry out and die.
Natural Ant Poison: A mixture of corn syrup and Borax (a type of soap) is a great way to get rid of ants. Place drops of this mixture on a piece of cardboard and leave it on counters where ants are present. They will drink it and take it back to the nest to share with their friends.
For Mice and Rats: Make a mixture using dry plaster of paris and cocoa powder. The rodents will eat it and then leave to search for water and die. Be careful that pets and kids don't eat this stuff though.
A clean and pest free apartment is a happy apartment. Use these tips above to keep out unwanted guests that can cause damage to your apartment. For more apartment cleaning tips check out Ways to Prevent Carpet from Getting Dirty in Hignell Rental Properties.
Completing a deep clean of your rental every couple of months will also help to prevent bugs from hiding in the mess. Download this Season Cleaning Checklist and get your home to clean for bugs!