A winter guide to keeping your home pest free

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As a homeowner, you need to do everything that you can to ensure your home is comfortable, cosy and inviting.

Your home should be a place that you feel safe and secure in and the last thing you want is to have to share your space with unwanted visitors.

For many homeowners, pests can cause huge problems in their homes, causing damage to property, affecting your health and generally making your life difficult.

Winter in Australia, in particular, can be a difficult time for pests, many of whom will venture indoors in search of food, water and shelter when the temperatures outside begin to drop.

If your home is not properly protected, you could end up sharing your home with these unwanted critters and the problems could get worse over time.

To ensure that your home is adequately protected against unwanted pests, you need to take the time to put measures in place to keep pests at bay.

As every home is different, however, it's important that you analyse your space properly to identify where and how pests might gain access to your home.

Making small changes to your property and putting preventative measures in place can save you a lot of headaches when it comes to pest control in Melbourne.

In the vast majority of pest control cases, the work that you do ahead of time is what will have the biggest impact on your efforts to minimise the impact of pests on your home.

Let's take a look at just a few tips that will help you to keep your home pest-free this winter.

When the temperatures outside begin to drop the thoughts of going outside to work in your garden might not be all that appealing.

However, an untidy garden provides pests with countless places to hide and can also offer them many different ways to gain access to your home with ease.

Deadwood will attract termites into your garden which will often lead to them venturing further into your home where they will cause more damage and be more difficult to eradicate.

Take the time to remove fallen or broken branches, keep debris to a minimum and maintain your garden, even in the winter months, to keep pests at bay.

An untidy home is a haven for pests, providing them with plenty of places to hide out of sight.

Pests are drawn to messy, cluttered areas in your home so be sure to keep your home's interior well-maintained.

With a clean and tidy home, pests will have fewer places to hide during the winter months, making it easier for you to keep your home pest-free.

Areas such as garages, storage areas, porches and patios are easy entryways where pests can gain access to your home.

Make sure to set time aside each week to keep your home tidy and you can be sure that you will reduce the impact of pests on your property.

Windows and doors are the obvious entry points to your home both for you and your family and for pests in the area.

While windows might be airtight, doors are usually not, making it easy for pests to gain access either under the door or by slipping in through cracks around the door.

Before the winter months arrive, take the time to inspect all of your windows and doors, identify any gaps, cracks or holes where they could squeeze into your home and fill any that you find.

Using caulk, you can block up these small spaces and make it much more difficult for pests to come into your home to find the shelter and warmth that they need during the colder months of the year.

Weather-stripping is also a great way to prevent guests from coming inside your home while also helping to regulate the temperature inside your home so it's warm and cosy when the temperatures begin to drop.

Nowadays, homeowners are busier than ever and there is usually a constant list of things that need to be done in and around the home.

Pest control is often one of those things that get put on the long finger by homeowners and are sometimes forgotten about completely.

To ensure your home remains a pest-free zone, it's essential that you make pest control a priority moving forward.

Following the tips outlined above, you can make it more difficult for pests to gain access to your home moving forward.

While there are no guarantees that your home will be completely pest-free, with the right approach, you can greatly reduce the chance of pests damaging your home, destroying your belongings or putting your health at risk this winter.