Insects and Spiders

• Ants
  Spraying borate onto any wood prior to priming and painting is an excellent way to prevent termites, carpenter ants, and some wood destroying fungi from attacking your house. Products like Bora-Care are simple to apply, you just dilute with water and spray on any wood you want to keep termites off of. The sprays soak into the wood and make for a very unappetizing meal. After it dries, you can still prime and paint any treated wood.
• Spiders
  However, there are 2 dangerous spiders you may want to keep an eye out for – the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow.
• Termites
  Termites have been keeping carpenters annoyed and employed for millennia. These sneaky little creatures can turn a solid wood structure into a pile of toothpicks in short order.
• Bed Bugs
  Have you ever seen bed bugs in your home or have bites from them? A DIY bed bug treatment can be the answer to your prayers, if you are not ready to get a pest control company involved.
• Fleas
  If pesticides are toxic to us, they can also harm our pets. Carefully select any insecticides you use to control ticks and fleas. Try some non-toxic and less-toxic options before resorting to conventional chemical tick and flea control. Vacuuming regularly catches and kills nearly 100% of adult fleas. Wash pet bedding to drown fleas, and tuck in cedar chips to repel them. (Be careful, though. Cedar can trigger asthma in some kids). Use non-chemical flea traps. For your dog, plain soap will kill fleas if left on for five minutes. Then rinse and comb with a flea comb. Collars with various essential oils can be used to repel fleas, but keep in mind that some dogs’ skin is sensitive to some oils.
• Cockroaches
  To get rid of roaches, regularly clean your basement (and house, of course), and make sure there aren’t any readily available food sources for them like trash. Some cockroaches do eat common household items like toothpaste and soap, so if you have any in your basement, keep them in proper containers.
• Silverfish
  Soap has been used as an insecticide and antibacterial substance for many years. Just add about 2 teaspoons of liquid Castile (vegetable-based) soap to a gallon of water. (Any soap containing fatty acids will work, but liquid castile soap is recommended to avoid other toxic ingredients.) Put this mixture in a spray bottle, and-presto-you have a solution to your ant problem that is virtually non-toxic to humans and mammals unless ingested. If you add some peppermint scent, you’ll discourage the ants’ brethren from following in their footsteps. Cayenne pepper also deters ants, and lemon eucalyptus oil will keep the silverfish away. For bacteria, soap and warm water are just as effective as an antibacterial products.
• Wasps
  Some pests are more dangerous than others, for example rodents can carry the hantavirus which has the potential to be fatal.  Trying to remove a beehive or a wasps nest on your own can also be dangerous, one small mistake and you can be visiting the emergency room.  Exterminators are trained to handle these situations and can remove the pests and make sure they don’t return.
• Ticks
• Earwigs
  Despite the name, Earwigs no more crawl in to your ears than any other small insect might. While they have pincers, they usually lack the force to break skin and are considered harmless. Like spiders, they spend their time hunting pests that are more problematic for you.
• Mosquitoes
  Most spiders you see in basements are harmless, and are in fact good for you since they eat a lot of other peskier bugs you’ll find in your home (cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes and more) and if anything, you may just want to clear out their cobwebs.
• Flies
  Fruit flies reproduce in wet or moist fermenting organic matter, so your drain, the compost bucket, and your fruit bowl all look like prime real estate to them. To control them, get rid of what’s attracting them. If you suspect it’s food in your drain, tape a piece of waxed paper over the top of the drain. If you see fruit flies accumulate on the paper in a day or two, remove the paper and pour boiling water down the drain. If that doesn’t work, try 1/2 cup of baking soda, followed by 1/2 cup to a cup of vinegar. Let the drain fizz for 5 minutes, then chase with boiling water. For garbage disposal, run ice cubes made from vinegar through it to clear off any gunk that may be allowing fruit flies to breed.
• Centipedes
  While they may look like they crawled their way out from the bowels of hell itself, centipedes typically do their best to stay out of your way and only really bite you if you pick them up. Like spiders and earwigs, they show their gratitude for your hospitality by hunting other pests for you.
• Moths
  For months, store clothing in air-tight containers. Mothballs are typically made of naphthalene, a possible carcinogen, and moth crystals are made of paradichlorobenzene, also a possible carcinogen. Instead, use sachets of cedar chips or lavender to deter moths. If you do have an infestation, try pesticide-free sticky traps.

Rodent Control

• Rodents
  There are a variety of traps you can use some will capture the rodents and others will kill.  If you use traps to capture the rodent then make sure you release it far away from your home or you will find them getting right back in your house.  Traps are ideal if you have a small infestation or just one mouse that managed to make it into your home for a larger infestation you’re going to need something else.
• Mice
  Did you know that house mice are known for their quick reproduction? One female house mouse has the ability to produce up to 8 litters per year!
• Rats
  The first step to getting rid of them is finding where they are getting into the building and where they have built their nests.  Is this just once mouse you have or are they living throughout your house.  Things you can look for are holes in the baseboards, check out your attic and walls.  If you have an attached garage look there too, it doesn’t take a very big hole for mice to get in.  Are you finding droppings near food sources?  You can follow them back to nests and entry points.  Here is a guide to finding how mice and rats are coming into your home.