The Ultimate Homeowners Pest Control Guide

Whether you are renting or buying, taking the steps to make sure you are going to live in a PEST-FREE home is important, which is why we’ve created the ULTIMATE Guide for Homeowners (and renters)!

Here are the topics, feel free to skip down:

Managing Mice Infestations: A Homeowners Guide

• How can landlords prevent mice infestation?
• What can tenants do to keep mice out of their homes?
• Steps to take when you have an infestation

Bed Bugs: A Landlord (and Renters) Nightmare

• What are bed bugs?
• How do bed bugs get into your home?
• How do you determine if you have a bed bug infestation?
• Who foots the bill?

Renovations and How Homeowners Can Keep Pests at Bay

• Tips for Keeping Rodents and Pests Out of Your Home under Renovation

Homeowners Checklist When Buying a Home

• Here are 10 tell-tale signs your potential purchase has a pest problem

Managing Mice Infestations: A Homeowners Guide

How can landlords prevent mice infestation?

The easiest way to deal with mice is to prevent an infestation from occurring in the first place. To keep mice outside, your landlord should ensure there aren’t any cracks or holes leading from the exterior to the inside of the home. This means all areas where utility pipes and vents are should be sealed. Mice and other rodents like to nest in moist areas, so let your landlord know if there are any leaking pipes or clogged drains so they can fix them as soon as possible. Your landlord should also replace loose mortar and weather stripping around windows and in the basement. If there are shrubs and trees in the yard, your landlord should have them trimmed and pruned regularly.

What can tenants do to keep mice out of their homes?

Once your landlord has done all they can to ensure mice do not invade your space, you must also do your part. The first step is to keep a tidy home. Avoid clutter, so mice do not have anywhere to hide and ensure you never leave food scraps lying around. When storing food in your kitchen, use airtight containers. Additionally, it will help if you keep your bins covered and properly store pet food.

Steps Homeowners should take when you have an infestation

Mice can cause significant property damage if left to roam in your house and mouse droppings and urine can transmit diseases that are harmful to both humans and pets. Mice also reproduce at an alarming rate, which can make it difficult to control an infestation. For that reason, it is best to call a professional to help with the problem.

The first thing you should do when you discover mice in your home is to inform your landlord of the problem. If the infestation resulted due to a lack of building maintenance, the landlord might call an exterminator to come in. In other cases, the landlord may ask you to hire an exterminator and then refund the extermination costs or deduct it from your rent. If the infestation came about due to your lack of care for the property, you might be left carrying the bill.

Bed Bugs: A Landlord (and Renters) Nightmare

Bedbugs are a nuisance, whether you live in the home you own, or you are currently renting it out.

What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are flat, wingless, parasitic insects with a rustic reddish-brown colour. They are about the size of an apple seed and as thin as a credit card before feeding. Bed bugs feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals and swell up similar to a tick after they have had their fill of blood. They most often take refuge in beds and box springs and feed on people while they sleep, which is why they are called bed bugs.

Though the idea of bed bugs is cringing and an infestation is a nuisance, bed bugs do not transmit disease.

How do bed bugs get into your home?

Bed bugs are great hitchhikers and can be transported easily. They can:

• Hitch a ride in your luggage, clothing and even on your skin while travelling or staying in places with a high guest turnover, such as hotels.
• Transfer to your clothing in communal laundry facilities.
• Be transported in used furniture, clothing or in moving trucks.
• Transfer to your furniture or home from guests.

Bed bug bites tend to be painless and can leave no marks or just a small welt on the skin, typically mistaken for a mosquito bite. Some people may exhibit allergic reactions and experience rashes or itching at the site of their bite.

How do you determine if you have a bed bug infestation?

If you often wake up with itchy, red spots or a line of bites on your skin, you may have bed bugs. Bloodstains on your bedding, shed bed bug skins, tiny white eggs, and empty egg casings are other signs of an infestation. Bed bugs may also cause a musty smell, and their excrement can leave dark spots on sheets, mattresses, clothing and walls.

Bed bugs are not easy to get rid of, and improper treatment can make them harder to kill. Therefore, as soon as an infestation is confirmed, you will need to contact a licenced pest exterminator.

Who foots the bill?

The British Columbia Residential Tenancy Policy Guidelines regulate that the landlord is responsible for ensuring rental units and properties meet health and housing standards. This includes responsibility for pest control unless the landlord can prove that the infestation is a result of the tenant’s actions.

If the property has a history of pest infestation, for example, due to its location, the landlord is responsible for conducting regular pest control checks and treatment. This should be detailed in your lease agreement and should cover the terms under which a tenant or a landlord can be held responsible.

Even though the landlord is responsible for general pest control of the property, the tenant will need to cooperate with the landlord to treat the infestation and prevent a recurrence. If the infestation is successfully eradicated and returns, then the onus may fall on the tenant to pay for extermination. Preventing an infestation will save a lot of hassle and costs that could be borne by the tenant in the future.

Tenants are expected to:

• Keep the home clean and clutter-free.
• Regularly and properly dispose of trash.
• Wash and dry second-hand clothing or clothing from travelling on a hot setting.
• Report infestations to their landlord as soon as possible.

Renovations and How Homeowners Can Keep Pests at Bay

Pests love renovations just as much as homeowners. When the walls are open and the home exposed, pests take up the opportunity to create a nest. So, while you are locking up the job site and screening everyone that enters your property, do not forget about sneaky pests too.

Homeowners Tips for Keeping Rodents and Pests Out of Your Home under Renovation

Your home improvement budget is pushed to the maximum, so the last thing you need is to worry about the cost of rodent damage. Rodents and pests enter your home through nearly any opening, and during a renovation, you have more than enough openings to spare.

To keep them out, deploy a few of these expert strategies an exterminator in Vancouver would use:

• Know Vulnerable Entry Points – Certain areas are more vulnerable in your home than others. Air ducts on the roof, passive vents, loose windows, chimneys, and loose eaves must be sealed to keep the pests out.
• Close Doors and Windows – Construction crews might prop open a door for a drawn-out period to move equipment inside. However, leaving doors ajar for extensive amounts of time invites rodents inside. Always close doors or use a screen to help keep rodents out.
• Seal Old Pipes – Old pipes that are no longer in use after the renovation, but nevertheless part of the home, must be sealed. Otherwise, these offer rodents and pests a pathway into the home.
• Remove Debris – Debris sitting by your home is the perfect nest for rodents and pests. Have construction crews remove piles of debris and keep them away from the foundation of your home.
• Treat Before, During, and After – To ensure your home is not the new residence of a mouse or a group of ants, hire Victoria exterminators to treat your home before, during, and after the renovation. Exterminators, like those at Pest Detective, can set traps to ensure rodents are caught when they enter. Also, treating immediately after the renovation can detect any pests that might have entered while the house was open.

If you are renovating or have just moved into a newly renovated home, pest control in Vancouver by the experienced team at Pest Detective is your best defense against unwanted rodents and pests. Furthermore, you will protect your investment by preventing damage from rodents.

Homeowners Checklist When Buying a Home

Let’s face it; buying a home in the Vancouver area is strenuous enough without having to worry about possible pest infestations. However, neglecting bugs and pests before you sign will surely lead to more headaches than you can imagine. Look before you buy and you might save yourself big headaches further down the road.

Here are 10 tell-tale signs your potential purchase has a pest problem:

1. Shredded paper or cloth. A mouse or rat problem can often be spotted in the darker recesses of attics, underneath stairs, behind appliances and under sinks. If you see shredded paper, insulation, cloth or other material in these places, it’s likely mice or rats have made their homes in the walls. Don’t count on your house inspector to get down on his hands and knees to look for these things. You’ll probably have to do it yourself or contact a professional B.C pest inspection company.
2. What does the alley behind the house look like? Is the house near a restaurant or grocery store? Trash bins overflowing with food waste attract vermin and can be a hotspot for raccoons and other small mammals.
3. Holes, gnaw marks, droppings and grease tracks. No, we’re not talking about a horror movie script! These are all tell-tale signs that mice or rats are squatting in your potential new home. Stay vigilant and do not dismiss small holes or cracks. Mice can squeeze through extremely small openings to get to their nest or food supply.
4. Rank odours. They can be subtle or overpowering. Remember the smell of your hamster cage when you were a kid? Well if you smell the same under sinks or in cupboards, you can bet mice are present. A pungent or funky smell probably means something is decomposing in the walls and the flies won’t be far behind. A musty or oily smell in the kitchen or bathrooms can also be a sign of cockroaches.
5. Speaking of cockroaches… Small, empty, brown egg sacks and black spots along the back of kitchen counters and along floorboards may be signs that these critters have settled in. If possible, arrange an after-dark visit and come with a flashlight. Cockroaches—and many other pests for that matter—are nocturnal. Do you hear strange rustling in the walls and the pitter-patter of tiny feet? No, we’re not talking about ghosts, but the mice, rats and cockroaches that scurry about under dark floors and in walls. 
6. Ask the neighbours and previous inhabitants. Does the house have a history of pests? Prior issues may be the best indicator of future troubles. 
7. A few dead bugs are one thing, but finding mounds of them in dark corners is not good. This could be a sign of seasonal infestations. Window Sills with bugs can be a sign of more things to come. Make sure that you are on the lookout. Don’t be afraid to get up close and ask questions.
8. Termites, carpenter ants and bed bugs. These are not mere pests. They’re home destroyers. Any signs of them; holes in wood, sagging floors, small piles of sawdust on windowsills, bits of termite wings and powdery, tan fecal matter should put you on red alert. Rust-coloured stains around mattresses and couches? Bed bug alert! Read more about bed bugs here.
9. Is the house located near standing water? It could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes in summer.
10. Mole holes and anthills. Are you a big fan of impeccable lawns? Keep an eye out for those Pacific Moles! Raccoons and skunks can also cause issues for your green space. Be sure to check under sheds and decks to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

As long-time specialists in Victoria(an all-around BC) pest control, we’ve seen it all at Pest Detective.

Do you need help with pest control in Vancouver?

If you need help with pest control in Vancouver or surrounding areas, contact us at Pest Detective.

At Pest Detective, you will find wildlife and pest control experts who can help you get rid of mice or any other uninvited guests that have invaded your home. Our exterminators are committed to your satisfaction and provide thorough inspection and extermination to protect you, your loved ones and your property.

So, give us a call today to request a free estimate or if you have questions about our rodent control services.