Pest control

What It Means

Pest control is keeping insects, rodents and other unwanted animals out of your home, or getting rid of them once they're in. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) favors integrated pest management (IPM): prevention first, then treatments with less risk, so you depend less on chemical pesticides. Pests like cockroaches, rodents and mosquitoes need food, water and shelter, and EPA says taking those away often solves the problem.

How It Sounds at Home

• "We've got ants in the kitchen again."
• "Stop leaving the dog's bowl out at night."
• "Should we just call an exterminator?"

The Breakdown

How to do it, following EPA's Citizen's Guide

1. Take away food. Keep food and scraps in tightly sealed containers, take the garbage out regularly, and don't leave pet food out overnight.
2. Take away water. Fix leaky plumbing, put the pet's water away at night, and look for hidden water such as trays under house plants.
3. Take away shelter. Buhata's own suggestion: clear clutterClutterA crowded, untidy collection of things, especially things that aren't useful or needed, spread over the surfaces and spaces of a home. See more where pests hide, and seal gaps where they get in, using caulkCaulkingSealing cracks and gaps between parts of a house that don't move, such as around window and door frames, with a flexible filler called caulk. See more for cracks between parts of the house that don't move.
4. If pests remain, choose a product meant for that pest and that place, and use it exactly as the label directs.
5. Store pesticides out of reach of children and pets, and keep them in their original containers (Buhata's own suggestion, so the label stays with the product).
6. For a problem you can't handle, hire a pest control company; EPA's guide has a section on choosing one.

Try it today. Walk the kitchen after dinner with the checklist above. Anything left out overnight, food, a pet bowl or a damp sponge on the counter, is what the pests are after.

Good to Know

EPA says pesticides can be used with low risk of exposure when they're kept away from children and pets and used as the label says. If someone swallows, breathes in or gets a pesticide on their skin or in their eyes, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222; it's free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and connects you to trained experts at your local poison center. In an emergency, call 911.

Related Terms and Categories

• Termite inspection

  A check of a home's foundation, crawl space and woodwork for termite signs like mud tubes and shed wings. Extension experts advise at least once a year.

• Seasonal home maintenance

  Home upkeep sorted by time of year, so each job lands when the weather suits it and before the system it protects is needed most.

• Clogged drain

  A drain blocked by debris built up inside the pipe, so water drains slowly or stops draining altogether.

• Caulking

  Sealing cracks and gaps between parts of a house that don't move, such as around window and door frames, with a flexible filler called caulk.

• Weatherstripping

  Strips of material fitted around doors and windows that open and close, sealing the gaps where air leaks in and out.

Home maintenance and repairs