How to Prevent Pests in Your Attic

With winter just around the corner, it’s not just people who are heading indoors and looking for warmth. Pests are looking also for homes where they can hibernate during the colder months. That means you need to know how to prevent pests in your attic.

Once they invade your home, these pests can expose your family to diseases and bring destruction to your attic by gnawing through your wiring, insulation, and aluminum siding. They will reproduce and multiply, making them harder to remove from your home.

How to Prevent Pests In Your Attic: 5 Methods

1. An Ounce of Prevention

Instead of hiring a professional pest control company, you can go for the cheaper route and implement these steps to prevent pests from using your attic as their nest. Make your home difficult for them to break in, and they’ll go somewhere else.

2. Trim your trees

Overhanging branches provide an entry point for pests that ordinarily wouldn’t have access to your home. Other forms of foliage like bushes and vines can also be used by animals to cross over to your attic. So pull out those shears and trim your garden to prevent pests from coming in.

3. Cover your roof

An opening the size of a nickel is enough for a pest to squeeze through, so check if there are gaps within your roofing system. You can prevent them from entering by using a chimney cap and installing wire mesh on vents. Also check for damaged shingles, cladding, and gutters. Determine if your attic window screens are still in good condition.

If you discover your roofing system has been damaged at such a point that pests can freely come and go, you can contact a roofing company to have it fixed and cleaned up.

4. Keep it clean

Pests enter homes to forage for food, so keep it clean at all times. Make sure that your garbage is collected frequently, and that your containers have tight-fitting lids. Leave just enough food for your pets, because what’s left over could serve as fodder for pests. Also remove water from fountains and bird baths as pests gravitate toward a water source.

Make it a habit to frequently clean your attic, and use plastic bins instead of cardboard boxes for storage. Cardboard is another food source by many pests.

5. Keep it sealed

Inspect the attic for openings where animals can go through. Check for small cracks under your doors and windows, and seal cracks with silicone-based caulk or steel wool. 

If you’re having problems with pests in your attic contact Chattanooga Roofing Company at (423) 799-2173 for a consultation with one of our experts.