Category: DIY Pest Control & Home Protection

Practical prevention tips from a former pest-control business owner

Nobody likes discovering ants marching across the kitchen counter, spiders making themselves comfortable in the garage, or mice treating the attic like their own personal vacation rental.

And while pest-control products certainly have their place, here’s something homeowners should understand:

One of the best ways to deal with pest problems is to prevent them from developing in the first place.

After approximately 30 years working in pest control, including 13 years owning my own pest-control company, I learned that many pest problems begin with surprisingly ordinary conditions.

Dirty dishes in the sink. Crumbs on the counter. A leaking faucet. A small opening around a pipe. An overflowing trash can.

Pests are constantly looking for opportunities. Our job is to make the house a less inviting place to settle.

Here are 10 practical ways to help protect your home.

1. Keep Your Home Clean

One of the first things I want homeowners to understand about pest prevention is the importance of overall cleanliness.

Food crumbs, grease, spills, dirty dishes, and garbage can provide pests with a steady food source.

You don’t need a spotless, magazine-worthy home. But maintaining a clean kitchen, bathroom, and living environment can go a long way toward discouraging pest activity.

Make these simple habits part of your routine:

• Wipe down kitchen counters and clean up crumbs and spills.
• Keep your stove and stovetop clean. Grease and food residue can accumulate around burners and beneath appliances.
• Wash dishes regularly. Avoid leaving dirty plates, pans, and food-filled dishes sitting in the sink overnight.
• Clean your kitchen sink. Remove food scraps, rinse the drain area, and wipe down surrounding surfaces.
• Keep toilets and bathrooms clean. Regularly clean toilet bowls, the surrounding floor, and bathroom surfaces. Check for leaks and unnecessary moisture.
• Sweep and vacuum regularly, especially beneath dining tables and around areas where people eat.
• Store food properly, including pet food, in sealed containers.
• Empty garbage regularly and clean trash cans when food residue accumulates.

My tip: Before going to bed, take five minutes to clean the kitchen counters, stove, and sink. Put away food and take care of the dirty dishes.

It’s a small habit that can help eliminate the food sources attracting unwanted visitors.

And remember: Even a very clean home can experience pest problems. Cleanliness is an important part of prevention, but it works best alongside sealing entry points, managing moisture, and maintaining the property.

2. Seal Cracks, Gaps, and Entry Points

Pests don’t need an open front door to get inside.

Ants and other small insects can enter through tiny cracks around windows, foundations, siding, and utility lines. Rodents can squeeze through surprisingly small openings.

In fact, a mouse can fit through a hole about the width of a pencil.

Walk around your home’s exterior and look carefully at:

• Gaps around plumbing and electrical lines
• Cracks in the foundation
• Openings around doors and windows
• Damaged siding and trim
• Gaps near vents, soffits, and rooflines

Seal appropriate openings with durable materials suited to the location. For potential rodent entry points, use rodent-resistant materials such as metal mesh or flashing rather than relying on ordinary foam alone.

My tip: Pay special attention to where different building materials meet. Those transitions can create hidden openings.

Also, don’t seal active animal-entry points without checking for trapped animals, and never block required ventilation or exhaust openings.

3. Check Your Doors and Windows

A door that doesn’t seal properly can provide pests with an easy entrance.

Inspect the weatherstripping around exterior doors and check the door sweep along the bottom.

If you can see daylight through a closed exterior door, it’s time to investigate.

Window screens deserve attention, too.

Look for torn screens, loose frames, and gaps around window openings.

My tip: Don’t forget the door between your garage and living space. That door should close and seal properly, both for pest prevention and home safety.

4. Eliminate Unnecessary Moisture

Water is one of the biggest factors that can make a property attractive to pests.

Cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes, and various other pests may take advantage of moisture around your home.

Inspect for:

• Leaking faucets and plumbing connections
• Moisture beneath sinks
• Damp basements and crawl spaces
• Clogged gutters
• Standing water around the foundation
• Water collecting in outdoor containers

Repair leaks and correct drainage problems rather than simply cleaning up the visible water.

My tip: Pay attention to recurring moisture. If the same spot keeps getting wet, there’s probably a reason—and the problem won’t fix itself.

5. Keep Trees and Shrubs Away From the House

Vegetation can provide shelter and pathways for pests.

Branches touching the roof or siding can help some pests access areas they might not reach as easily otherwise.

Dense shrubs and vegetation also make it harder to inspect the foundation and exterior walls.

Trim branches and shrubs where practical, while keeping plants healthy and maintaining proper landscaping practices.

My tip: You should be able to walk around your home and inspect the exterior without fighting your way through a jungle.

If branches are near electrical lines or require unsafe ladder work, hire a qualified professional.

6. Keep Firewood, Debris, and Stored Items Organized

Woodpiles, old lumber, leaf piles, and unused materials can provide shelter for insects and rodents.

That doesn’t mean you need a perfectly spotless yard.

But it does mean you should avoid letting clutter collect against the house.

Store firewood off the ground and away from exterior walls when possible.

Remove unnecessary debris and avoid leaving cardboard, lumber, and miscellaneous materials piled up indefinitely.

My tip: If you haven’t looked behind something in several years, it’s probably worth moving it and seeing what’s going on. Watch out!

You may discover a pest problem—or that garden tool you’ve been looking for since 2022.

7. Manage Your Garbage

Garbage can attract flies, rodents, ants, and other pests.

Use trash containers with properly fitting lids, empty them regularly, and clean up spills or food residue.

Pay attention to outdoor garbage bins, especially during warmer weather.

If possible, keep them away from exterior doors and avoid placing them directly against the house.

My tip: Occasionally wash your outdoor trash bins. You might be surprised how much food residue collects at the bottom.

It’s not a glamorous weekend project, but neither is dealing with a mouse infestation.

8. Inspect Your Garage

Garages are easy to overlook when thinking about pest prevention.

They’re frequently opened, often contain stored items, and may have gaps around doors or utility connections.

Inspect the garage door’s bottom seal and side weatherstripping.

Check behind storage bins, shelves, and equipment.

Keep pet food, birdseed, and other potential food sources in secure containers.

My tip: If your garage door doesn’t close tightly against the ground, take a closer look at the seal.

Also check the condition of the connecting door to the house. A pest that enters the garage shouldn’t have a second easy route indoors.

9. Inspect Items Before Bringing Them Inside

Not every pest enters through a crack in the wall.

Some arrive with groceries, packages, boxes, furniture, plants, or stored belongings. Roaches and silverfish are notorious for getting in this way. Silverfish will infest cardboard boxes filled with books and magazines and linen closets filled with sheets and towels.

Inspect secondhand furniture carefully, particularly upholstered items.

Check boxes and stored materials for signs of insect activity.

Be especially cautious with belongings coming from locations where pest activity is known or suspected.

My tip: Cardboard boxes make convenient storage containers, but they’re not always the best choice for long-term storage in damp basements or garages.

Durable, lidded storage containers are often easier to inspect and keep clean.

10. Make Pest Prevention Part of Your Home Maintenance Routine

This may be the most important tip of all.

Pest prevention works best when it becomes an ongoing habit instead of something you think about only after pests appear.

A few times each year, walk around your property and look for changes.

Has a door seal deteriorated?

Is a gutter overflowing?

Have branches grown against the roof?

Is there moisture beneath a sink?

Has a new opening appeared around a utility line?

Addressing small issues early can help prevent larger problems later.

My tip: Don’t just look for pests. Look for the conditions that make it easier for pests to get inside and stay there.

That’s the mindset behind good pest prevention.

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The Extra Mile: Your 15-Minute Home Pest-Prevention Inspection

You don’t need an elaborate inspection system to get started.

Set aside 15 minutes and check the following areas.

Outside Your Home

• ☐ Check exterior doors and weatherstripping.
• ☐ Look for visible openings around pipes and utility lines.
• ☐ Inspect accessible window screens.
• ☐ Look for standing water and drainage problems.
• ☐ Check vegetation touching siding or rooflines.
• ☐ Move unnecessary clutter away from the foundation.
• ☐ Make sure outdoor trash containers close properly.

Inside Your Home

• ☐ Wipe down counters and check for food crumbs or spills.
• ☐ Clean the stove, kitchen sink, and surrounding surfaces.
• ☐ Wash dirty dishes and put leftover food away.
• ☐ Clean toilets and check bathroom surfaces for moisture.
• ☐ Check beneath kitchen and bathroom sinks for leaks.
• ☐ Inspect pantry and pet-food storage.
• ☐ Check accessible garage corners and storage areas.
• ☐ Look for droppings, gnaw marks, insect trails, or other unusual activity.

Three Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Where could pests enter?

Look for openings, damaged seals, and other access points.

2. What could attract them?

Think about food, moisture, and shelter.

3. What can I correct this week?

Choose the most important one or two problems and address those first.

You don’t have to tackle everything in a single afternoon.

Remember: small maintenance habits can prevent larger headaches.

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Should You Spray Around Your House?

Homeowners often assume that preventing pests means spraying insecticide around the entire property.

But spraying isn’t a substitute for fixing entry points, moisture problems, or food sources.

Effective pest management starts with identifying the pest and understanding what’s attracting it.

Sometimes prevention and simple repairs are enough. Other situations require traps, baits, targeted treatment, or professional assistance.

If you choose to use a pesticide, make sure it is labeled for the specific pest and application site. Follow all label directions and keep products and treated areas appropriately secured from children and pets.

Avoid using more product than directed or combining chemicals in ways the labels don’t permit.

My advice: Start by figuring out why the pest is there. That’s often more useful than immediately reaching for a spray bottle.

Already Have Ants in the House?

Preventing pests is one thing. Dealing with an active infestation is another.

If you’re already seeing ants indoors, we have a separate guide covering what to look for and how to approach the problem.

Read our related article:

I Have Ants in My House. What Should I Do? A Former Pest Control Owner’s Guide.

Final Thoughts

You can’t guarantee that a home will never have a pest problem.

But you can make your home much less attractive and accessible to unwanted visitors.

Keep your living spaces clean. Seal openings. Manage moisture. Store food properly. Maintain the exterior. Inspect the areas that are easy to forget.

The little things matter.

And here’s something I learned from years of working in pest control:

Good pest prevention isn’t just about getting rid of bugs. It’s about taking care of your home before small problems become bigger ones.

Command & Simplify — Practical Tools for a Simpler Life.

You walk into the kitchen and see a few ants on the counter.

You kill them.

A couple of hours later, there are more.

So you clean the counter, spray the ants you can see, and figure the problem is handled.

The next morning?

They’re back.

If you’ve dealt with ants before, you know how frustrating this can get.

I owned a pest-control company for about 20 years, and ant problems were something we dealt with constantly. One of the biggest mistakes I saw homeowners make was focusing only on the ants they could see inside the house.

Those ants may only be a small part of what’s actually going on.

The good news is that you don’t need to drown your house in pesticide to control ants.

You need to understand the problem first.

Figure Out How Big the Problem Is

Before reaching for a spray or bait, spend a few minutes looking at what the ants are actually doing.

Ask yourself:

• Are you seeing one or two ants occasionally?
• Are there dozens of ants?
• Is there an established trail?
• Are they showing up in one room or several?
• Are they appearing around the same area every day?
• Can you see where they’re entering?

A couple of wandering ants is different from an established trail running across your kitchen counter.

And ants appearing throughout several parts of the house may indicate a larger problem than a few scouts.

Don’t immediately start spraying everything.

First, investigate.

Ant species matter, too. If you cannot identify the ants, your local cooperative extension service or a pest-control professional can help you choose an appropriate approach.

Don’t Just Kill the Ants You See

This is probably the most important concept in this entire guide.

The ants walking across your counter aren’t necessarily the whole problem.

There may be many more ants:

• inside a wall
• underneath the house
• around the foundation
• beneath a patio or deck
• in landscaping
• somewhere else outside the house

If you spray the ten ants walking across the counter, congratulations—you killed ten ants.

But you may not have done much to the colony producing them.

That’s why successful ant control usually requires thinking beyond the ants you can see.

Think Inside AND Outside

When I handled recurring ant problems professionally, I didn’t look only at the kitchen counter.

I wanted to know what was happening around the entire structure.

Walk around the outside of your house and look carefully.

Pay attention to areas around the foundation, doors, windows, patios, decks and other places where ants may be active.

Look at tree branches, bushes or other vegetation touching the structure.

And most importantly:

Watch the ants.

If you find an established trail outside, follow it.

Ants are giving you information.

You may discover a trail running along the foundation, across a patio, up an exterior wall or toward the house.

Finding that activity can help you understand why ants keep appearing inside.

One of the things I saw repeatedly during my pest-control years was homeowners using indoor bait over and over while never looking outside.

The bait might kill ants.

But if significant exterior activity or pressure isn’t being addressed, you can find yourself putting out more bait every time ants return.

At that point, you’ve basically opened an all-you-can-eat ant buffet.

There Are a LOT of Ants Out There

Sometimes homeowners feel like they must be doing something wrong because ants keep appearing.

Not necessarily.

Ants are everywhere.

A major scientific estimate published in 2022 put the number of ants on Earth at roughly 20 quadrillion.

That’s approximately 2.5 million ants for every person on the planet at the time of the estimate.

So if a few decided to stop by your kitchen, you’re not exactly beating impossible odds. 😂

The point isn’t that you should accept ants living in your house.

It’s that having ants does not automatically mean your house is dirty.

Sometimes you simply get ants.

The goal is to understand why they’re there and deal with the problem intelligently.

If the Ants Are Eating the Bait, Leave Them Alone

This is where a lot of homeowners accidentally interfere with the treatment.

You put out ant bait.

The ants find it.

Suddenly there seem to be more ants around the bait than there were before.

Your first reaction might be:

This stuff is making the problem worse.

Not necessarily.

If ants are actively feeding on the bait, that’s usually exactly what you want them to do.

Baits are designed so ants can feed on them and carry the material away from the bait placement.

So if ants are feeding:

Don’t kill them.

Don’t wipe them up.

Don’t panic because you’re seeing more activity around the bait.

Give them an opportunity to do what the bait is designed to let them do.

This applies to ants feeding at a properly placed bait. Keep cleaning food spills and crumbs elsewhere; never leave ants on food or food-contact surfaces just to preserve a trail.

Don’t Spray Around Your Bait

Another common mistake is combining bait with a spray in the same area.

A homeowner sees ants feeding on bait and thinks:

I’ll really get them now.

Then they spray the ants and the area surrounding the bait.

That can work against what you’re trying to accomplish.

If you’re using bait, you generally want ants to approach it and feed.

Spraying pesticides or strong cleaners around the bait area may interfere with that.

If the ants are feeding on the bait, resist the urge to attack the ants you can see.

Sometimes doing less is the better strategy.

You Don’t Need a Mountain of Gel

More bait isn’t automatically better.

One mistake I saw was homeowners assuming that if a little bait was good, squeezing out a huge pile must be even better.

That’s not how I approached baiting professionally.

Use the product according to its current label and follow its directions for placement and amount.

Keep all pesticides and bait placements out of reach of children and pets, and away from food. Use only locations permitted by the current product label, including its restrictions for food-preparation areas.

The objective is to provide appropriate bait placements where ants can find and feed on them—not decorate the kitchen with ant gel.

And always place pesticides where the label allows, especially around children, pets and food-preparation areas.

Give the Bait Time

Ant bait isn’t necessarily an instant treatment.

That’s part of the point.

If you’re expecting every ant to disappear within an hour, you may decide the treatment failed long before you’ve given it a reasonable opportunity to work.

When I dealt with ant problems, I didn’t judge bait based on what happened in the first few hours.

Give the treatment some time.

As a practical rule, I would usually reassess the situation after about a week to see whether we were making progress. That didn’t necessarily mean the bait had failed if ants were still present—some bait treatments can take considerably longer. Always follow the current product label.

But don’t put bait out Monday morning and declare it useless Monday afternoon.

What If the Ants Ignore the Bait?

Now we have a different situation.

You put the bait down.

The ants walk right past it like it’s broccoli.

First, don’t immediately assume that all ant bait is useless.

Check the bait itself.

How old is it?

How has it been stored?

Has it been sitting in a hot garage for years?

Is it dried out or otherwise in poor condition?

Sometimes that tube has been rolling around in the garage so long it should be paying rent. 😂

Also remember that different ants and different situations may respond differently to different bait formulations.

If ants aren’t interested in one appropriate bait, another bait or formulation may be worth considering.

That does not mean putting five different pesticides everywhere and hoping something works.

It means slowing down and diagnosing the problem.

Don’t Obsess Over One Entry Point

Finding where ants are entering is useful.

But don’t assume that sealing one tiny crack automatically solves the entire problem.

Ants can use extremely small openings, and a structure can have many potential entry points.

Rather than spending hours trying to identify one magical crack, look at the bigger picture:

Where are the ants active?

Where are the established trails?

What’s happening around the exterior?

Are there branches or bushes contacting the house?

Are there food or water sources attracting activity?

The goal isn’t simply to block one ant.

It’s to understand what’s happening around the property.

A New Ant Trail May Be a Different Colony

Here’s another situation that can confuse homeowners.

You treat one area successfully.

The ants disappear.

Then later you see ants somewhere else.

It’s tempting to assume:

The treatment just moved them.

Not necessarily.

A new trail in another location may represent completely different ant activity.

Remember—there are a lot of ants out there.

That’s why I prefer looking at the whole property instead of treating every ant trail as though it must be part of one giant colony.

Does Having Ants Mean Your House Is Dirty?

No. Not necessarily.

Can cleanliness contribute to an ant problem?

Absolutely.

If you’ve got a greasy stovetop, unswept floors, food debris on the counters or crumbs regularly left around, you’re giving ants additional food sources.

Cleaning those things up should be part of addressing the problem.

Also repair leaks, store food in sealed containers, trim vegetation away from the house and seal accessible entry gaps as part of prevention.

But here’s the other side of it:

I’ve seen ants in spotless houses.

You can keep an extremely clean home and still get ants.

So don’t assume that seeing an ant trail across your kitchen means you’re doing something wrong.

Cleanliness matters, and removing available food sources can help. But a clean house isn’t some invisible force field that ants can’t cross.

Sometimes a clean house gets ants too.

When It’s Time to Call a Professional

I’m a big believer in letting homeowners handle a reasonable ant problem themselves if they’re comfortable doing it.

But there comes a point when DIY stops making sense.

For me, there are two big signs.

1. You Have a LOT of Ants

I’m not talking about five ants wandering around the kitchen.

I’m talking about heavy activity.

Multiple trails.

Hundreds of ants.

Ants seemingly everywhere.

If you’re looking around the property and thinking, This is a lot bigger than a few ants coming through the kitchen window, I’d consider calling a pest-control professional.

In fact, if the infestation is already that heavy when you first discover it, you may want to skip the DIY stage altogether.

2. You Can’t Get Rid of the Few Ants You Have

The opposite situation can be just as frustrating.

Maybe you don’t have hundreds of ants.

You only have a few.

But they won’t go away.

You treat one area.

They disappear.

Then they’re back.

You try something else.

Now you’re seeing them somewhere else.

Eventually you start feeling like you’re chasing the ants around the house.

That’s another point where I’d consider bringing in a professional.

Not necessarily because the number of ants is overwhelming, but because you’ve tried to solve the problem and aren’t getting control of it.

There’s no prize for spending the next two months chasing six ants around your kitchen.

Sometimes it’s simply time to let somebody who deals with these problems every day take a look.

If You’re Calling a Professional, Don’t Destroy the Evidence

If you’ve decided to call a pest-control professional, here’s something that can actually help them:

Leave the ants alone if you can.

If leaving activity undisturbed would be unsafe or unhygienic, take clear photos of the ants and their trail before cleaning the area.

I would much rather arrive at a customer’s house and see an active ant trail than hear:

“There were hundreds of them right here, but I sprayed everything before you came.”

When the ants are still active, I can study them.

Where are they coming from?

Where are they going?

What path are they following?

Can I follow that activity toward an entry point or another area of the property?

Those ants aren’t just the problem.

They’re also giving the technician clues about the problem.

If you kill everything you can see right before the professional arrives, you’ve potentially removed some of the information they could have used during the inspection.

So if you’ve already made the decision to bring someone in and the situation allows it:

Don’t clean up the evidence before the detective arrives.

Let the professional see what’s actually happening.

Pest Control Starts With Investigation

If there’s one idea I’d like homeowners to take away from this guide, it’s this:

Don’t start with the pesticide. Start with the investigation.

During my years in pest control, I needed to be an investigator.

Where are the ants?

Where are they going?

Where are they coming from?

What’s happening outside?

Are they feeding on the bait?

Is there one trail or activity in several areas?

The answers to those questions can tell you much more than simply killing the ants standing in front of you.

It’s similar to something I encountered with termites.

Sometimes a homeowner would call because they believed they’d found termite activity. I’d arrive and discover they’d already cleaned up the termite droppings.

Now I had less information to work with.

Those droppings were evidence.

I wanted to see where they were and what was happening around that area.

The same basic principle applies to ants:

Observe first. Treat second.

You Don’t Have to Win the War in One Day

Seeing ants in your kitchen is annoying.

I understand the instinct to grab something and start spraying.

But slow down for a minute.

Watch them.

Look inside and outside.

Follow the trails you can find.

Remove unnecessary food sources.

If you’re using a bait and the ants are feeding on it, let them feed and give the treatment an opportunity to work.

If you’re dealing with heavy activity—or you’ve reached the point where you feel like you’re constantly chasing a few stubborn ants around the house—it may be time to bring in a professional.

You don’t need to panic.

You don’t need to cover the house in pesticide.

And you don’t need to kill every ant you see within the next five minutes.

Investigate the problem. Understand what you’re seeing. Then decide how to treat it.

That’s how I approached ant problems professionally.

And it’s where I’d recommend a homeowner start too.

Further reading: UC IPM: Ants and EPA: Do’s and Don’ts of Pest Control. Professional experience informs this guide; current product labels govern pesticide use.