Having pests and insects living in your garage is a nightmare. Though they mainly cause damage to cardboard boxes and other stored goods, they can damage your car and eventually spread throughout your house! Thus it’s essential to know how to keep bugs out of garage.
Thankfully, keeping bugs and pests out of your garage is straightforward. There are many home remedies and organic materials that you can try before calling pest control professionals if you need to.
This article provides you with some insights into tackling pest infestation.
So let’s begin.
Can You Keep Bugs Out of the Garage?
Though it’s a tricky task, it’s possible to keep bugs away from your garage. For this, you need to check for spiderwebs and use weather-stripping from time to time, coupled with a few other things. However, you can keep pests away with regular effort.
Things To Consider Before Keeping Bugs Out of the Garage
Why Are Pests Attracted to the Garage?
Pests mostly get in and out of the garage door since it’s constantly open. Besides, the storage boxes provide the ideal warm and protective shelter for bugs and them to breed. It also becomes easy for the pests to store food.
Overall, since garages are not cleaned regularly, pests find themselves at home and also protection from the summer heat, outdoor elements, etc. From perfect shelter to a moist environment, it replicates a natural habitat for insects.
Survey the Place Properly:
It’s essential to survey all parts of the garage to identify and look for any sign of bug infestation. Check for possible infestation signs like chew, scratch marks, holes, shells, and droppings.
Identify and Analyze Your Insects:
If you find any pests, research them and determine the best possible way to deal with them. This will help narrow down your research and choose the probable areas where the infestation might spread.
Remove existing infestation:
If there are pests in your garage already, don’t leave them there. Use pesticides or eco-friendly pest control to eliminate the existing infestation. However, if the problem seems big for you to handle, connect with a professional pest management company.
How to Keep Bugs out of Garage
Use Natural bug repellent/material:
There are many natural bug repellents available in the market that are non-toxic and super effective. Use such sprays under the baseboard both on the inside and outside so that any insect that comes in contact dies immediately. You will have to respray the outsides during the monsoons a few times.
You can also make repellents by yourself using Garlic oil, Cinnamon oil, etc., and apply it by putting it in a spray bottle.
Keeping Your Garage Clean:
Prevention is the first step towards getting rid of the pest issue. Thus inspect at least once a month. Clean the garage floor often if possible.
Look for anthills or any other signs that show that ants might be on the move. Since ants are tiny, they get inside the house easily.
However, you can set up and bait along the side of the door to catch bugs in the garage. To keep the ants and other insects away, check the debris and trash bags frequently and dispose of them.
Get Rid Of Spider Web:
Surprisingly, spider webs can be good or bad. The good thing is they kill other bugs by entangling them on the web; the bad thing is they are very messy. The webs look ugly, and they leave dead insect pieces all over the walls. Thus getting rid of webs is essential by dusting the corners, which must be done weekly.
Although, getting rid of the household spiders will be a difficult task if you already have insects like camel crickets, silverfish. Because house spiders feed on these insects. So, it will help increase the spider population in the garage and living space also.
Keep it ventilated:
Pests are often attracted to damp and dark places and breed in such areas. Thus if you have any leaking pipe causing dampness, get it fixed immediately to avoid any potential infestation. Ideally, your garage should be dry. Additionally, have proper ventilation scopes and fans installed to maintain dryness.
Seal The Cracks:
The best way to keep your garage pest-free is by eliminating the scope of pesky insects to enter. Any unsealed crack on the garage walls, window screens, foundation, ceiling, or holes is a potential entry point for pests. So, run a survey to know if insects are entering the garage through cracks and seal it using silicone caulk or rubber seal.
Lay Traps:
Calling the pest control company is your last option. But before getting there, you can try two major things for pest removal: pesticides and manual traps. It’s advisable to lay manual traps if you see any infestation chances.
These traps can be any catchers, fly strips, or mouse traps. These should catch your dirty guests; however, make sure to change the traps regularly. In addition to traps, spray non-toxic pesticides around the doors, windows, walls, garage openings, and garage gutters.
Wipe Out any Stagnant Water:
Stagnant water is the breeding ground of many pests like mosquitoes, ants, roaches, and termites; thus, it’s essential to throw away any water-filled items like boxes and cans to eliminate water sources for insects and pests.
Also clogged water can help increase the mosquito populations by encouraging them to lay hundreds of eggs. If it is out of control you must use mosquito repellent or set any kind of mosquito trap to get rid of the problem.
Eliminate Food Temptation:
Food or food products are a significant attraction for pests, especially rodents. Thus, to keep pests out, you need to eliminate any food sources for insects. As starters, you should mop and wipe the garage floor to eliminate any food crumbs. Additionally, get rid of other food lures likes:
stored food: if you have stored food or pantry items, shift them immediately. or you can also put them into airtight containers so that insects don’t have access to it. It will also block the scents from food products preventing insects from finding the source of food.
grill: before storing your grill after use, clean it adequately to get rid of any food residue that might be on it.
pet food/animal food: pests are often attracted to cat/did food and bird seeds as they are attracted to human food. So, if you store your pet food, seal all the containers well.
Rotten Food: Insects love rotten food, especially flies. So, if you have any food waste lying around your garage that is maybe the primary source of creepy crawlies.
Call a Qualified Pest Control for Uncontrollable Infestation:
This is the most effective option by far for garage owners if the other choices provided above or spraying natural materials do not bring desired results.
Qualified bug control companies use different chemicals to eliminate pest infestation and manage a situation better than others. However, this is the last resort after you have tried all possible elimination methods.
Common Garage Bugs and Pests
Many types of pests are found in the garages, and of them, these are the most common ones:
Silverfish: These insects like garages a lot. Mostly they get in the house by hitching a ride on old cardboard boxes. Once in, these insects spread rapidly. Also, if you have damp fabric laying around somewhere, it’s heaven on earth for silverfish.
Spiders: Small spiders are also found in garages as this area of the house is not pest controlled regularly.
Flies: Flies in the garage are one of the biggest concerns. It has an annoying habit of hovering over our food and face. Apart from that, they spread diseases like Typhoid, Cholera, and several others.
Mice: Deer mice seek shelter indoors for warmth during the winter months. However, the warmth of storage boxes and wall cracks is often not enough for these creatures and end up in the cars!
FAQs
- How to keep bugs out of the garage at night?
Bugs and pests have this habit of getting into the garages at night. However, to keep them out, insulation and the weather stripping must be checked, ensuring they are intact and do not have any cracks through which bugs can enter. Besides, the window should be maintained and checked regularly.
- How to keep bugs out of the garage gym?
To keep away bugs from garage gyms, remove all food items, standing water, or any junk that might be there in your gym. Then using baking soda, bleach, or vinegar, disinfect the infested area (unless the infestation is bad). The smell of the beach and soda repels bugs and stops them from returning.
- How to keep bugs out of shoes in the garage?
If you store your old shoes, it’s essential to wash them in the dryer or use a bug heater to treat them. If the shoes have been heavily infested, it’s advisable to throw them away.
Conclusion:
Indeed bugs and pests in the garage can be a major annoyance and greatly affect the quality of life. However, thankfully multiple ways are used which you can deal with pest problems easily. We hope you find this article useful while dealing with creepy crawlers.
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