3 Things To Do While Waiting For Your Pest Control Appointment

Have you recently discovered an insect infestation in or around your home? Have you already called an exterminator but you want to try to get a handle on things while you're waiting for the appointment? It's never fun to discover that your home has been turned into an insect hotel. Whether the insects in question are roaches or are something else, you undoubtedly want them gone as soon as possible. Some things that can help while you're waiting for the exterminator to show up include:

Clean up the yard: Although grass clippings and fallen leaves can be very good at adding nutrients to your lawn and garden, they also provide both food and shelter to a variety of insects. Step one of your pest control plan should be cleaning up any yard waste around your home. If you want to use the debris in question as a fertilizer, it's a good idea to invest in a compost bin. When used properly, a sealed compost bin will keep the waste away from insect pests and will break down the waste quickly enough and at high enough heat that insects and their eggs will almost certainly be killed off.

Seal off holes: Roaches and other insects can enter your home through the tiniest of cracks. Before your pest control professional arrives, replace all of the old weatherstripping around your home with new weatherstripping. It may also be a good idea to get a caulk gun or a tube of silicone sealant and apply caulk or sealant to any large cracks that you can find. One example where you might need to apply caulk or sealant is the hole in your exterior wall where the cable or satellite TV cord enters your home. This will allow the exterminator to concentrate on entryways that you may not have noticed. 

Clean up the kitchen: Even if your kitchen seems spotless, there may still be room for improvement. Roaches and some other insects can survive off of a variety of things that you might not expect. Boxes, tiny bits of spilled flour, and even food particles in your garbage disposal are all fair game to a roach. Repackage food so that it is in an airtight plastic or glass container. Follow your manufacturer's instructions on cleaning food out of your garbage disposal. One common method involves putting a number of ice cubes into your running garbage disposal. Although noisy, the ice causes the food particles to solidify and get knocked off of the disposal blades so that they can be washed down the drain. The cleaner your kitchen is as a whole, the easier it will be for your pest control professional to rid you of your infestation.

Contact a company like Blackburn Pest Control for more information and assistance.