10 Tips For Do It Yourself Pest Control

Rodents, bats, birds, squirrels, and insects have this strange ability to find a way into your home. It's difficult to keep them out and they are able to squeeze themselves through tiny spaces and enter small holes.

In this DIY (Do it Yourself) Guide, we will teach you the basics of pest control, in your home or office. Many people try to do it themselves but without the proper knowledge, they often make the situation much worse than it was. So, without further ado, The Attic Pest Authority's own do-it-yourself guide for pest control.

So, if you have any sign's of pest infestations in your home, you need to think of the best way to control them as early as possible - the faster they multiply (which WILL be fast) the larger your clean up bill will become, every single day.

When you discover that household pests are invading your home you should probably think of hiring a professional pest control company. Truth be told, many contractors are reliable and they can manage the job quickly and efficiently, However, there are also many situations where DIY solutions can be just as effective for long-term results, at a fraction of the cost. So, if money is an issue for you but are looking for an effective pest control, doing it yourself can easily achieve that. By reading books and guides about these things, you can easily save thousands of dollars. 

The 10 Best Tips For DIY Pest Control

Here are 10 helpful tips for do it yourself pest control to help you can get on top of the creatures threatening to invade your home:

1. Understand the Health Risks 

The first thing people need to know about pests is the damage they can bring to your health, not just home. If these creatures are allowed to roam free in your house, they can possibly spread disease within a matter of weeks, even days. Understanding the risks can aid in successfully controlling and preventing recurring infestation. This is especially important for a DIY mission in your home.

Animals such as mice would pose a less of a threat than a bat infestation as the droppings of bats can have serious detrimental health effects.​ The more serious the health effect, the faster you need to act!

2. Check and Inspect

Diy pest control

Regularly check the attic vents and openings in all areas of your home. These may be open to outdoors and can be entry points for pests to invade your comfort zone. In our DIY guide, you'll learn the in's and out's of these things even more.

If you notice anything that could be a potential entry hole, make note of it on a piece of paper so you can go back and seal it up later. Sealing access holes is your secret weapon to effective pest control!

Look for obvious holes, and pest evidence, such a droppings, nesting rubble, and stains.

3. Make It A Habit To Keep Your House Clean

Painfully obvious put painfully effective.

Pay special attention to the kitchen and dining area. Dispose of your garbage properly and regularly as they are attractive to hungry pests. Always use airtight containers when storing foods, pests can chew cardboard packaging without worry. You also have to avoid leaving pet foods out for a long period of time because they are appealing to all insects, roaches and especially rats.

4. Wash and Dry Your Clothes and Linen More Often

 Make it a habit to wash and heat-dry your clothes and personal items such as bedsheets, blankets and towels. Its easy to do this every other week, however your bed area and clothes cupboards are breeding grounds for a whole range of pests that you would rather not know about, such as dust mites and bed bugs. These type of insects thrive off of those materials and having them clean should not reduce the chances of any problems in the future.

Washing linen once a week is a good habit to maintain.​

5. Ventilation Is KEY

Use humidifiers in moist areas like basements, attics and crawl spaces to help them stay dry. Pests LOVE damp spots so make sure your home is well-ventilated and dry to prevent their reproduction. You will be fairly surprised by how many of these pests enjoy the humid areas of your house. It's ridiculous.

More often than not, a pest problem can be easily cured by introducing ventilation into an infested area. Ventilation encourages pests to move on and you'll be blown away by this tip alone.​

6. Sealing Entry Points to Your House

Raccoon in attic

Cracks in the foundation of your house and gaps between your walls could be an open door for pests to enter your home. Actually, they ARE an open invitation to enter your home, and bring all of their friends.

Pay attention to crevices to avoid the nuisance from entering your home. This involves a little bit of hunting around the entry points like door frames and windows, however the work will pay off big time.

You also have to check the structures of your utility pipes as well as your TV and cable wires, which can be a hot entry point if exposed. If you find these areas have holes present, use a can of filling foam to close the gaps off.

7. Repair, Replace, Install.

Repair damaged screens and replace torn windows instead of leaving them be for months on end (we are all guilty of this) The longer you put repair off, the more chance of pests getting in - and the more pests that enter your home means the more reproduction that you are allowing to take place

Install door sweeps to avoid rodents and insects entering your house if the gaps under your door are larger than 5mm. You can simply buy these from a hardware store, a super-easy fix that blocks the opening between your door and the ground. Highly effective.

8. How's Your Drainage?

Fixing leaky faucet can go a long way. Since pests love water and moisture, repairing an existing drainage system can prevent leaks that attract many common pests.

Find out which bugs are living in your drainage or breeding in them.

The more moisture you allow in your home, the more pests you'll have living in these areas - its the reason why you generally find pests in your kitchen and bathrooms.​ 

9. Trap and Bait

Dead mouse

Set up some traps around areas where pest activity is present, and monitor the situaiton. Use Snap traps or sticky traps (Also known as glue traps), if you have rodents in your home, and larger cage traps if you have squirrels or racoons.

Be aware that laying down a few traps will never solve your problems - you have to lay traps as well as implement a few other vital tips. Make sure you check the bait often as dead rodents can also attract insects that may cause secondary infestation.

Read more about different types of traps that you can use on this page.

The most important point here is: Make sure all entry holes are sealed first!

If you have rodents you may want to ask yourself why are they coming to your residence in the first place.

Is your home unclean? Do you have a bird feeder outside which is providing them with food?

Don't forget to use a strong disinfectant when cleaning up, to avoid contracting any disease.

10. Spray

There are several insecticides and pesticides that are new, fast acting and easy to use. Before using any chemicals for home pest control, make sure you read the product information to keep your home and health safe.

Insecticides are pretty powerful chemicals and can be used to get rid of these insects.​ It can be a little unhealthy for humans if you are exposed to these chemicals all the time, so please wear a cover on your face if you are planning to use these repeatedly over a prolonged period of time. 


If you feel that the infestation still isn’t going away, despite your best DIY pest control efforts, contact professional pest control companies to evaluate your situation and provide recommendations for the extermination, treatment and prevention.

To Find out more about common pests that are found in attics across the US visit our homepage

You can find out more about sealing your home from other pests by reading these posts :