Rodent proofing is an important and necessary task to protect your home in the long term after any infestation. It’s not enough to just remove rodents — you need to make sure that they stay out. Carrying out these additional steps can prevent future infestation and provide a variety of long-term benefits.
Reducing the Risk of Disease
One of the most significant benefits of rodent proofing is that you can help keep hazardous diseases out of your home. The various rodents that can infest your attic and crawl space are known to carry many different diseases, including some that can put you and your family at imminent risk.
It isn’t just about direct contact with rodents. Many of the diseases they carry are transmitted through droppings and other waste. Simply coming into contact with nesting materials or other areas they’ve been in can pose a risk.
Rodents also carry a variety of ticks, mites, and fleas. These can spread unseen through your home and transfer disease. Just because you can’t see any rodents doesn’t mean you aren’t at risk.
Some of the most prominent diseases spread by rodents include Hantavirus and salmonella. Both pose a serious risk to humans who become infected, so rodent-proofing and keeping them out of your home in the first place is the best course of action.
Keeping Your Food Safe
While rodents will make their nests in your attic, they’ll move freely throughout the rest of your home if they’re able to. They can move through the inside of walls and floors and may have access to your pantry or cupboards. If so, they may be getting into your food.
Rodents can leave behind droppings, urine, and fur in your food. Of course, no one wants that. However, this isn’t just unpleasant; it’s also dangerous. You may find yourself with hazardous bacteria in your food, which can lead to serious illness.
Rodent proofing keeps these pests away from your food by blocking their initial points of entry. Stopping them from entering your attic or crawlspace in the first place is the best way to keep them out of the kitchen and ensure that your food isn’t contaminated.
If you do suspect a rodent infestation, make sure to watch for signs that they’re getting into your food. Signs of chewing on packaging and droppings in the area are common indicators that rodents have been there.
Avoiding Damage to Your Home
Rodents pose a variety of health hazards, but they can also be harmful to your home. There are several ways that rodents can damage various structures and systems throughout your house, potentially ending in disaster.
Many people are aware of the potential risk of rodents chewing electrical wiring. Your home is filled with electrical wiring, all of it carefully insulated to prevent short circuits and fires. However, rodents are prone to chewing away the protective sheathing and leaving live wires exposed.
If two of those wires happen to touch each other or come into contact with other metal objects, they can short out and heat up rapidly. This can ignite an electrical fire, putting your family at risk and potentially causing irreparable damage to your home.
Rodents can also cause damage to the structural elements of your home. While it’s unlikely that a rodent will chew straight through these wooden elements, the holes they create can allow for moisture issues to set in. Their nests can also retain moisture, creating the potential for mold and other problems.
Your attic insulation is another place where rodents can do a lot of damage. They use it as a nesting material, tearing it up and moving it around. This can make it much less effective. They also contaminate it, making it a potential health hazard. If you have a serious rodent infestation, you may need insulation replacement.
Maintaining Property Value
Rodent proofing can help protect the health of your family and your ability to enjoy your home. It’s also a solid investment in your property value. Rodent infestations can seriously impact property value when it comes time to sell your home, so handling the problem now with professional rodent proofing is an excellent investment.
The lasting physical damage that a rodent infestation does to your home is something that home inspectors will pick up on. Even if the rodents are long gone, home buyers will be put off by the fact that infestation took place. If you’ve had multiple infestations, then the situation looks even worse.
The fact that you avoided proper rodent proofing can also reflect poorly on your home maintenance in general. Buyers might assume that you’ve failed to show due diligence in other areas and anticipate additional issues. Rodent issues are often a red flag for home buyers and can quickly sour a sale.
Proper rodent proofing indicates that you’ve taken the time and effort to invest wisely in home maintenance. Home buyers will realize this and will be able to assume a similar quality in other aspects of your property.
Saving on Future Pest Control
One of the most direct impacts of rodent proofing is that you won’t have to pay for rodent removal again in the future. Without rodent proofing, you can find yourself facing ongoing pest control requirements that will quickly become more expensive than going with rodent proofing in the first place.
If you’ve had an infestation, those rodents got into your home somehow. Failing to identify and address that issue only invites further infestations in the future. Soon enough, you’ll have new visitors, and you’ll find yourself calling for professional rodent removal again.
With rodent proofing, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that the issue has been dealt with properly. Instead of constantly worrying about potential infestation and listening to scurrying noises at night, you can sit back and relax, knowing that your home is rodent-free.
Put Rodent Proofing to Work for Your Home
It’s clear that proper rodent proofing is the best way to go in the long run. If you’re dealing with rodents or other pests, you can count on Attic Projects for both pest removal and rodent proofing. Reach out today to ensure that your home is protected against future infestation.
