Questions tagged [pest-control]
The pest-control tag has no usage guidance.
316
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Does this look like termite/carpenter ant leftovers?
I’m in suburban New England. House has had termites a few years ago but had treatment. Noticed this … stuff in the opening near where I had heating system installed. I can’t tell if it’s a sign the ...
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Find mouse entrance in cavity walls
We moved into a newly built house about half a year ago. A few months back we started noticing a (rodent) urine smell coming from a specific point at the floow near an outer wall. We also started ...
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Is this persistent termite damage or could it be caused by wasps?
We've had some visible damage through a ceiling joint, and the attached picture is what it looks like in the attic. We had a pest control company come out and treat for termites with termidor by ...
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129
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Should I Tape These Interior Foam Board Seams?
As you can see in the picture, I’ve begun opening up the walls in my garage. Plan is to insulate with Rockwool and eventually add a mini split. I live in a dry, hot climate and hope to cool the space ...
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Is there supposed to be a gap between soffit and roof?
We had rats on our roof and atop is a bunch of nesting material. I don't know if this roof is setup correctly, but there are gaps between the soffit and the roof into the attic which are an inch thick....
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Attic subfloor, venting, and mice
I am trying to evaluate what my exterminator/remediation company is telling me, and would like some help, please.
I recently added a subfloor to my attic. I sought advice from a contractor I know, and ...
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154
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What are these bugs on my kitchen ceiling?
I hope someone can help me identify this bug. They are black, really small and have wings.
They are not love bugs, but they are fond of attaching to one another the way love bugs do, and they keep ...
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107
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How to get rid of tiny brown ants?
We have tiny brown ants that invade the house a few times a year. Normally we throw some ant traps down and spray and the ants are done for a while.
These ants are too dumb. They don't really go ...
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89
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How to get rid of fruit flies on front porch
I think they are fruit flies since they are small. They move at regular speed like a fly but they keep hovering all day on my front porch.
I do have a waterbody (small fountain) there now, but it was ...
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Sunroom construction completion checklist [Toronto]
I have a sunroom underway using a contractor with a city reviewed permit. the city does the structural inspection.
Some of the features of the sunroom are:
there will be a skylight and a heat pump
...
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98
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Alternatives to 3mm welded mesh for mice protection?
One room of my house is below a slanted roof. The tiles on the roof are quite old, so mice can probably enter through the tiles. I want to use a classic design for insulation. (From top to bottom). ...
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69
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Pest-proof and air-seal electrical wire penetrations in stud walls
I'm replacing all the wiring in my house, and I've decided that I would like to make it as difficult as possible for any bugs or rodents to travel inside my wall cavities through the holes that ...
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550
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Can mice chew through fine grade steel wool?
I found conflicting information regarding this topic.
This steel wool manufacturer states that:
Use stainless steel wool grade MEDIUM so that mice, rats and other rodents do not make them larger.
...
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46
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Can I seal off these ceiling cavities in my basement from rodent pest access and/or remove the old, soiled insulation inside to stop smells?
Part of our kitchen/dining room extends into our back yard where there's no basement underneath. Perhaps it was an addition at some point (it's a 1940s house) but down in the 'unfinished' side of the ...
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What's the best way to plug up a huge hole in a rim joist
Every time it rains heavily I get some water inside my crawlspace. Checked outside and crawled under my deck to find this huge hole which is about 10 x 4 cm.
It appeared that there used to be a piece ...
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85
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Does anyone recognize this bug?
We have had this type of bug in our house every year during the summer only. They like to stay in the dining room and kitchen only. They stay only on the ceiling and walls until they are disturbed. ...
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Use a 1/8 inch mesh to keep out roaches?
Can I put a 1/8th inch mesh over the unused chimney and chimney cap to keep roaches and other large insects from entering?
Somehow a few get every once in a while, and I find them on the bench or base,...
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129
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Treated Lumber for Bathroom Half walls?
We are doing a bathroom remodel of a Florida home built in 1995. For the walls in the tub area, they used treated lumber along the concrete slab and regular 2X4 for the wall frames. We have a large ...
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How can I get rid of Wasps in/above soffit?
So we have some wasps/mud dobbers going into our eves where the soffit meets the siding. I purchased some long term spray which would hopefully get rid of the lady bugs that come in as well. Just want ...
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Securing steel mesh to the outside of concrete foundation
Context
Mice are coming in an opening between my concrete foundation and the rim joist.
I bought some steel wool to stuff into the holes and some 1/4 " steel mesh to block access.
From within my ...
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146
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What kind of nest is this in my attic?
I heard some noise coming from the attic last night. Went up today and found this.
There is another like this about 12ft away.
Isn't it too big to be a mice nest?
I couldn't take a closer look because ...
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125
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Identification of droppings found in kitchen
Can anyone identify these droppings, which appeared in a kitchen drawer and under the sink? They're hard, jet-black, and about the size of grains of rice.
They look too dark to be from a mouse, and ...
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2
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107
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What kind of non-toxic bait can be used an alternative to mouse baits or pellets?
I recently purchased a mouse trap. The instructions said to use bait pellets. However, what is a cheaper, more readily available alternative to bait pellets which will not kill the mice?
Maybe peanut ...
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What are these small white bugs all over my house and how do I get rid of them? [closed]
What are the small white bugs that are often found on black surfaces in my house? They are very smaller than ants. They seem to be all over the items in the house (Not only on black surfaces but ...
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201
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Fruit Fly in my condo
Every weekend we leave the condo to go back to our main house in the province. Every time we come back in the condo after less than 2 days, there will always be a LOT of DEAD flies (maybe fruit flies ...
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What is this black bug with wings (pictured) coming out of my A/C condensate line floor drain, and how do I get rid of it?
I observed hundreds of this small insect outside and inside my laundry room on the ground level. They appear to be coming from a floor drain in the laundry room (more detail below).
I am confused ...
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152
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Question about air sealing soffit/eave area for bugs and temperature
I have a 2006 house, which is not a great vintage, but generally very solid. In the rumpus room above my garage, there are two knee-wall closets. Despite having ample fiberglass insulation, these ...
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What type of wood-boring insect cause this type of damage in a rafter?
I recently discovered the following damages in a rafter. Location is California.
What type of wood-boring insect cause this type of damage?
What are some treatments to stop the cause?
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Wasps into the house from the attic
3 wasps suddenly appeared in our bathroom. We killed them. Some time later, another one appeared. We killed it. We stuffed the area around the inset light fixture in the ceiling with paper and blocked ...
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374
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How should I terminate a range hood exhaust duct through a wall?
I discovered that my home's overhead stove vent doesn't actually vent to anywhere. So I've pulled out the old fan, purchased a new, more powerful fan with 1000 CFM, and then added 8" pipes ...
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Ants, this means war! Terro bait yum yum [closed]
I have been dealing with ants that just wont go away. Found a mound near the foundation and killed it with poison. These little boogers that are back now, I see where they are coming/going through a ...
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What's eating my chopping board?
I live in the UK. Recently my kitchen got very damp for a period after there was a leak in the roof, and I've noticed these little grubs eating a couple of my wooden items.
What are they, and how ...
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168
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Increase water flow but keep mosquitos out of dry well
I have a dry well to prevent my yard and studio/office from flooding. It has a rim of bricks, which rise above the ground a little to stop too much garden waste entering the well (I guess). I want to ...
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How to heat treat the back of a moving truck to kill bed bugs [closed]
I'm moving. My current place has bed bugs. I don't want to bring them to my new place. Chemicals take months to kill bed bugs. Heat treatment takes hours.
If I rent a box truck from U-Haul and ...
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4
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153
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Scare off snakes from a weed full land [closed]
I have just inherited an acre of residential land. The land is full of weeds and some trees. It is 2-3 metres below the road that lies near it. It is as I believe infested with snakes.
How can I scare ...
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2
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Can a 'bug bomb' (pesticide fogger) kill a wasp nest in my attic?
I have a wasp nest in the very peak of my roof inside my attic. The location and building design means I cannot get close enough to use either powder or foam spray products which I have done in the ...
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Is there a surefire method to determine if I have an ant infestation?
I'm kind of in an inbetween land right now where I can't determine if I have an ant infestation or not.
Every morning when I leave for work I find half a dozen dead winged ants near my front door. ...
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Is this an insect nest?
I have found this little formation of ca. 5 cm (2 inches) near my bedroom window. I have seen no insects crawling or flying around it. I'm in southern Europe (Italy / coastal Tuscany), and it is late ...
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Can I use expanding foam to seal a hole behind my kitchen gas stove?
There is a hole in the wall behind my kitchen gas stove where some pipes for the stove come through. But mice also come through there. I want to seal the gap using expanding foam, but when I read the ...
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Need help with IDing and eliminating these brown bugs showing up in my kitchen
So my apartment's kitchen has had an issue with a particular bug that keeps showing up. Months ago, I committed an act of cleaning in my kitchen after a number of them kept showing up. Shelves, ...
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Flies in apartment bathroom
As of about 1-2 months ago, I've had these small, black flies constantly show up in my apartment bathroom. They show up in the bathtub more than anything else, sometimes on the shower curtain, ...
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How long to wait till I can declare "Mission Accomplished" after my german roach DIY control program?
My mother, unfortunately, had german cockroaches and it wasn't too long before I had to sit down with her and tell her what we had to do. We located leak behind the fridge and corrected it and looked ...
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DIY Heat Treating Home For Bugs - Danger To My Gas Pipe?
Actual Question:
My apartment has a gas line that is used for my oven and I'm wondering if anything needs to be done with that before I can heat treat my apartment. The apartments temperature will be ...
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Prevent animals from making a den under a shed?
I am building a shed and like most sheds, the floor frame is on blocks, so there is a space of about 10-12 inches under the shed. I know from previous experience that foxes and rodents like to use ...
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Fly problem in my condo
so for the past month I've had these little flies in my condominium. I cannot for the life of me figure out where they are coming from, and I am trying to find out what type of flies they are. I've ...
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Can someone help me identify these? (possibly pest)
recently I have found a lot of these things around exterior of my house. I don't think they are wing clippings but I'd really appreciate if someone could tell me what these are. Picture taken on ...
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575
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Sealing Carpet and Baseboards
Would it be okay to use duct tape (or any kind of tape) to seal the space between carpet and baseboards? I've had various run-ins with pests and have always seen bugs come from baseboards and windows.
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840
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Dealing with ants coming in from walls
We just moved to California, and specifically one of the many areas that has a major problem with Argentine Ants. The house we're renting is relatively new (1980s construction), but it seems like it ...
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578
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Holes in wood furniture: identifying the cause
About one year ago, we settled in a new house in south west France. We also bought a new wood table (made of reused wood from older furnitures).
I heard a bit of noise in the room last night while ...
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How do I protect a crevice from pests?
I'm furnishing a new room in an apartment. When my landlord remodeled this apartment, he created a nook in the wall, 20cm wide and 34cm deep, starting from waist height and going all the way up to the ...