Common Pest Problems In Property Management
For property managers responsible for apartments
, town homes or even single-family house rentals, pest control is an ongoing duty. When residents cannot get rid of the problem themselves, the property manager has to take the imitative. If the property manager cannot do it, then a professional exterminator may have to be brought in to handle the problem.
Among the most common household pests are insects like ants, silverfish, spiders, flies, cockroaches, bees, wasps and moths. In cities or rural areas there can be issues with rats or mice, as well. Although in some rural areas there are additional problems with raccoons, birds and bats, insects and small rodents are the most common issues in general. This is true in all parts of the word, not just the U.S.
Where do they come from?
Actually, the animals and insects that we call pests probably ask that same question, and wonder where all the people came from and what all these buildings are. Pests in many cases are just reclaiming their territory, and can get into your place inside grocery bags, suitcases, cracks in the wall and just walking right through doorframes or flying through windows. In apartment buildings there are all kinds of insect highways, so to speak, for them to get in, around, under and all over. They can come in along heating and water pipes, squeeze through tiny holes and make their way through gaps in floors, doors, walls, vents and everywhere else.
Insects generally like what they find when they get into a human's house. They will have everything they need (including cable TV) and will breed fast. Even the cleanest and neatest apartments can have pest problems, and they will quickly make their way to sources of warmth, water, food and protection. They will find hiding places you wouldn't even think about.
The pest's point of view
As a property manager, you can do a lot to limit the insect invasions, particularly when residents will help with some of the preventative measures. If there is a bad infestation, professional steps may need to be taken. Still, the preventative methods are the way to go, but you need to understand that it is involved and may affect the various building systems like power and water. If you start with thinking about why the pests are there, you can take steps to make your place less inviting.
You see, the insect and small critter pests thrive in a home because it is safer and easier living than in the cruel world outside. The great indoors offers food, heating, more hiding places and less worry about natural enemies that would be hunting them outside. If you understand what brings them your way, you can choose better tactics to keep them out.
Sensible steps
Pests are attracted by both human and pet debris and the promise of shelter. Understanding your pest adversary means finding the places they get in the easiest and sealing them up. Along with cooperative residents, you have to eliminate open sources of food or food remnants, maintain a well tended home, be prepared to set traps and when warranted use pesticides, keep common areas clean and otherwise use good sense to make your property less inviting.
One of the first lines of defense for your property are the apartments' bad seals around doors and windows, cracks and holes in the walls and foundation, gaps around where pipes and cables enter, etc. Many insects with flexible bodies can get through holes smaller than they are, but the larger the openings, the more kinds of pests will make use of them, almost as if they hang out welcome signs. If the ways to get into your apartments or rental houses are big enough (air ducts, vents) then you may not only get the crawly pests, you might get the rodents and even birds.
What to do
Fill the spaces around cable and electrical lines, seal all the wall holes and close the plumbing gaps everywhere you find them. Make sure to check behind and under cupboards, in utility closets, in attics and cellars, behind toilet fixtures and around the bathroom or kitchen sinks. You can use a sealant caulk to seal most small to medium-sized holes. Be sure that window screens are properly fitting and are in good shape to deny access to flying insects and crawlers, too.
With common sense and ongoing oversight, you can not only get rid of any pests that are already in residence (and paying no rent), you and property residents can establish habits that will result in your homes being posted off limits to pests!
by: Josh Bloom
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