Invasion Season: Don’t Make Pests Your Guests

At a time our country is more divided than ever, your humble correspondent is grateful to be working on problems on which everyone can agree. I believe we can all agree that glass window panes that are cracked are not as good as those that aren’t. Doors that make that clicking sound when they are fully shut are better than those that don’t. And toilets that are completely silent at the end of a flush are better than those that keep on gurgling.

With that said, I hope we can also agree that having a home with “open borders” is not a great idea, am I right? That installing locks on your doors to prevent complete strangers from entering and living in your house doesn’t make you a bad person. Or that blocking wild creatures or insects from penetrating your roofs and outer walls, making nests, relieving themselves, and otherwise destroying your home’s structures and furnishings doesn’t mean you are unkind to animals.

So, this just happens to be the most likely time of year for barbarians to be at the gates. Sudden and severe drops in temperatures remind a lot of animals that your home has some useful amenities unavailable in their usually-preferable outdoor lifestyle. And that our homes can offer better facilities for pre- and post-natal care. 

So here’s what you should be looking for, and how Fix St Louis can help you.

Raccoons

Yeah, these creatures are very cute, and their babies even cuter, but don’t be fooled. There is nothing more damaging nor more vicious than a mom protecting her constituents. Fortunately they can be trapped and deported to a neighborhood far, far away. Not by Fix St Louis, but by a reputable pest control company. But call us afterwards and we will permanently close-up the holes they created to get in, and make it look like they were never there.

Squirrels

These guys are usually tougher to catch than raccoons, and even if you could catch the original perpetrator, more will use the same hole later. We’re not experts on the way squirrels think, so feel free to get advice from a pest control expert. But usually homeowners call Fix St Louis FIRST to patch-up the holes, or install heavy-duty chicken wire-type screening over open areas that are meant to be there (e.g. for attic venting).

Termites

Here’s one where you must call a specialist first. Sometimes you can see their tell-tale evidence, mud tunnels on lumber in unfinished areas of your basement. But most of the time some drywall will have to be removed to expose and repair their damage. The specialist will determine where the damage is, confirm whether the termites are still active, and treat your home. But you’ll need Fix St Louis to actually replace the damaged lumber and restore your walls, ceilings, and floors as required. But you should act right away before the damage gets even worse.

Woodpeckers

You’ll know them by their handiwork — almost perfect circular holes ~2″ in diameter on the sides of your house, and maybe a few holes-in-process they never finished. If they are still active there’s no point in having us fix these holes, as they’ll just come back and start a new one a few inches away. You’ll need an expert to “trap” them, to put it nicely, although no rehabilitation or deportation services are available, if you know what I mean. But once that is done, or if you’re certain they are no longer active, give Fix St Louis a call and we’ll bring your siding back to its original condition.

Carpenter Bees

Typically homeowners call us about these guys when they see a series of holes in the lumber in their decks. Sometimes these look more like slots than circles, if the bees dig sideways to reach eggs planted horizontally in the wood. Best we can tell these holes and slots usually don’t really hurt a deck’s structural integrity, but they can look ugly. Fix St Louis would be happy to replace any damaged boards you don’t like looking at.

Stink Bugs, Lady Bugs, Flies, and Ants

To tell you the truth, we usually have no idea how these critters get into houses. Yes, we can replace torn screens. But if you and your pest control guy have another theory and can point to a gap, Fix St Louis has all kinds of methods to patch, cover, or plug-up openings in the side of your house.

Sometimes we see “Mi casa es su casa” (in English, “My home is your home”) posted on walls in Spanish-speaking homes. Well, it’s a nice sentiment to express to visitors and family pets, but it has its limits. And thanks, but unlike most contractors, Fix St Louis specializes in small jobs, so if you don’t mind we’d like to stop by just for a short time, fix your problems, and move on. But call Fix St Louis, we’ll keep the barbarians at the gates, and clean-up any mess they left behind.

Dr Steve

Fix St Louis