There’s nothing more frustrating than an infestation of pests in your home or apartment. Whether you’re struggling with termites, bed bugs, ants, or some other creepy-crawly, pests cause a whole host of issues for homeowners.
When it comes to the most common house pests, there are a few that are more common than others. Let’s take a look at five of the most common house pests you should know about.
- Wasps and Bees
Wasps and bees are common flying house pests that can make their home inside yours. The most common types of bees and wasps that can take over your home include carpenter bees and mortar bees.
Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees are not like honeybees that are social and live in hives. Instead, they drill holes into wooden structures and take up residence in these individual abodes.
Because of this habit, they can end up leaving your home’s wooden structures with many holes in them. In turn, that can allow water to get in and weaken the structure.
Mortar Bees
Like carpenter bees, mortar bees drill holes in your home. However, they don’t make their home in wood. Instead, they choose to drill out nests in masonry.
While mortar bees are great for pollination, they’re not so great for your home’s structure. Lots of these bees’ homes can lead to weakened masonry and structural damage.
Wasps
Another nasty flying pest that you’re likely to find in your home is a wasp. Wasps love getting into your home and building their nests in tucked-away corners in your basement or attic.
Wasps don’t typically drill into your home’s structure the way mortar and carpenter bees do, but they can cause a nasty infestation. Leaving wasp infestations unchecked can lead to stings and health risks.
- Carpenter Ants
It’s not just flying critters that plague homeowners. There are plenty of creepy crawlies that are more than happy to make their way into your house and start calling it home.
One of these pests is the carpenter ant. Carpenter ants, like carpenter bees, make their homes in wooden structures.
However, carpenter ants will often target wood that is already damaged. Or, they’ll choose to start eating away at wood that is dampened. This can lead to even more damage and to more rapidly deteriorating structures.
The worst part about carpenter ants is that their nests are made up of tunnels throughout the wood. They’ll bore pathways through the wood that can cause it to crumble and break down.
For homeowners that means having to take care of costly repairs just to get rid of this problem! Getting rid of ants as soon as you know them crawling around is key to making sure your property is safe from a growing problem.
- Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are common house pests that bite. When you get an infestation of bed bugs, it can be hard to get a good night’s sleep. Even worse, it can be hard to get rid of them thanks to the prolific bed bug life cycle.
Bed bugs are typically brought into your home on clothing or luggage. From there, they proceed to set up colonies in discreet hiding places in your room.
One of their favorite hiding spots is in your bed. They’ll often live together in large groups in your boxspring or in your mattress. Thanks to this, they’ve coined the name “bed bugs.”
These nasty little critters feed on your blood while you’re sleeping because of their nocturnal lifestyle. From there, they’ll quickly breed broods of bugs that continue to feed off you.
What you’re left with is a nasty infestation! Getting rid of bed bugs is essential to keeping you and your family healthy and getting a good night’s sleep.
- Termites
Termites are among some of the most common household pests. Termites thrive on damp wood. That means that they’ll often move into the home if you’ve got a leak or other way for water to get into your home’s structure.
Similar to carpenter ants, these pesky invaders bore tunnels in wood. They chew away at wooden structures from the inside, leading to weakened wood and ultimately costly house damages.
Termites have become known as “silent destroyers”. This is because they eat wood from the inside out. Termites can be secretly destroying your home for a long time before you notice outward signs of their presence.
And, if you do find yourself unfortunate enough to have termite damage, there’s a good chance you’ll need to take care of costly repairs. Looking for small holes in wooden fixtures on your property is a good indicator that you may have termites present.
- Cockroaches
Among the most hated household pests are cockroaches. Roaches are pests more common in apartments than houses.
They like to hide out in trash piles and community dumpsters. From there, they can make their way into various units in the apartment building.
Just like termites, cockroaches love damp environments. They’re more likely to show up in homes that have a leaky roof, plumbing issues, or faulty appliances such as a refrigerator.
Roaches typically hide out in dark corners of your apartment which means they can be hard to spot until you’ve already got an infestation. If you see one cockroach, make sure to call pest control to safeguard against any others that may be lurking.
Put a Stop to Common House Pests Before It’s Too Late
The sooner you tackle common house pests, the better. Allowing them to roam free and continue to wreak havoc on your home can lead to further damages and even more costly repairs.
If you found this article handy, be sure to check out some of our other helpful resources at Bae Home. We’ve got content that helps homeowners keep their homes in good working order.