Pest Control Tips for Apartment Building Owners
Apartment buildings and multi-family residences present unique challenges to property owners looking to prevent pest infestation, and responding to pest problems as they emerge simply isn’t enough to keep buildings pest-free in the long term.
With multiple groups of tenants and residents coming in and out of apartment buildings at all hours of the day, keeping track of exactly where and when pests are making their way in can be next to impossible.
That’s why a better method is to enact regular, disciplined pest management methods throughout the year, which will help keep the temptation for pests to get settled on your property to a minimum regardless of who may be coming to stay. Here’s a look at some of the top tips for apartment owners looking to keep properties pest-free.
Prevent Standing Water
Pests seek out just three basic necessities, typically in the following order: water, food, and shelter. From ants to bed bugs to wildlife and more, water is the very first thing most pests will seek out when searching for a new home - which makes keeping standing water and humidity to a minimum absolutely critical to any effective pest control method.
Spaces most likely to suffer from excessive moisture include bathrooms, utility rooms, kitchens, eating areas, cleaning areas, and laundry facilities. In these areas, be especially careful to check for leaks or pools of water which may attract pests.
Keep Spaces Consistently Clean
Pests are persistent - and they’re usually willing and able to wait quite a while to find the food and shelter they’re looking for. That’s why simply cleaning up your area once and a while is not enough to keep your apartments pest-free for good.
Instead, it’s hugely important for apartment owners to keep high-traffic areas, food preparation areas, trash areas, bathrooms, and utility spaces as clean as possible each and every day. That means following regular cleaning schedules, and understanding which spaces are most likely to attract pests and how to best keep those spaces from accumulating crumbs, junk, or debris.
Remember: Bed Bugs Don’t Discriminate
Regardless of just how clean or moisture-free you may be keeping your apartment units, this simply may not be enough to keep all pests out of your property. Case in point: bed bugs.
Because bed bugs do not require crumbs or food scraps to survive, and can live completely and comfortably on sheets, mattresses and linens, it’s critical to keep highly vigilant against bed bugs at all times. And, because bed bugs can travel from guest to guest and room to room virtually undetected, it’s important to prevent, catch and stop bed bugs as early as possible before they get a chance to get out of hand.
Treat Adjacent Units To Prevent Cross-Contamination
As if identifying and preventing pests from integrating themselves in your apartment building isn’t hard enough, actually removing them can be doubly challenging. That’s because the pests you work on removing from one unit can simply shift their operation to the next apartment over each time you attempt elimination.
That’s why it’s critical to treat all units adjacent to the affected space. The added cost of treatment now will likely represent long-term savings against repeated By cutting off all available escape routes, apartment building owners can make the survival of even one bed bug significantly more difficult, and drastically improve the odds of keeping your property pest-free.
Monitor Regularly & Thoroughly
No matter how thorough your cleaning and pest elimination process may be, all that hard work won’t mean much if you are not monitoring, inspecting, and auditing your cleaning process on a regular basis. By keeping your attention squarely focused on pest prevention all year long, you drastically improve your odds of identifying and intervening to stop a pest infestation long before pests get a chance to get settled.
Be sure all cleaning staff are thoroughly informed and on-board with proper cleaning protocol, and how and where to report pest problems when they are noticed. It is also important to keep careful records of cleaning processes and pest management efforts to understand which methods are effective and which are not.
Keep Your Residents Informed & Cooperative
It is completely understandable why apartment owners may want to keep pest problems and residents completely separate from each other - after all, the rental business runs on reputation, and a pest problem can spell disaster for an apartment building once word gets out. However, by staying honest and keeping your residents well-informed about proper pest prevention for your building, you can both build trust and drastically reduce the likelihood of pests finding their way onto your property in the first place.
Whether it’s communal learning sessions, proper signage throughout common areas, or instruction on pest prevention for new tenants, providing basic pest knowledge to your residents can significantly boost your pest prevention efforts.
Keep Your Apartments Inviting For Tenants, Not Pests
In all, proper pest prevention is all about thinking ahead and identifying top threats before they get a chance to get ingrained in your building. Whether you’re just starting your pest prevention strategy now or you’re looking to improve the systems you already have in place, our expert pest management professionals can help you keep your apartment building’s defenses strong against unwanted invaders. Get in touch, and let’s get started on your most effective pest prevention to date.
