Many people use fireplaces to heat their home in the winter. This involves bringing wood in from the outdoors. It’s quite simple for pests to hitchhike on a piece of wood and find their way into your home. Many creatures live in and feed on wood.
How to know if your firewood is infested.
There are two major pests that can be found in firewood those that feed on wood and those who infest wood for shelter. Many insects will find shelter under the bark or in hollow logs. Different types of beetles, overwintering wasps and wood cockroaches can all be found in logs. They become more active after your home warms them up. The best thing to do is get rid of them as quick as possible. A single insect might not lead to infestation, but if they have time to develop a colony your might have bigger problems.
Pests that eat wood can be a huge problem for homeowners. Once brought inside they can find their way into the walls or floors. Once inside they will eat away at wooden structures. This can cause major structural problems for your home. Termites and carpenter ants are often confused for each other. But, both are equally bad for your home.
How to avoid pests hitching on firewood.
Don’t stack firewood in or close to house. Pests can easily make their way into your home if they’re given an avenue to get in. Wood-boring insects can easily tunnel from wood to wood. If logs are touching wood in your home then you’re making it easy for pests to get in.
Keep firewood away from trees. They might easily take of the living trees in your yard and kill them.
Stack firewood off the ground. You want to keep the wood as dry as possible. Moisture attracts a lot of pests you don’t want around your home. Placing it on bricks, concrete blocks or grate can give some space so they attract insects.
Cover firewood when not being used. In the summer or spring you should cover firewood preventing creatures from overwintering when the weather cools in the fall. Stacking freshly cut wood in the sun will get rid of any pests.
Use the oldest wood first. The longer it sits outside the bigger possibility pests might be living in the logs. Restack the wood periodically. This will disturb pests and prevent infestations from building up.
Use only local firewood. This way you know what types of insects could be found on the wood. You don’t want to introduce random insects in your yard. Insects might also crawl out and breed in new areas.
Inspect each log before bringing it inside. If you can spot pests early on you can control the surface insects from getting into your home. Try your best to inspect them for signs of infestation. Shake them and knock them together.
Burn wood after bringing it inside. Don’t let it sit in your house. This will give insects more opportunity to travel from the log to your home. Keep wood in a cool place. When the logs warm up creatures will start to come out of their winter slumbers. Only bring in what you think you’re going to burn.
Pest control Burlington
With the colder weather homeowners are spending more time around the fireplace. But, bring logs indoors gives an opportunity for insects a chance to make your home their home. At the first sign of infestation contact Truly Nolen Pest Control.