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Give a Rats Hooey

Give a Rats Hooey

  • The biggest pests are pests. And if building maintenance neglects to get those creepy crawling, fungus eating pests under control, tenants will be moving out while the pests move in. If you think collecting rent from a tenant is tough, try collecting rent from a cockroach. Not only is infestation disgusting in the psychological level, it is extremely unhealthy on the biological level. Studies show that cockroaches enhance asthma symptoms. Rats also pose severe health risks to humans, but rats do not care. In fact, they thrive on human presence. Rats are scavengers and we are the ones that unintentionally feed them. So if building maintenance does not get a hold on a potential pest problem, you can replace the word potential with severe. Because pests have only two purposes in life, eat and breed. Building maintenance needs to stop both, but the first strategy is prevention. Here are some building maintenance tips for pest prevention.

Cut off their water supply. Fix leaky pipes and look for other sources of water.

  • Cut off their food supply. Food storage and food scraps should be tightly sealed in a storage container and remove garbage regularly from the rental property.
  • Put the pet food and water away during the night. Rats and cockroaches cannot read. Just because it is labeled dog food does not mean rats and cockroaches will turn away.
  • Building maintenance needs to close off pest entryways and hiding places by caulking cracks and holes around cabinet storage and baseboards

Okay, so building maintenance tried the prevention thing and the pests are still checking in the apartment rental. Well, sometimes prevention fails. A renter get careless by dropping a few cookie crumbs and some grated cheese behind a cabinet, and presto, like sea monkeys they just appear from nowhere. Now it is time to bring out the big guns.

  • Lay out bait traps
  • Spray chemicals in cracks and holes if you did not seal them already. Hopefully the pest problem does not get to the point where you need a fogger.
  • Find the source of the problem. All the chemicals in the world will not cure your problem if the cause is still active.
  • Only apply indoor chemicals if spraying indoors. Do not use outdoor chemicals indoors. Outdoor chemicals are more toxic and their effect lasts longer.
  • When all else fails call an exterminator. Maybe this should be the first step on the building maintenance list.

When you are done hunting pests in the investment property, dispose the left over pesticides and containers properly. The label on the can should give disposal directions, otherwise check with the local municipality on hazard waste collection sites and rules.

Yearly chemical spraying should be on the building maintenance schedule regardless if there are signs of pests or not. Because all it takes is one careless apartment rental tenant to attract a swarm of pests. So if you give a rats hooey about building maintenance, take care of the problem before it becomes out of control. If you let it reach to the infestation level, you will be setting up an expensive trap with the building maintenance costs.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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