Generally, termites and pests aren’t that much of a problem in condos because the height makes access prohibitive for them. So if you’re living in one of the high-rise condos (or even the low-rise and mid-rise ones) communities of DMCI homes then chances are you haven’t experienced much pest problems, if at all.
That’s not to say however that it’s not possible for pests to thrive there. They can gain access to the higher floors by hitching on one of the residents that travel to and from their rooms. Then if the conditions are right for them to live in, it can become very easy for them to thrive and multiply. That’s why it’s also important that you have your own easy pest condo operation you can do on your own.
So regardless of whether you live in an apartment, a house, or a high-rise you need to always consider the state of your surroundings and whether it’s an environment that’s conducive to pests or not.
The key things to consider when it comes to pests are whether there are areas in your condo that they can enter through and can find food, water, and shelter. If these things are present, even if you don’t have pest problem right now, the potential for having them in the future increases.
If you want to ensure that your condo living experience remains pest free or if you are already having problems now and you want to kick them out forever, here’s a guide to control condo pest safely and naturally.
Don’t make it easy for them to get into your condo
First of all, if you don’t already have pests and you’re always careful that you don’t accidentally bring them inside your room, you need to also make sure that they can’t get in through the walls or any other entry point. So check for cracks in your walls or any other areas that can allow them access.
If there are small to semi large cracks in your condo that you feel could allow pests to move through the walls or act as a hiding spot, then seal them. Duct tape can be a temporary remedy or you can also use silicon sealants that can be bought in most hardware stores.
Keep it clean
In order to ensure that pests don’t thrive, you need to make sure that these uninvited visitors in your condo have no reason to stay there and the best way of doing that is making sure that your condo is always clean and organized.
Messy condos increase the hiding spots of pests like cockroaches and mice. Hidden garbage, especially bits of food, can also become hard to spot in a cluttered space and that greatly increases the risk of pests because they now have food on top of having shelter.
Cleaning your condo can help in preventing pest, in fact, it’s probably one of the best things you can do to keep your condo pest free. Focus on areas where bits of food can fall under and be forgotten like beneath the fridge and cooking stove, under the tables or drawers, or along the sides of your bed.
Check, vacuum, and clean every nook and cranny of your condo. You need to be as thorough as possible because even just bits of food or crumbs of bread or biscuits are enough to attract them.
Properly dispose of your garbage
Most condos have garbage chutes that go all the way down to the basement where everything is collected. Use it, in fact use it everyday. Don’t let trash sit for more than a day in your condo.
Surprisingly a lot of condo dwellers still just leave their garbage by the chute and sometimes even just outside the door expecting the janitor or one of the staff to throw their garbage out for them. What’s even more surprising is that sometimes they don’t even seal their garbage properly in a bag.
This is an extremely bad practice because leaving garbage out in the open is like telling the pests “come to our floor there’s a party over here”. Do this often enough and you not only increase the risk of pests for your room but for everyone in the floor.
Sealing your garbage in a bag reduces the risk of attracting pests but it’s still possible for some to chew through the bag. So just throw it in the chute and save yourself and your neighbors the trouble of calling pest control later on.
Properly seal or dispose of stacks of paper
Roaches can eat paper so it’s not uncommon to find them in areas where you stack them. Even boxes don’t escape their appetites.
So if you collect stacks of old newspaper, magazines, boxes, or anything with similar material make sure they’re stored properly. Place them in cabinets that are tightly sealed to prevent roaches from entering or if you don’t really need them just throw them away or sell them.
Use sealed garbage bins
Use garbage bins that have a hard seal on them. Covered bins are inaccessible to pests so they can’t become a source of food. They also prevent bad smell from spreading which can attract even more pests.
Do this especially for the bins that you use in the kitchen as these often have food peelings, bones, bits of meat, etc.
What about if you already have pests?
Making sure that pests don’t get into your condo and have no reason to stay is an important aspect of pest control. But if you already have them, then on top of the advice given above you need to get rid of them as well.
Fogging is the key
Most condos already do regular fogging but they obviously don’t do it room to room. It’s usually just the fire exits, basement, parking, etc…
You still need to take care of your own room. So try fogging at least once a month. if you’ve done all the preventive measure correctly then there's a good chance that you’ll only have to do this once or twice.
Use Diatomaceous Earth
If you’re uncomfortable using sprays inside your condo because you or your pets might be sensitive to the chemicals, another option is using diatomaceous earth to kill bugs including cockroaches.
This is probably the best homemade pest control for cockroaches. All you have to do is sprinkle this in areas where bugs can thrive like underneath or behind furniture, under the fridge and stove, along the linings of your wall, etc. and leave it for as long as possible. They’re unobtrusive so you can leave it for days or weeks if you want. Then just vacuum them up once you feel that all the bugs are all gone.
Diatomaceous earth is a siliceous sedimentary rock that can kill most insects just by being in contact with them. At the microscopic level this substance looks like glass so when some insects come in contact with it they get punctured, dehydrate, and die.
What’s amazing though is that Diatomaceous earth has a variety that is food grade and people actually eat it or add it to food as a supplement. So they’re devastating to roaches but perfectly safe for humans and pets.
Be sure to get the food grade version though because there’s one kind that’s used in pools which is unsafe.
Locally you can probably find these in supplement shops. If you’re having trouble sourcing them try sellers online. Just do a search on your favorite local buy and sell site.
Bait Termites out of your furniture
If your pest problem is more of the wood eating variety, one thing you can do is use a cardboard trap. Cardboards contain a plant fiber called Cellulose which is very attractive to termites.
Spray around 4 cardboards with water and stack them near the wooden wall or furniture that’s being infested by termites. The closer the cardboard is to the infested area, the more effective it will be.
Once your trap is filled with termites, you can take it out and burn it.
Another simple home remedy for termite pests is freezing. If it’s a relatively small piece of furniture that’s been infested and you have a large enough freezer, you can wrap the piece of wood in a sealable garbage bag and place it in the freezer for around 2 weeks. When you take it out, don’t immediately remove it from the bag while it’s reverting to room temperature in order to prevent moisture from forming on the wood.
These two termite pest control remedies however will only work to control a small infestation. If you feel that the problem you have is a massive one then you will have to hire a professional to deal with the pest. Large termite infestations will require more extensive work to completely remove.
Trap them then keep them out
It’s unlikely that a condo will have rat or mice problems unless it’s really gone down the dumps. It’s also slightly harder for these rodents to get up to the higher floors as compared to the insectoid kind of pests.
However if for some unfathomable reason you are having rodent problems, the best non-chemical method of removing them is by trapping them. Traps are relatively cheap and work pretty well. You can even use fly paper to trap really small mice if that’s what you have.
Then just make sure that your condo remains clean in order to not attract them anymore. Make sure to seal all entry points as well.
Cleanliness really does pay off
Ultimately it’s the state of your condo unit that will best determine how much risk you have for pests. If it’s obvious when you walk in that your unit is barely livable because of all the mess and the trash, then pests are almost sure to inhabit it if they’re not already there.
If however you’ve always kept your condo clean and neat, then you won’t be having any problems.