Everyone wants to feel confident that their home is sufficiently sealed up and insulated against the cold and heat of the changing seasons. However, it can be stressful to wonder whether critters can get into your insulation in Sacramento, CA. After all, it makes sense—insulation seems like the perfect habitat for some typical pests, given how warm and comfortable it can look. However, there are some things all homeowners need to understand about insulation and pests before they call the exterminator and schedule an appointment.

Know how to spot pest damage

Let’s get this out of the way: the short answer to our overarching question is yes, pests can indeed make a home in your home’s insulation. That said, your first step as a homeowner needs to be educating yourself on what pest damage can involve and what the warning signs might be. For example, cellulose insulation is an attractive meal option for some rodents, given that it’s made out of organic material, so you should be climbing into the attic every now and then and checking to see if your insulation appears to be disappearing. If so, it could be a sign of critters getting into your insulation in Sacramento, CA, and you should likely call both an exterminator and an insulation professional.

You should also be ready to spot biohazard damage. Rodent waste is a pungent odor that you might be able to smell from a distance, so any unusual scents should be noted and reported to exterminators. You should also look into replacing any material that has been fouled by the waste of these pests ruining your insulation in Sacramento, CA.

Block entry points

One of the easiest ways to nip pest problems in the bud is to minimize their chances for entry. This involves taking a number of actions, none of which are terribly difficult.

For starters, you want to make sure you’re regularly trimming back bushes and branches that might be touching your home, since these can function like highways for insects and other pests to enter. You should also be on the lookout for rodents getting in through the outermost edges of your house. Rodents can squeeze and contort their bodies into holes as small as ¼ of an inch, so really no hole is too small to patch up.

Expanding foam is a quick and cheap way to seal up a lot of these problem spots, but between your insulation contractor and your exterminator, you’re sure to be able to identify an approach that will work for the long term. Keeping critters from getting into your insulation in Sacramento, CA is often just a matter of making sure no daylight is entering the spaces where you have insulating materials set up.

If you’re in the market for improving or replacing your insulation, you’ve come to the right place. 5 Star Performance Insulation, Inc. is the premier provider in the area for everything from metal building insulation to an entire suite of residential insulation services. Give us a call today to discuss your options!