How to Have a Pest-Free Garage

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Surely you’ve heard this adage before! It’s much easier to stop insects and other pests from getting into the garage in the first place than it is to evict them once they’ve made themselves comfortable. So walk around your garage and make note of any spaces that they might use to gain entry. Seal up any cracks and crevices, including those around the dryer vent and garage door. If you have piles of cardboard or other debris, clean it up; piles give bugs and rodents a place to nest. When you notice spiderwebs or wasp nests near the garage, knock them down or otherwise remove them. This is something that you’ll need to keep an eye on throughout the year.

Make your garbage less pest-friendly

You garbage can and recycling bins look like a feast to rodents and insects! Each week, hose out the bins and can, and periodically scrub them out with bleach or another disinfectant. Make sure that recyclables are well-rinsed, and that garbage bags are tied tightly. Double-bag anything really pungent. If you can smell your garbage can, so can the neighborhood creepy crawlies, so keep that in mind and try to keep things scent-free!

Try natural repellants

If you see an occasional critter wandering through your garage, you might be able to simply use natural repellants to encourage them to keep on moving. To repel ants, try wiping surfaces with vinegar; they don’t like the scent, plus it erases their scent trails. You could also try drawing a heavy chalk line along the edge of your garage; usually, ants won’t want to cross the line and will keep marching without entering. If you don’t have chalk, try cinnamon, coffee grounds or mint. Bay leaves will repel many types of insects, including cockroaches. Small rodents don’t like peppermint and cloves, so try peppermint oil on cotton balls or whole or ground cloves in various areas of the garage.

Try store-bought solutions

Again, if the problem is not very bad, you might have good luck with any of a number of store-bought traps or bait. You can buy ant or cockroach bait stations that will eventually kill the critters. You can also spray around the outside perimeter of your house with a wide-spectrum insect killer; these often cause creepy-crawlies to die before they can cross the barrier. For an occasional mouse, you might want to try rodent poison (if you don’t have pets that will get into it!) or a mouse trap.

Call in the professionals

When you have a true infestation or you have tried the above remedies without success, it’s time to defer to the professionals. Professional exterminators have access to safe and effective poisons and baits that will eliminate your problem. It is often a good idea to sign up for a yearly contract, where the company will come several times per year on schedule, and in between if you see a pest in your garage in the meantime.