Nothing beats relaxing around your home in front of a crackling fireplace. And while you are enjoying a fire in the comfort of your own home, the last thing you want to do is deal with a pest invasion.
While the fire in your wood-burning stove or fireplace may fill you with warmth, the firewood you bring into your home to burn isn’t always as comforting as there are several types of pests that can be carried in with firewood. Good thing for you, you can greatly reduce the chances of unknowingly bringing pests into your home by taking a few precautions.
Earthwise Pest Management, your home pest control in Sacramento, offers tips for controlling firewood pests.
Burn Firewood Right Away
There are very few insects that are active in the cooler months. Instead, they choose to chill in the warmth of firewood. If you bring wood in from outdoors, burn it right away. If you pile it next to the fireplace, the insects will leave it to enjoy the warmth of your home.
Inspect the Wood
Before you bring those logs into your house, take the time to inspect them. Look them over, shake them and knock them together to dislodge any pests. It is not recommended that you spray wood because you could create harmful vapors when the wood is burned.
Use Local Firewood
When firewood is shipped from location to location, it can bring with it non-native insects. When you stack the wood on your property, these insects crawl out and begin breeding and infesting the area.
If you happen to get wood from a non-local source, burn it as soon as possible.
Rotate Your Stock
It is recommended that you use the oldest wood in the pile first, this way you aren’t allowing infestations to build up. Restacking the pile of firewood periodically makes it easier to access the older logs.
Keep it Outside
It might be convenient, but you should never stack firewood inside your home. And this means no firewood in the basement or garage either. Insects are bound to emerge and take up residence wherever they happen to be.
Away from Trees
Avoid stacking firewood near trees. Some insects, like bark beetles, for example, will crawl away from the firewood and start to tunnel in the bark of your trees which will cause damage.
Stack Wood Off the Ground
Keep the firewood off of the ground. You can use bricks, grates or concrete blocks to keep the firewood from touching the ground. This will maintain airflow beneath the wood and helps reduce moisture, which attracts insects.
Store Wood Away from Buildings
Woodpiles should never be stored up against your house, garage or any other building. This makes it all too easy for pests to get into your home. You are basically handing out invitations when you store wood up against a building.
Keep it Covered
Wet wood will attract certain pests, so keep your wood covered up and dry.
If you have an infestation in your home, call Earthwise Pest Management right away.