Sealing
Cracks and Hiding Spots: Sealing Your Home Against Pests
A cockroach can slip through a gap just a few millimeters wide; ants, mice, and scorpions use cracks and joints as "doors." If it feels like they keep showing up no matter how much you clean, they are probably getting in through some gap you haven't spotted. Closing off those entry points, through sealing or exclusion, makes your home much harder to colonize. In Costa Rica, fumigation and pest control work best when combined with this. The EPA recommends sealing as part of insect control. Here's where to start. Combine it with cleaning, sealed food and trash, and, if there's an infestation, professional control.
Cockroaches can squeeze through gaps just a few millimeters wide. Any crack is a possible entry point.
Where to seal (and with what)
- Doors and windows: add weatherstripping or door sweeps to the bottom of doors (especially the kitchen and service doors) and to windows that don't close tightly. Most pests get in at night; a 3 mm gap is enough.
- Baseboards and corners: cracks between the floor and the wall, or in tile corners, are both hiding spots and entry points. Fill them with caulk or silicone. Check behind the toilet and under the sink.
- Pipe penetrations: wherever pipes pass through walls or floors, there's usually a gap left behind. Use expanding foam or caulk depending on the size; you can paint or cover it afterward.
- Vents and grilles: install fine mesh (screen or similar) that blocks insects but still lets air flow. Check that it isn't torn or loose.
- Drains: if you've already seen cockroaches, covering the sink and shower drains at night can help while you apply other controls.
A one-afternoon tip
Pick one room a week (kitchen, bathroom, laundry room) and go over baseboards, frames, and pipe penetrations with a flashlight. Note or mark the cracks you find, then seal them all at once. That way you don't get overwhelmed, and you make progress without even noticing.
Joint compound, silicone, rubber or foam weatherstripping, and metal or plastic mesh. Check periodically and reseal anything that comes loose or opens up.
Still getting pests inside?
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