As the weather turns colder in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, many people turn to their fireplace to keep their home and business warm on the chilly autumn days. Bringing firewood into your home or business can mean that you are inviting and carrying pests inside. As much as you enjoy the crackling sounds and warmth of a fire, so do pests. Have no fear, there are things you can do to prevent pests from joining you. We are going to review how to keep pests out of your firewood, in turn, leaving them outdoors and outside of your home or business.
Tips to Keep Pests Out of Your Firewood
Below we review some ways you can keep pests out of your firewood in Northwest Ohio or Southeast Michigan.
- Don’t store firewood near buildings. Pests tend to love to hide in wood piles, and keeping it close to a building is an open invitation for pests to enter. Wood-boring pests can tunnel through the wood and into the structure. It is recommended that firewood is stored at least three to five feet from any structures.
- Keep firewood stacked off the ground. Moisture attracts insects, and firewood that is stored on the ground has difficulty drying. You should use some sort of rack, concrete blocks, bricks, etc. to keep your firewood off the ground and to allow airflow to help dry it out.
- Cover your firewood. Covering your firewood can protect it from the elements to ensure that it stays dry. This will also help to keep unwanted pests and rodents away.
- Store the firewood away from trees and bushes. Insects live in trees and bushes and they can move into your firewood if it is nearby. Most of these insects burrow into the wood and you may not even know they are there.
- Never keep firewood indoors. As much as firewood piles outdoors can create a home for pests and rodents, if kept indoors, they can also provide an inviting structure for such nuisances. You should not store firewood in your home, business, garage, etc. This adds another place for critters to hide.
- Rotate the pile. Use the oldest wood first. If you’re always using the wood you place on the top of the stack and refilling the pile before you reach the pieces on the bottom, the aging, unused firewood could make a home for pests. By using the most aged wood first, it will help to keep pests at a minimum as you are not allowing infestations to build up.
- Check for surface pests. This may seem obvious, but if you notice insects on a log, you should remove them before bringing them inside. Check all logs, top and bottom, to ensure you are not missing any hidden pests.
- Burn your firewood right away. When firewood is brought indoors, it should be burned right away. If the wood is brought indoors and not burned immediately, insects can crawl out from the wood into the warmth of your home or business.
The best way to keep these unwanted wood loving pests and rodents from your Northwest Ohio or Southeast Michigan home or business, is to keep pests out of your firewood.
If your firewood has brought you unwanted pests and rodents, Delving Pest Control can help. Delving Pest Control offers local affordable revolutionary pest control solutions in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
While many people are okay with having exterminators at their homes or business, many request that there is not any advertising on the vehicles and uniforms to protect their privacy. We have done just that. We perform in a discreet manner by having late-model vehicles without markings and tasteful professional uniforms with ID and licensing on our person.
