Top House Centipede Prevention Tips

They’re yellowish to dark brown, with dark stripes on their 15 to 177 pairs of legs, and those legs shoot out from their sides in the most unsettling way. If you’ve seen one of these bugs crawling around in your home, it is doubtful that you will mistake it for another bug. Centipedes have a striking appearance that makes them a bug to remember. That is why, when centipedes start to invade, we get a phone call. If you’re reading this, and you’re fortunate enough to not have any centipedes inside your home yet, these tips should help you keep it that way.

Removing Attractants

Pest control is often about the numbers. If you have fewer pests near your exterior walls, you’ll have fewer pests exploiting holes, gaps, and cracks to get into your home. So, removing attractants is an effective way to reduce your chances of having centipedes invade.

Centipedes are moisture pests. When you make the perimeter around your foundation dry, it will be less interesting to centipedes. Inspect your gutters to make sure they’re not clogged or broken. Cut bushes and shrubs to allow sunlight to dry water after it rains. Address areas where the ground is compacted and rainwater can sit. Fix any areas that slope toward your home.
In nature, centipedes can be found living in rotting logs. If you have any wood near your home or any wood on your home that is rotting, this will lure centipedes in. It is best to keep all wood products and organic debris at least 20 feet from your foundation walls.
Centipedes love weeds, tall grass, and overgrowth. Keeping it neat around your home can help to resists these bugs.
The centipede is a bug that loves to squeeze under rocks. If your landscaping includes rocks, keep in mind that these will be attractive to centipedes.
Centipedes hide under leaf piles and leaf litter. Keeping your leaves raked up will reduce moisture conditions in your yard, and deter centipedes.

Sealing Entry Points

These are resourceful bugs that can crawl up vertical surfaces. Keep this in mind as you inspect for entry points. You’ll need to start low and go all the way up to your roofline. Look closely at window and door frames, screens, weather stripping, and any door sweeps. Look in dark, moist places that are hard to get into, like under your deck, porch, exterior stairwell, or patio. Examine pipes, conduit, and other objects that pass through your walls. While it is extremely hard to seal centipedes out, every little thing you do makes a difference.

Creating A Barrier

The only way to fully seal centipedes out of a home is through the targeted application of pesticides to vulnerable areas. This is best accomplished by an educated pest control technician. Professionals are trained in pest control methods established by industry experts, and they follow strict safety protocols to ensure that the EPA-approved products they use are applied appropriately. And an educated pest control technician is trained in monitoring methods that will ensure that all of the centipedes have been dealt with.

If you need a barrier you can trust, you can trust Schendel Pest Services. Our Pest Guard program is a comprehensive solution that addresses all of the zones around your home. Bait is applied among your rocks and plants. Granular repellent is applied to vulnerable areas to keep spiders, ants, centipedes, and other occasional invaders at bay. Clear-drying liquid repellent is applied to door and window frames, and other locations that are often targeted by flying insects, but also creepy pests like the centipede. We also use family-friendly products inside to ensure a complete barrier.

Is it a complete barrier? You don’t have to take our word for it. We back our pest service with our PestZero guarantee. If you want zero pests in your home, let the educated and experienced pest professionals at Schendel Pest Services help.

For more information, or to start service, reach out to us today and let’s get started. What do you have to lose, but creepy, crawly, centipedes–and a whole host of other household pests?