All across the country homeowners silently grapple with an unseen problem. It’s so small you can’t be seen with the naked eye, and by the time it IS visible, its already a problem. It has been linked to things as benign as coughing and wheezing, to things more serious like asthma and upper respiratory tract infections. This problem – mold – is one of the most common in America, and if left unchecked, it could lead to serious short- and long-term health problems.

What is mold?

Mold is a type of fungus that occurs naturally in the environment, and is found pretty much everywhere you go. It spreads via airborne spores, which are carried into homes through vents, open windows, and even on pets and people. Once landed, spores will grow and thrive in any dark and damp environment such as in basements, attics, crawlspaces, and garages.

Health Problems

It’s important to note that mold itself is not toxic. Rather, certain types of mold produce substances known as mycotoxins which have the potential to cause health problems. For example, the famous Black Mold (toxic stachybotrys), like the name would imply, is colored black, but so are several other variants of mold, many of which are harmless. When dealing with mold, the most reliable way to have them identified is to send a sample off to a lab for analysis.

Numerous studies have linked the toxins produced by molds to several illnesses, including upper respiratory tract infections, coughing and wheezing, and increased asthma symptoms in people with asthma. Children exposed to mold early in their development may also be at risk for developing asthma later on in life.

Treatment and Prevention of Mold Infestation

Depending on the severity of the infestation, and the type of material its on, mold may or may not be easily removable. Oftentimes moldy surfaces can be cleaned with a warm water, a bleach solution, and some sunlight, but certain materials don’t respond well to such treatment. Metals and ceramic surfaces are easy to clean, but wooden surfaces, will often have to be discarded since have microscopic “pores” that mold spores can grow in and can’t be cleaned. The best methods for dealing with mold growth are preventive in nature. Mold cannot grow without moisture, and leaking pipes are the most common sources of moisture for mold, so it helps to ensure that the pipes in the most accessible areas of your home are well maintained. Consult your local plumber or general contractor for assistance with any plumbing-related issues.

Conclusion

Mold, although naturally occurring, can be a serious threat to the health of your home and family if left unchecked so preventive measures should be taken to ensure that mold doesn’t grow out of control.

As far as threats to wooden structures go, termites are one of the biggest. These admittedly tiny creatures can’t do much on their own, but in large numbers they can completely destroy a home. A common misconception is that termites are only found in the southern states of the US but  this is not true. They can be found in every state within the continental US, and New Jersey gets their fair share.

There are two kinds of termites most often found in the US, subterranean and drywood. Drywood termites, like the name implies, build colonies in dry wood or dead wood, and are found in warmer climates like in Arizona. Subterranean termites, on the other hand, are found all across the country because they build their homes underground. This is because they require a certain degree of moisture in the air to survive.

The one thing both types have in common is that they eat foods that are rich in cellulose. More often than not this is found in wood, but they also eat things like paper, cardboard and carpet material as well. Termites usually build their colonies in spring, first by sending out swarms of winged termites to find a good area. These termites usually don’t live that long, due to the lack of moisture, and often die before finishing their task.

Thus, the presence of dead termites is often the first indicator of an infestation. Subterranean termites that have already set up colonies near your home have to build tunnels to get to their food sources. These tunnels help ensure that termites aren’t exposed to unfavorable conditions while out foraging for food. They are often pencil-thick, and are made of a substance that consists of dirt and their own bodily secretions.

The presence of these tunnels is the second, and the most surefire, indicator of termite presence. They are often built inside the walls and foundation of your home, and are usually only discovered once the walls are torn down.

The last indicator of termite infestation is simply the damage they cause. Damaged wooden structures will sound “hollow” when tapped, and oftentimes there will be piles of sawdust-like material on the floor near the affected surface. Since termites consume wood from the inside out, damage won’t be immediately visible.

When attempting to determine if you have a termite infestation or not, its important to check for all three signs to confirm the presence of termites, and if you think you have a termite problem, contact your local pest control company for assistance. As we said, by the time you see one, the chances of thousands being in your home is very possible. This is why it’s super important to act fast at the first sign to get a free inspection. Acting quickly can save you thousands in repairs. For more info on Termite Control, click here: http://www.horizonpestcontrol.com/termite.php

In the realm of DIY pest control, bug spray is one of the most commonly used tools. Its effectiveness and affordability have made it the go-to tool for handling small scale infestations in small areas. But what happens when you need to cover a large area? Enter the bug bomb. This device is used when you need to fill an area with pesticide, killing every pest and insect inside it.

Bug bombs spray out concentrated pesticide as super-tiny droplets, between 20-30 micrometers large, and they operate in a way that’s similar to fog machines used by special effects technicians all around the world and, in fact, can be considered somewhat modified versions of them. When properly used, they can blanket an area in a fine mist of pesticide that’s designed to kill insects on contact.

Due to their somewhat large area-of-effect, the area to be treated has to be specially prepared to accommodate it. The location, and oftentimes its surroundings, is usually completely cleared of all furniture and belongings, and anything that isn’t easy to move is covered with tarps and plastic wrap. Residents in nearby areas are sometimes asked to leave if the treatment will affect them as well. After treatment the area has to lie dormant for a specified period of time, ranging from a few hours to a few days depending on how intense the treatment was, and then ventilated and cleaned to remove any traces of residue.

Bug bombs are highly effective pest-killers, but they are also highly dangerous. Between 2001-2006, over 450 bug bomb-related injuries were reported, with various causes ranging from entering the treated area too soon, or failure to clean and/or ventilate the area following treatment. The pesticides that are most often used in these bug bombs are, for the most part, harmless to mammals (including humans), but there are instances where people exposed to them develop allergic reactions and suffer symptoms such as abnormal skin sensations, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, and seizures. Additionally, these pesticides also pose a fire risk thanks to their use of aerosol propellants to propel the are often flammable, and have even been known to cause explosions.

For these reasons, Horizon Pest Control doesn’t endorse the use of Bug Bombs. Rather we prefer Integrated Pest Management and very targeted treatments to eliminate pest threats. The combination of looking at pest control with a holistic approach to not just eliminating current pests, but to reduce exposure to returned pest invasions in the future reduces the need for over the top ad dangerous solutions such as Bug Bombs. If you’re considering such an option for your home or property, please call us today for a Free Inspection for an alternative approach to help.

For hundreds of years, pests have competed with humans over resources like food and water, and often certain pest infestations can physically destroy an entire home. The types of pests encountered depend on the region or area of the country that you live in, but the most common home-damaging pests are carpenter ants, termites, and rats. Today we’re going to take a look at the kinds of damage these pests can cause.

To start, there are hundreds of different variations of ants, many of which are ultimately harmless to your home. Regular black ants don’t care about anything more than taking your food, but varieties like the carpenter ant build their homes in the wooden beams that make up the structures of your house. They tunnel through wooden beams to create the chambers and passageways they live in, depositing the sawdust remains outside the entrance. If left alone, they will tunnel through the wood, and can render an entire beam almost completely hollow over the course of time. Naturally, this is a serious problem that can threaten the structural integrity of your home, especially if they’ve managed to infest a load-bearing beam or wall.

Termites are similar to carpenter ants, with the difference being that they have a large appetite for wood, specifically cellulose. They’re arguably worse than carpenter ants, since they outright consume wood instead of tunneling through it, and will eat pretty much anything in your home that is rich in cellulose including carpet, paper, and even plant fibers.

Rats are common in cities, and are not only highly unsanitary, disease carrying creatures, but they are also voracious chewers. They can, and will, chew on anything they can get their paws on, be it wood, metal, foam insulation, and even carpet, but they cause the biggest problems when they chew on wires. This can result in damage to expensive electronic devices and the electrical shorts that they cause can even start fires, resulting in thousands of dollars worth of damage.

The best course of action is “treatment by prevention”, maintaining your home so that these pests are not inclined to take up residence alongside you. But in cases where that’s not possible, infestations like these are best treated early, so they don’t grow out of control and end up costing you thousands of dollars in treatment and repair. If you think your home is being invaded by these pests, contact your local pest control specialist for assistance.

The struggles between humans and pests has raged on since the beginning of modern civilization. Whenever a community grows, there exists a need to feed that growing population, and where there are people, there are pests as well. They compete with humans for food and space, and will ultimately reduce their overall quality of life if left uncontrolled so it was necessary to take up arms against pests to protect valuable food sources. One of the oldest known weapons in this struggle is the pesticide.

Pesticides are substances and materials designed to drive away or kill pests, and people from all civilizations sought after and developed various kinds of pesticides. The earliest pesticides were naturally occurring, often found in nature as an element or a by-product of animals. One of the first known pesticides was sulfur. Farmers in ancient Mesopotamia scattered it across their crops to ward off pests, and it was effective against mildew, ringworm, ticks, and mites.

By the 15th century other natural elements were being used, such as  arsenic, mercury, and lead. It is important to note, however, that these elements are now known to be highly toxic, and should not be used on plants or humans. In addition to natural elements people developed a crude form of fumigation to control mildew growth on plants. It worked by lighting a fire, using straw, chaff, hedge clippings, or animal horns as fuel so as to create a noxious smelling smoke, and place it so that the wind would blow the smoke into the fields where the crops were.

As humans’ knowledge of chemistry grew and evolved, they began to develop “synthetic” pesticides. The first known synthetic pesticide was created in the 19th century from dried Chrysanthemum flowers. It was known as Pyrethrum, and proved itself to be a very effective pesticide. So much, in fact, that it is still being used today, often in conjunction with other chemical compounds. Pesticides based on pyrethrum and arsenic were prevalent from this time until the 1950s, where the second World War would bring about a major development in the field of pesticides: DDT.

DDT was first synthesized by a scientist named Paul Mueller, who used it on troops fighting in foreign theaters of war, where malaria was prevalent. It was highly effective against mosquitoes, and eventually went on to become the most widely used pesticide in America. For more than 40 years, DDT was used everywhere from crops to city streets, and it helped eliminate malaria and created a huge food surplus. But this widespread use didn’t last forever, and by the 70’s people began to question whether such rampant pesticide use was good for the environment, and government-sponsored research confirmed that it was not.

This resulted in a ban on DDT use across America, one that other countries around the world followed suit on, and a call from the public to seek out and develop more environmentally-friendly pest control techniques. One such technique, Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, was born from those efforts, and is the best pest control technique to use in terms of effectiveness and environmental impact. Integrated Pest Management is a practice that Horizon Pest Control has followed before the green movement was popular. Our motto to “Protect Health and Property” is 42 years old. We have families, kids and pets too and we strive to keep them safe while protecting our property, the same we strive to keep your loved ones and property safe too. To read more about our Green Pest Control solutions click on this link: http://www.horizonpestcontrol.com/greensolutions.php

For more information on Integrated Pest Management, click on this link: http://www.horizonpestcontrol.com/integratedpestmgmt.php

When people talk about pest control, they often talk about using pesticides, traps, IPM, fumigation, or other various artificial ways of destroying pests and their habitats. Every year Americans use a combined total of more than 136 million pounds of pesticides on their homes and gardens, and its estimated that homeowners use three times more pesticides than the average farmer. The consequences of this rampant pesticide use are chilling, but what alternative do homeowners have when faced with a stubborn pest infestation?

Solutions to this problem can be found through natural pest control, a collection of techniques and processes that involve using naturally occurring substances and planting techniques that hamper pests’ abilities to thrive in your garden. Some of the more common natural pest control techniques include the use of seaweed mulch, crop rotation and interplanting, and debris removal.

First, is seaweed mulch. Seaweed itself contains over 70 different enzymes and minerals, all of which are beneficial to plants. When mixed in with soil as mulch, the minerals are released as it decomposes, and are absorbed by the plants, helping them become stronger and more resistant to disease, while acting as a natural slug repellant.

Next is crop rotation and interplanting. These two techniques date back to the Roman Empire, and were used to great effect to disrupt the natural cycles of crop-damaging pests. By mixing the arrangements of the plants in your garden, and changing it on a regular basis, pests are less likely to spread throughout your whole garden.

Finally, debris removal involves removing weeds and other plant trimmings, like piles of fallen leaves or branches, and cutting down tall grass. These areas are often breeding grounds and food sources for insects like ants and bees. Removing them not only forces them to look elsewhere for shelter, but it also makes your garden look better.

Natural pest control is far less expensive than traditional pest control, and less damaging to the environment as well. If you’re suffering from a pest infestation, but are concerned about the impact that standard treatments will have on the environment, contact your local pest control specialist and ask about their natural pest control methods. Look for the Green Pro logo for a pest control company focused on the right solution for the environment.

Thanks to the drop in temperatures New Jersey has seen recently this winter,  you can expect to see a large number of mice infestations in homes and offices as they seek to escape the cold weather. During this time, they will partially rely on humans to provide them with the food, water, and shelter they need to survive, and are often very persistent when it comes to getting into a home. One advantage they have is that their small size allows them to squeeze through small cracks and openings.

Mice can squeeze through openings several times smaller than they are, and have been proven capable of entering through holes as small as ¼ inch wide. The most common entry point on homes in America are the gaps and cracks in the sides or foundation. This is especially the case with older homes that haven’t received much maintenance over the years. They can also climb up any trees or bushes growing close to your home and gain access to the inside through any open windows. If they can make it up to the roof of your house, they can also enter in through chimneys, vents, or even openings for utilities, like air vents or drains.

So how do you keep these pesky critters out of your home? There are a few things you can do: First, ensure that your house is structurally sound by sealing up the cracks gaps on the sides and on the foundation of your house. You can do this on your own, but any serious damage should be assessed and repaired by a licensed contractor. Next, ensure that foliage around your house is trimmed, and that the windows on the ground floor are tightly sealed when not in use. Finally, the doors of your home leading to the outside should have weather striping on them to ensure that nothing squeezes through the gaps in your door frames.

If, after doing all this, mice still manage to make it into your home and make a burrow there, don’t plug the entrance that they used to get in until you’ve gotten rid of them. Doing so may result in a pack of dead mice that requires more time and money to clean up. Instead, contact your local pest control professional for assistance with moving these mice out of your home before plugging the entrance to ensure less hassle for you and your family in the future.

Come winter time, everyone heads indoors to enjoy the warmth of their fireplaces and cups of hot chocolate. However, mother nature’s creatures often follows us in, taking advantage of the comfortable homes we’ve built for our families to provide a comfortable home for themselves. This is undesirable for a number of reasons, the biggest being that many animals are also disease carriers, so here are some tips you can use to keep animals out of your home.

1. Plastic containers are your friends – If you’ve got food or other edible objects lying around your house, take them out of whatever cardboard or paper containers they came in, and store them in plastic ones instead. Plastic is not only tougher for to chew through and live in, but the right kinds (like the airtight ones) will also help your foods retain their freshness for longer periods of time.

2. Seal your garbage cans – Garbage cans and bags are treasure troves for animals like the raccoon and rats, who often tear into piles of garbage left outside to pick at the scraps of food. Discourage such behavior by storing your garbage in strong, air tight plastic garbage bags (do yourself a favor and avoid the cheap ones), and keep the bags themselves in sealed garbage cans that aren’t top-heavy so they can’t be easily knocked over and torn apart.

3. Mesh screens – If you live in a home that uses mesh screens on windows and doors, ensure that they’re structurally sound and well maintained, meaning, no holes, tears, or gaps. This will prevent pests from crawling into your home through the windows, while ensuring that your home can get some ventilation when its needed.

4. Close up wall cracks – We’ve mentioned this in our other posts, but it’s important enough to bear repeating: seal up any cracks, gaps, or holes in the walls outside your house. Even holes as small as a quarter are big enough for mice to get through, and more than big enough to allow insects like roaches and termites to get in. You can seal small cracks with caulk purchased from your local hardware store, but for larger ones you should get a contractor to assess and repair the damage.

5. Keep your house clean – Cluttered homes are the perfect homes for pests. The more furniture, junk, and trash, and other assorted goods just laying around your house, the more hiding spaces for bugs and small animals there are. Keeping things neat not only improves the look and feel of your home, but also serves to reduce the number of potential hiding spots, forcing pests to look elsewhere for lodging.

6. Keep your yard clean – Keeping your front and back yard clean helps ward off pests for many of the same reasons as number 5 does: bushes and trees growing near your home provide easy access for climbers like mice or raccoons, and piles of leaves left over from the fall season provide the perfect place for a den or burrow.

7. Call a professional – If you’re still having problems despite following the above steps, don’t hesitate give your local pest control professional a call for assistance.

The best thing about these tips is that they work all year round, not just winter, and they’re quite easy to follow. If done correctly, you’ll never have a problem with pests.

This winter, don’t expect all of mother nature to be out cold and hibernating while you’re enjoying the warmth and comfort of the indoors. For every animal or insect that hibernates during the winter, there are dozens more that don’t. Below are four of the most commonly encountered Winter pests and how to deal with them if they decide to move in with you.

Cockroaches
Active all year round, these pests prefer warm, damp environments, like under your sink or in your bathrooms. Roaches are disease carriers, and can give painful (but generally non-lethal) bites. They’re attracted to food found within homes, so your first move should be to keep your house clean, starting with your kitchen. Store leftover food in tightly sealed containers, kept either in a pantry or in the fridge, and wipe down all your surfaces to remove grease and residue from food. Fix leaking faucets to prevent them from becoming water sources for roaches (and for other pests, as well), and if you’ve already been invaded, consult a professional for assistance.

Ants
Ants are the most common pests encountered during the Winter. The red ant and the carpenter ant are the two most troublesome species of ant. Red ants are known for their bite, which can cause severe allergic reactions in some people, while carpenter ants hollow out wood to make their homes, weakening the wooden structures that make up your home. Walls and even roofs have been known to collapse due to severe carpenter ant infestations.

The best way to keep ants out is to keep your home clean and free of anything that would attract them, the same way you would do for cockroaches. Keep some benadryl in your first aid kit to treat red ant bites, and watch out for little piles of sawdust (a sign of Carpenter ants) around the doors or walls of your home. If you’re already suffering from an invasion of either red or carpenter ants, contact a professional pest control service for assistance.

Mice
These rodents are a common sight in cities across America. What makes them so troublesome is the fact that they can squeeze through tiny cracks that many of us would probably overlook. As a general rule, most mice can squeeze through cracks that are about the size of a dime. Once they’re in, they’ll make their burrow wherever its dark and warm, and will go after any food left out in the open. They’re especially fond of digging through open trash, and have been known to chew through trash bags to get to food scraps within. Mice also breed very quickly, so any infestations should be dealt with as quickly as possible. Mice aren’t as bad as their bigger cousins, the rats, but they can still carry disease and are highly unsanitary.

Rats
You can think of rats as simply bigger versions of mice, and in a lot of ways, they are. Like mice, they’re capable of squeezing through tiny cracks much smaller than themselves, and they are highly unsanitary. They are famous for carrying the Black Plague throughout Europe, as well as other contagious diseases.

One of the best ways to secure your house against rats is to have a qualified exterminator help you identify cracks and locations in and around your home that rats can enter into, and a general contractor can help you repair them. Aside from that, follow the same procedure as with the roaches and ants: keep your house and its surroundings clean, and they’ll simply move on for lack of food.

This Winter, pests will be seeking food and water indoors to escape from the cold, harsh weather. Ensure that your home is protected by following these seasonal tips:

For the outside of your house:

• - Ensure that there are no cracks or gaps in the sides of your house. Pests like mice or rats can squeeze through holes several sizes smaller than themselves; rats have been known to squeeze through holes that are the size of a quarter.
• - Cracks along the sides of the house should be fixed, either by filling them with silicone caulk, or with the help of a contractor.
• - Check and repair any damaged weather stripping on all windows and doors.
• - Broken or torn window and door screens should also be replaced.
• - Seal up all pet doors, since these are one of the easiest ways to let pests into your home.
• - If you have bushes and trees near your home, trim them to ensure that pests can’t access windows or the higher floors of your house.
• - Any firewood you’ve got stored outside your house should be elevated off the ground and away from the sides of the house.
• - Repair your roof shingles! Insects are attracted to rotting wood.

For the inside of your house:

• - Store leftover food in airtight containers and in places like cupboards and fridges. Food should not be stored open when possible. The most important types of food to store in containers would be fresh food like vegetables and fruits.
• - Keep surfaces clean and free of any crumbs, grease, or residue. These things are oftentimes invitations to pests, such as ants, who can not only scout out the food on behalf of other ants, but also lead them to it.
• - Trash should not be left lying around, as piles of trash tend to be great hiding spots for groups of mice or rats. Keep trash stored inside covered trash bins to keep pests away.

Watch out for signs of pest infestation such as: chew marks on wires and cables (telltale sign of rats and mice), droppings, sawdust (a sign of carpenter ants), and track marks left by these creatures. If you see these signs in your home, contact a pest control professional for assistance.