Are bugs bugging you in your garage?

Some of them see you coming into the garage and quickly hide. Others don’t care. They boldly run across the floor in plain sight. They may hover around you or fly in to bite. The denizens of your garage are a nuisance. They can even prove costly.

‘They’ are rodents and insects that think you built your garage as a home especially for them. They’ll take ownership – move in, settle in, and infest your property. They might even consider the garage the first step to moving into your home.

What can you do about them? Fortunately, you’re not defenseless against that horde of nature’s vermin. Your job is to take the battle to the pests. Remove them. Drive them out of your garage. And here is how the weapons and strategy you need to take the war to the bugs and rodents in your garage:

Protect your boundaries: Ask yourself how they’re getting in. Some simply fly, run or crawl in anytime the side door or garage door is open. Others find holes or cracks where they can enter even if the garage doors are closed. Seal those babies up. If you find a crack, fill a crack. You may have to use wood or siding. You may want to use an expanding-foam filler in a spray can. They make versions of this that the little invaders don’t like to chew through.

Set up some ambushes: There are traps made for use against different types of enemy troops. You have ant traps, fly traps, mouse traps, etc. Some of these are available in no-kill models for those who prefer to take prisoners. You may need to spray outside the perimeter of the garage, and even across the floor under the garage door, with a safe chemical that will turn the invaders away.

Take out their infiltrators: Once inside, ants, spiders, mice, moles and other pests like to setup house. Next thing you know, they’re having ‘little ones.’ Clear ‘em out. Knock ‘em out. Kick ‘em out. It’s your garage. Be the boss and lay down the law. Look in nooks and crannies, behind shelves, anywhere they can hide. Then, ‘convince’ them it’s time to leave.

Clean the battlefield: The smallest debris may look like nothing much to you. But to bugs and vermin, those scraps may contain a three-course meal. Look for things the invaders may feed on. These are the resources they seek and will attract them to your garage. Clean out signs that they’ve started building homes – webs and nests. Tear ‘em down. Sweep ‘em out.

Check the garage door for gaps: If you’re garage door is older, the tight-fitting panels may not fit as tightly anymore. The door may require an adjustment so it comes all the way down. You may need to call in an expert to help bolster this defensive mechanism.

The point is that you don’t have to surrender to the invaders. When bugs come crawling, buzzing, running or flying, you can turn them away. 

Is your garage door remote up to date?

There was a time when you opened the garage door by getting out of the car, walking over to the garage door, turning the handle and lifting. You may even have had a teenager you could tell to get out of the car and open the door for you. But those days are long gone. Almost everyone has a remote-control garage door opener today.

Even with garage door openers, the technology has advanced significantly. Instead of a clumsy box with push buttons that clipped to the visor of your car, you may have a small modern remote. You may even use an app on your cell phone to control your garage door opener. 

Newer garage door opener remotes may simply have one button to tell the opener when to raise or lower the garage door. Or, you may have a 3-Button garage door opener remote that controls lights, gates and the dishwasher in the kitchen. Okay. It probably doesn’t control the dishwasher but that would be cool if it did, wouldn’t it?

If you use an app to control your garage door opener, you can even open or close your garage door from across town or while on vacation in Fort Myers. This way you can confuse the neighbors who know that you’re out of town. On the other hand, if you leave home and suddenly remember that you forgot to close the garage door, you can do so from miles and miles away. Or you can just check.

Some garage door openers have Wi-Fi capability. Some of these have built in technology to prevent ‘forced openings.’ You can even turn the lights on and off with these kinds of remotes.

When you have your garage door opener installed, you’ll receive the remote that comes with it. In some cases, however, you can upgrade to a better garage door opener remote, as long as the garage door opener in the ceiling of the garage can work with the technologies of the new remote.

On the other hand, if the garage door opener, or the garage door itself, are getting old and worn, you may want to upgrade while replacing the opener or door. Then again, maybe your garage door opener or remote merely need some adjustments. Bringing in a qualified garage door technician will help you determine if it’s time to upgrade your remote, or replace the ones you have.