The first month in a new home is the best window you'll ever have for pest prevention. Rooms are empty (easy to inspect), you're already doing maintenance work, and any existing pest problems haven't had time to establish under your occupancy.
These 15 steps take a weekend to complete and prevent thousands of dollars in pest control costs over the life of your homeownership.
1. Professional termite inspection ($75–$150): Even if one was done during the home sale, get your own baseline termite inspection. This establishes your starting point. Subterranean termites are present in 48 contiguous states. Termite damage is the most expensive pest problem a homeowner can face, and your insurance almost certainly doesn't cover it.
2. Complete a Home Defense Planner walkthrough: Our 10-zone, 120-checkpoint planner covers every room and exterior area. Do this while rooms are empty — you can see baseboards, corners, and behind where appliances will go.
3. Check the attic and crawl space: Look for droppings (mice, rats, raccoons, bats), damaged insulation, moisture stains, and termite mud tubes on foundation walls. These are the two areas new homeowners neglect most — and where the most damaging pests hide.
4. Run all drains: Flush every toilet, run every sink and tub. Dry P-traps are open highways for cockroaches and sewer gas. In a vacant home, P-traps may have evaporated.
5. Seal all exterior gaps and penetrations: Walk the entire perimeter with caulk, copper mesh, and expanding foam. Focus on: pipe penetrations, cable/wire entries, gaps at siding-to-foundation junction, dryer vent, bathroom and range vent covers. A mouse needs only a 1/4-inch gap. An insect needs far less. See our exclusion guide for specifics.
6. Install door sweeps on all exterior doors: The gap under your front door is the single most common pest entry point. A nylon-bristle or rubber door sweep on every exterior door (including the door from the garage into the house) blocks this highway.
7. Repair or replace window screens: Any tear larger than 2mm admits flies and mosquitoes. Check every screen in the house. Replacement screens are inexpensive and take minutes to install.
8. Check and seal the garage: The garage is the weakest link in most homes. The bottom seal of the garage door is the biggest gap. The door from the garage into the house is often the most overlooked entry point. Garage pest-proofing guide →
9. Fix all leaks immediately: Every dripping faucet, running toilet, and weeping pipe is a pest magnet. Cockroaches, silverfish, centipedes, and termites all follow moisture.
10. Install or verify dehumidifiers: Basements and crawl spaces should maintain humidity below 50%. Many moisture-dependent pests cannot survive below this threshold.
11. Create a pest-hostile perimeter: Pull mulch 18 inches from the foundation (bare soil or gravel). Trim all vegetation 12 inches from walls. Remove debris, woodpiles, and leaf litter from within 30 feet of the structure. See our Home Defense Planner for the complete exterior zone checklist.
12. Eliminate standing water: Walk the property and dump everything holding water. Fix gutter drainage (extend downspouts 4+ feet from foundation). Mosquitoes breed in any standing water — a bottle cap holds enough.
13. Place monitoring traps: Set glue boards in corners of the garage, basement, and kitchen (behind the refrigerator). These aren't for killing pests — they're early warning systems. Check monthly. A single mouse caught in March tells you to seal gaps before you have 20 in December.
14. Transfer all pantry goods to sealed containers: Pantry moths and pantry beetles often arrive with groceries. Sealed glass or heavy plastic containers prevent infestation from establishing. This one-time investment prevents the most common kitchen pest problem.
15. Sign up for seasonal pest alerts: Enter your ZIP code to see what pests are active in your area right now and get free monthly alerts before each season's pests emerge. Prevention is always cheaper than treatment.