Do You Need to Fumigate Your Home?
Fumigation means using gas-based pesticides to kill the pests in a particular location. It isn’t necessary most of the time. Instead, fumigation tends to see use in a couple of cases. One, it is either impossible or inconvenient to target the infestation using more localized methods. Two, the infestation exists in so many places that it makes more sense to fumigate than to target every single one of them using more localized methods. As such, fumigation is the pest control method that steps up when others have failed. Without it, people might be forced to put up with the continuing presence of pests in their homes. Something that can be a serious threat to them, their homes, and their other interests.
Why Do You Need to Leave Your Home When You Are Getting It Fumigated?
You don’t need to leave your home when you are using most pest control methods. Unfortunately, fumigation isn’t most pest control methods. It can see the use of some very powerful chemicals that can be harmful to humans. Furthermore, fumigation is meant to take care of every single pest in your home. This means that there isn’t a place where you can stay while keeping you and your loved ones safe from harm. Still, leaving for a short time is a small price to pay if the situation is bad enough that fumigation has become necessary.
How Long Do You Need to Wait Before Returning to Your Home After Fumigation?
Some people possess the expertise, experience, and equipment needed to fumigate their own homes. However, they are very much the exceptions rather than the rule. Without those things, people should never try to fumigate their own homes. Pesticides can be very dangerous, meaning that they should be handled by trained professionals. For that matter, even if amateurs manage to keep themselves safe, there is no guarantee that they will be able to get rid of all of the pests that they are targeting. If they miss some of the pests, it will be very easy for the pest numbers to rebound. After which, people will need to waste more time and money to fumigate their homes once more.
As such, you should hire a reliable and reputable pest control specialist to do your fumigation for you. Still, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask questions. If anything, you should ask questions until you know fully what to expect from the process. One of the most important questions that you should ask is how long you will need to wait before you can return to your home. This is because there isn’t a universal answer to this question. Different pest control specialists use different pesticides for different scenarios. Sometimes, you will be asked to wait for a few hours. Other times, you will be asked to wait for a few days. Be warned that the answer can also depend on the condition of you and your loved ones. Certain demographics such as the very young, the very old, and those in poor health are more vulnerable than others, so they might have to wait for a longer time than healthy adults in the prime of their lives.
How Can You Prepare Your Home For Fumigation?
There are some things that you should do to make fumigation as successful as possible. First, you need to remove anything that can block the pest control specialist’s access to the different parts of your home. The fewer the impediments, the sooner that they can get the job done. Second, you should do your best to cover up anything that you don’t want to absorb the chemicals from the fumigation. After all, you are going to be using those things, meaning that you will come into contact with anything that they have absorbed. Generally speaking, the best course of action is to put these things into storage before sealing any gaps using duct tape. That way, the duct tape will absorb the chemicals, thus preventing them from getting into storage. Third, different animals can react to the same chemicals in very different ways. Even so, you must bring your pets when you leave. This is particularly important because pets tend to be so much smaller than humans, meaning that they can start suffering adverse effects at much lower levels of exposure. Fourth, you shouldn’t begin to clean your home right away even if you have gotten the all-clear to go back inside. That would remove the chemicals that are supposed to take care of the pests, thus defeating the point of the fumigation. Instead, you should wait a week so that the chemicals have time to take effect. Fifth, you should keep a watchful eye out for the pests’ continuing presence. This will tell you whether the fumigation worked or not. If you continue to see pests, you will at least have some indication of where their presence is most concentrated.
Further Considerations
Summed up, you should stay away from your home while it is being fumigated. Unfortunately, there isn’t a universal answer for how long you will need to stay away. As a result, you need to ask your pest control specialist for exact details on this matter so that you can keep yourself and your loved ones safe from harm. Be warned that the chemicals used for fumigation have a stronger effect on more vulnerable people, so please consider that when you are making plans for your time away from your home.