Preventing Pests in Your New Florida Home

Updated October 24, 2023

Purchasing a new home in Florida means beautiful weather, tantalizing tropical landscaping in your yard, and the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors year-round. However, humans aren’t the only ones who enjoy the balmy weather and warmer temperatures. Bugs of all kinds reside in Florida, and annoying ants and palmetto bugs may try to invite their way inside your new Florida home. By taking a few simple precautions, you can prevent pesky insects from invading your home.

First Line of Defense

The first line of defense is the TAEXX built-in pest control system that we include in every new home we build. This innovative TUBES IN THE WALL® system stops pests before they get inside your home.

The tubing is installed between the drywall and exterior block walls of your home and creates a barrier between your family and bugs. This system provides multiple advantages:

• It’s effective because it targets bugs where they hide and live – inside the walls. 
• Because it’s sprayed in the walls and not inside your home, it's safer for your family with limited opportunity for your family and pets to come in contact with the pesticides.
• It's environmentally safe, meaning there are 50 percent fewer chemicals used when compared to a traditional pest treatment, and all of the chemicals are registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• The system has a hub on the exterior of your home, which means technicians can connect and provide pest service without coming inside your home.

You can rest assured that when you live in a Highland home in Florida, you’re getting the best bug-defense system out there!

Prevent Bugs Inside Your Home

You can further safeguard yourself by making your home undesirable to unwanted pests.

The best way to do this is something you're probably doing anyway - keep your home clean so that bugs don’t find a place where they want to eat, live, and breed. In addition to regular cleaning, a few tasks to help prevent pests include:

• Clean behind your refrigerator and other large appliances regularly.
• Move curtains and blinds to clean thoroughly around window sills, and when you do so, check for cracks that need to be caulked.
• Make sure all exterior doors and windows seal completely when shut.
• Ensure all screened windows and doors have no holes or tears.
• Check that pipes that lead to the exterior of your home are properly sealed.

Check out our helpful home maintenance tips, schedules, and checklists for more tricks to maintain a happy, healthy home.

Another culprit that invites bugs inside your home is accessible food and water. Invest in some good reusable containers and:

• Ensure all food is sealed inside airtight containers, and store as many unsealed foods as possible inside of your refrigerator.
• Keep pet food dishes raised off the floor, and preferably away from windows and doors.
• Make certain that your counters and other cooking and eating surfaces are wiped clean with vinegar and water solution after every use to prevent bugs from finding stray crumbs.
• Once you’re finished with jars, juice containers, or other items, be sure to rinse them out completely before placing them in the trash or recycle bin, and make sure that the cans have a lid.
• Finally, make sure leaky faucets are fixed and that drains and disposals are clear of food.

Outdoor Bug Prevention

With Florida's sunshine providing weather perfect for nearly year-round outdoor living, pests in your backyard or on your porch, patio, or lanai can be just as annoying as those inside of your home. One of the easiest prevention steps is something we offer when you build a Florida new home with us - screen-in the lanai! Adding an outdoor fan also helps by keeping air moving and pests at bay.

You can discourage bugs from living in your yard by incorporating pest-proof plants. A variety of plants are proven to prevent bugs from congregating nearby, such as citronella, marigolds, and catnip. Head to your local home improvement store or nursery to find plants appropriate for your growing zone, find out when is the best time to plant them, and include them in your outdoor landscaping.

If you have an outdoor entertaining area that includes a swimming pool, grill, or water feature, it’s important to keep those areas clean:

• Swimming pools can be a breeding ground for bugs whether they’re open or covered, so be sure to keep them properly cleaned and treated.
• Make sure your grill is cleaned after every use, and don’t forget to empty out and wash the grease trap.
• If you have bird feeders, bird fountains, or water features in your yard, make sure they’re free of standing water, which can be a breeding ground for a variety of unwanted pests.

Finally, your last line of defense when spending time out of doors is to use insect repellent. The CDC recommends several EPA-registered active ingredients for mosquito bite prevention including DEET, Picaridin, lemon eucalyptus oil, and IR3535. These ingredients can be found in a variety of name-brand repellents, including Off!, Cutter, and SkinSmart.

Enjoy Your Florida Home

At Highland Homes, our goal is not only for you to have a satisfying building experience but to love life in your new home, inside and out. Get more tips on maintaining your new Florida home throughout the seasons on our Pinterest boards, Home Maintenance page, and the Highland Homes blog.