- Secure waste containment: sealed bins, bagging rules, and secure enclosures are all important parts of waste containment.
- Routine cleaning & maintenance: keep pests away from communal areas through regular cleaning, proper drainage management, and controlled vegetation.
- Pest-proofing infrastructure: Pest-proof your strata property by sealing entry points, installing door sweeps and protecting ventilation.
- Resident communication & management: Clear guidelines and enforced consequences also help prevent pest infestation.
- Professional and local actions to take: Hire qualified professionals for regular pest control.
When managing and preventing pest problems in strata bin rooms and communal areas, strata managers and residents need to adopt a coordinated approach to containing that tantalising waste and pest-proofing to prevent pests from finding food and making their home on your property.
Secure waste containment
Sealed bins:
Communal bins in strata properties need to have heavy-duty lids that fit tightly, with no cracks or holes through which pests can crawl. If you notice that a wheelie bin is broken or chewed, arrange for it to be replaced right away.
Bagging rules:
For rubbish, residents should always tie their bags securely before placing them in the bin. Overflowing bags or loose rubbish stored next to the bin attract rodents and insects right away, so strata managers should take care to arrange sufficient rubbish bins and collections in the areas residents use most.
Enclosures:
Are your current strata bins up to scratch? To better prevent pest infiltration, consider upgrading your strata property to fully enclosed, rodent-proof bin housing to both conceal waste from pests’ view and deter all scavengers.
Routine cleaning & maintenance
Deep cleaning:
Make sure your strata bin room has a regular cleaning schedule that washes away tantalising food residue, odours, and juice spills before they can tempt pesky pests into homes.
Drain management:
Drainage problems are a common entry point for rats. So, make sure that all strata drain covers are fitted securely, especially in and around the tempting bin room.
Vegetation control:
Vegetation is also a common habitat for many pests, for both foraging and nesting. That’s why you should always keep the perimeter immediately outside your bin room clear of vegetation, such as excessively long grass and dense bushes.
Pest-proofing infrastructure
Seal entry points:
Seal all gaps in the strata around doors, pipes, and floorboards. You can use wire mesh and other pest-proof sealants. You’d be surprised at the tiny cracks rodents and insects can squeeze through!
Door sweeps:
Door sweeps, sturdy metal brush strips that you install on the bottom of doors to block crawling pests, are a surprisingly effective pest control measure. The strata manager should install door sweeps on the bin room doors to prevent crawling pests from gaining entry.
Ventilation protection:
Ventilation is important in any building. But, to prevent pests from slipping into your strata property, you should check that all ventilation blocks and slots are securely covered with intact wire mesh.
Resident communication & management
Clear guidelines:
Residents must be fully up to speed on the strata building’s rules. It can be difficult to dispose of bulky items properly and to get to grips with the intricacies of recycling. The strata manager should teach residents about these things and let them know where to report pest sightings.
Enforce consequences:
Now that your residents are fully educated about how to prevent pest infestations and who to tell if they do see a pest, they also need to know what to expect if they contribute to pest problems by leaving rubbish outside bins or fly-tipping. After all, these anti-social behaviours mean additional service charges for the strata.
Professional and local actions to take
Hire qualified professionals:
Pests are a major hazard in a strata. It’s not just the massive structural damage that insects and rodents can cause in their search for food, but also the allergies and health issues they exacerbate across the North Shore. But pest control is specialised work. That’s why you need a strata pest control technician you can trust.
A good strata property manager hires a qualified pest control company to carry out continuous preventative monitoring and eradication.
Before you start any strata pest control with your technician, be sure to check that your technician holds a fully valid termite inspection license. Some organisations that offer strata pest control inspections don’t have the proper required license. Your pest control technician should have a license with a number followed by “PMT TP”, standing for Pest Management Technician, Timber Pest. This number indicates that your technician has full Timber Pest qualifications. So, always verify that their licence is current and properly accredited.
Whether it’s Strata pest control or any other eco-friendly pest control you need, contact Everest Pest Control for natural pest control technicians you can trust. Our team of fully licensed professional exterminators will use safe, effective, non-toxic modern pest control methods to keep you, your residents, pets and wildlife safe at every step. You are in safe hands with strata pest control methods compliant with health standards for every property, and the most effective methods for every pest in the Northern Beaches, North Shore, and Sydney.