A-Z with A B Pest Control & Insulation: Crawl Spaces & Cockroaches

At A B Pest Control & Insulation, we offer multiple services for your convenience. From pest control to lawn maintenance and turf management to insulation services, we can handle all of these tasks for you! This week, we'll be continuing our new series by discussing two different sectors of our business with A-Z with A B Pest Control & Insulation: Crawl Spaces and Cockroaches.

Protecting Your Crawl Space
Unfortunately, home efficiency and moisture issues in crawl spaces can easily go unnoticed, degrading home air quality, comfort, and energy efficiency. One of the most common problems with crawl spaces that do not have insulation is the high level of moisture. This could lead to mold growth. By having your crawlspace insulated, you can greatly reduce the moisture levels, which will prevent mold from growing and forming. Moisture that's trapped in the crawl space can also affect the temperature in the house. Insulation can help seal off the crawl space and keep your house at the temperature you desire. Proper insulation can also prevent pipes from freezing and bursting in colder weather.

Two Types Of Crawl Space Insulation

Vapor Barrier System
A crawl space vapor barrier system prevents ground moisture evaporation from entering the crawl space. It's designed to resist the flow of air. The vapor barrier system turns the crawl space into a semi-conditioned area by stopping the air movement and making the temperature close to the living spaces in your home above. When the temperature in the crawl space is similar to the temperature in the home's living areas, your floors will feel warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Foam Spray
Spray foam insulation can help seal things up for good and eliminate any worries you may have about your crawl space. Spray foam is highly dense, and a little bit goes a long ways. It's non-permeable so it can help seal up any air gaps to eliminate moisture and keep your space free of mold, mildew and rot. While the only guarantee of a rodent-free home is ongoing pest control service, spray foam makes it less likely you'll be invaded by rodents. Spray foam is hard and an unwelcoming substance for them, unlike fiberglass insulation.

Preventing Cockroaches
Roaches enter homes in search of shelter, food and water. And your kitchen offers all of that! This is one pest you DON'T want to see in your home for many reasons: they can multiply quickly, they're hard to get rid of, they can pose health threats, and they're just plain scary! Daily cleaning and proper food storage is the easiest way to prevent these nasty little bugs from infesting your home. But be sure to seal off any potential entryways, too! Regular pest treatments can help prevent them, as well.

What Cockroach Species are Common in Missouri?

American Cockroach
The American cockroach generally lives outdoors, but during winter will move indoors and seek refuge from the cold. Outdoors, they will winter in decaying trees and woodpiles to survive the season.
German Cockroach
German cockroaches are a severe pest problem in the United States and are found everywhere through the country in large numbers. They easily infiltrate human structures and make their homes there. Once inside, they are hard to eradicate. As long as the German cockroach can find food and a humid environment, it will survive the winter.

Oriental Cockroach
Oriental cockroaches are an indoor species, but will often venture outdoors in search of food. They must have water to survive and will usually take refuge from the winter inside basements, crawlspaces, and floor drains. Oriental cockroaches can tolerate lower temperatures than most other species of cockroaches and will often winter in rock walls and sites that offer protection and warmth. They use the winter months to reproduce.

Give A B Pest Control & Insulation a Call!
At A B Pest Control & Insulation, we pride ourselves on our exemplary service, because we stand behind all our work. We offer flexible service schedules to meet your pest control, insulation and budget needs. And of course, we couldn't do what we do without the awesome customers that trust us for their pest and insulation needs! So, we just want to give a quick shout out to our loyal customers who've kept us going all these years!

If you have unwanted pests around your house or would like a free estimate on your insulation needs, give your Lake of the Ozarks pest control company a call! From pest control to lawn maintenance and insulation services - A to Z, we cover it all!

Lake of the Ozarks
Pest Control Company

Visit Our Website:
www.abpest.net

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We Offer All Types of Insulation!

Home insulation is an important part of any house. A B Pest Control & Insulation knows that ensuring that your home is properly insulated can help save you money on heating and cooling costs, it absorbs unwanted noises, and can even help reduce exposure to formaldehyde. A B Pest Control and Insulation can evaluate your home and make the proper recommendations for the best insulation to meet your needs.

We offer all types of insulation, including:

• foam insulation (closed & open)
• cellulose insulation
• fiberglass insulation (batt or blown-in)
• pesticide infused insulation
• vapor barrier
• thermal ignition barrier

Foam Insulation
Spray foam insulation is an air barrier system that effectively seals wall, floor, and ceiling cavities against air movement, including spaces around electrical outlets and light fixtures, at baseboards, and where walls meet windows and doors. Creating an air barrier with spray foam improves energy efficiency and helps heating and cooling systems keep pace with less work. It also reduces noise from outside sources and between rooms within the home.

Cellulose Insulation
Cellulose insulation is great for insulating empty spaces, such as attics and crawl spaces. Cellulose insulation is thick, dense, and clumpy, with a consistency much like down feathers. The chief value of this shape and size is that the insulation can fit in enclosed areas (such as walls) and can conform around obstructions such as wires and ducts (found both in walls and in attics).

Fiberglass Insulation
Fiberglass is a type of fiber primarily composed of glass that is used as a residential and commercial thermal insulator. As an insulator, it slows the spread of heat, cold, and sound in structures. By trapping pockets of air, it keeps rooms warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and thereby serves as a convenient method to increase energy efficiency. Commonly found in blanket form, called batts, it is available in standard pre-cut lengths and widths. Fiberglass insulation also comes as loose fill that can be blown into attic, wall and floor cavities.

Pesticide Infused Insulation
Pesticide Infused insulation is installed by blowing the product into attics on top of existing insulation or into attics and wall voids of new construction. It will reduce heating & cooling costs, while also controlling common household pests that nest in attics and walls like roaches, ants, termites, and silverfish.

Vapor Barrier
A vapor barrier is used for damp proofing that resists diffusion of moisture through the wall, floor, ceiling, or roof assemblies of buildings to prevent condensation damage. This thin sheeting in the crawl space helps create a divide between water and your home. Spread uniformly across the soil and partway up onto the crawl space walls, it keeps water in the soil instead of in the crawl space.

Thermal & Ignition Barrier
All polyurethane spray foams require a code-approved thermal barrier—ordinarily a layer of ½” drywall—between the foam and the living space. The thermal barrier is designed to make it more difficult for a fire inside the living space to gain access to the fresh source of fuel in the spray foam, leaving the home’s occupants with more time to escape. Ignition barriers are required in foam-insulated attics, crawlspaces, and other areas with limited access that can’t be used as living space. They offer a lower order of protection, and are intended simply to prevent a possible flame source from making direct contact with the foam.

A B Pest Control is also a full-service insulation company at Lake of the Ozarks. Our insulation team has many years of experience in the insulation business, so you can trust that we'll get the job done right at a fair price. For all of your residential and commercial insulation needs, give us a call!

Lake of the Ozarks
Pest Control Company

Visit Our Website:
www.abpest.net

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The Best Insulation For Your Crawl Space

The summer heat is upon us, and many people are focusing on keeping their homes nice and cool. If your home has an uninsulated crawl space, you could be at risk of transferring heat into your home, which can cause your air conditioning unit to work overtime to continually pump cold air into your home. At A B Pest Control & Insulation, we have a couple solutions to help keep your crawl space nice and cool this summer season (& warm in the winter too).

Benefits of Crawl Space Insulation

1. Prevents Mold & Odor

One of the most common problems with crawl spaces that do not have insulation is the high level of moisture. This could lead to mold growth, as spaces with the high level of moisture create the ideal environment for mold growth. By having your crawlspace insulated, you can greatly reduce the moisture levels, which will prevent mold from growing and forming.

2. Control Temperature In Rooms

Moisture that's trapped in the crawl space can affect the temperature in the house. It can make it too hot, too cold, too stuffy or too dry depending on the season. It happens because the moisture in the crawl space absorbs the warmth from the house or keeps it from escaping. Insulation can help seal off the crawl space and keep your house at the temperature you desire.

3. Helps With Energy Efficiency 

Because the moisture in the crawl space affects the temperature inside your home, having your crawl space insulated can act as a sealant to control the moisture levels, making your home more energy-efficient and help lower the energy costs. If the crawl space is not insulated, you will have to spend more money on heating and cooling costs to control the temperature in your home. Keep your energy costs down by insulating the crawl space.

4. Protect The Pipes

The crawl space in your home most likely houses a variety of pipes that supply the water and power to your home. Having the crawl space insulated can help prevent the pipes from bursting. If moisture comes into this area and gets to your pipes, it's likely they'll start rotting, which can lead them to burst or break. Insulation can help keep the pipes dry, which can lead to increasing their lifespan, which means fewer repair costs to have to worry about.

Two Types Of Crawl Space Insulation

Vapor Barrier System

A crawl space vapor barrier system prevents ground moisture evaporation from entering the crawl space. It's designed to resist the flow of air. The vapor barrier system turns the crawl space into a semi-conditioned area by stopping the air movement and making the temperature close to the living spaces in your home above. When the temperature in the crawl space is similar to the temperature in the home's living areas, your floors will feel warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Foam Spray

Spray foam insulation can help seal things up for good and eliminate any worries you may have about your crawl space. Spray foam is highly dense, and a little bit goes a long ways. It's non-permeable so it can help seal up any air gaps to eliminate moisture and keep your space free of mold, mildew and rot. While the only guarantee of a rodent-free home is ongoing pest control service, spray foam makes it less likely you'll be invaded by rodents. Spray foam is hard and an unwelcoming substance for them, unlike fiberglass insulation.

For more information on our insulation services at the Lake of the Ozarks, give us a call at 573-964-1100. If you're not sure if your home is properly insulated, you can even request a FREE quote. We can help keep your home comfortable no matter the season!

Lake of the Ozarks
Pest Control Company

Visit Our Website:

www.abpest.net

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Addressing Crawl Space Problems

Most homeowners aren't happy with their crawl space. They find it damp, musty, and foul-smelling. Crawl spaces can easily flood and in extreme cases rodents, animals and other pests can be found living within debris. An insulation company at the Lake of the Ozarks has options to alleviate the issues commonly found . A B Pest Control and Insulation can turn your crawl space into a drier, cleaner, healthier, and more energy-efficient area.

Options to Address Your Crawl Space Problems

Option 1: Completely condition the crawlspace by using a 12-20 mil membrane with closed cell foam on foundation walls and rim boards to completely seal out air and moisture from the outside. The conditioned air from the lower level to the crawlspace is able to flow through the floor joists without the odor, moisture, etc.

Option 2: Installing a vapor barrier only. This is a less expensive option as it only seals the ground issues for moisture. Air will still be able to transfer from the exterior to the interior as it is a traditional cross-ventilated crawlspace.

Poor Air Quality Can Affect Your Health

Even though your crawl space is underneath your home, that doesn’t necessarily mean that excess moisture and poor air quality in your crawl space isn’t hurting you. Much of the air we breathe on the first floor of our homes comes from the crawl space or basement. Excess moisture can lead to mold, dust, insect, and other pests. Poor air quality caused from mold spores and dust mites are the two largest indoor allergens and can be detrimental to some people's health. 

Here are some signs to help you determine if your crawl space has excessive moisture:

• Standing water or mud on dirt floor after a heavy rain
• Efflorescence on crawl space walls
• Signs of wood rot and rust in crawl space
• High radon levels
• Unpleasant dirt/mud odors
• Respiratory discomfort, headaches, and illnesses, such as allergies and asthma
• Insect and other pest infestations
• Mold and mildew on walls and floors of first-floor closets
• Peeling paint on home exterior

It Can Save You Money

If you choose the option with the 12-20 mil membrane and the closed cell foam option you can turn your crawlspace into a conditioned space. One that is close to the living temperature in the floor above. When that happens, your floors feel warmer in winter and your energy bills can go down. This also eliminates the need to check on vents to make sure they are properly open and closed depending on the season. Some customers are experiencing up to 60% savings! 

It Can Prevent Harmful Gases

Radon gas is a very serious problem. In the event that radon is present in higher than acceptable levels in your home, a vapor barrier can be coupled with a radon mitigation system, which can significantly reduce the levels of radon in your home.

Let A B Pest Control and Insulation Inspect Your Crawl Space

If you are looking to have a vapor barrier installed in your crawl space, enlist the help of a professional crawl space insulation company at the Lake of the Ozarks. They can make sure your house is cleaner, and healthier for you and your family. A B Pest Control and Insulation can seal up your crawl space, so that you can eliminate moisture, odors, and pests for good! Call us for a free no obligation quote at (573) 964-1100.

Lake of the Ozarks
Pest Control Company

Visit Our Website:
www.abpest.net

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Google+