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Purchasing your new home is an exciting life event, and you want to ensure that you preserve your most valuable investment. While many new homeowners focus on putting up a fresh coat of paint and sprucing up their lawn, it is also important to remember that much of the damage to a house begins from within. In fact, some of the biggest destroyers of a home come in the tiniest bodies. Here are three pests that can do significant damage to your property, along with effective prevention strategies that need to be added to your home maintenance plan.

Avoid Bed Bug Infestations

At first glance, a bed bug is almost undetectable due to its small size, which is about the size of an apple seed. While these little critters may not look like they do much harm, an infestation can leave your family stuck with allergic reactions. Bed bugs also leave droppings behind as they crawl behind wallpaper, feed on blood in your bed, and take up residence in the seams of your carpet. If an infestation gets out of hand, the bed bug control can get complicated. For this reason, the U. S. Centers for Disease Control claims that the best way to avoid a major bed bug problem is through regular inspections by a professional pest control company.

Limit Termite Damage

Termites rarely emerge from their nests unless they are swarming, which means that serious amounts of damage can occur before you ever realize you have an infestation. For this reason, it is important to make your home less attractive to termites. Make sure that any wood used on your home is treated to prevent termites. Repairing water leaks immediately is also an important part of termite control since the softer wood is easier for them to chew through as they make their nests.

Stop Carpenter Ant Destruction

When many people call an exterminator, ants are a common complaint. While some varieties of ants are mildly irritating such as sugar ants that seek food in your kitchen, others can be far more devastating to your home. Carpenter ants are often confused with termites, yet there are some ways to tell them apart. For example, carpenter ants have wings that are longer in the front than in back, while termites are usually equal in length. Like termites, these ants hide deep within the wooden parts of your home, and an infestation may not be noticed until the wood is damaged enough to be noticed on the exterior surface.

Keeping your home in top condition requires careful inspections and control methods to eradicate pests. As you create your home care plan, remember that a pest control professional can identify critters that may be lurking beneath the surface, and identifying them will prevent damage while preserving your home's value.