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A Spotlight On The Pests That Live In Your Drains

killingsworth-environmental-drain-bug

Drain Bugs–What Do They Mean For Your Home?

Believe it or not, the moist and dark conditions your home’s water drain provides a variety of bugs with everything they need to live, eat, and breed. That’s right, most drain bugs thrive in moist environments, they feed on organic matter like hair and food waste, and they lay their eggs in the gunk that collects throughout your plumbing–YUCK! Within this article, we will touch of the types of bugs in your drains, why and how they got there and how to get rid of them. Let’s get started.

Types Of Drain Bugs

Cockroaches

A cockroach has no problem living in a bathroom or kitchen drain where they’ll always have a consistent source of food and water. It’s important to know that if you find one cockroach in your home, there are likely others. Try to get rid of the pesky cockroaches yourself, or consider bringing in a pest expert as they can be particularly tough to get rid of.

Fruit Flies

Fruit flies are attracted to fresh fruits and vegetables, rotting fruits and vegetables, garbage, and damp organic material. Once in your home, a fruit fly will find its way into your comfortable drain to breed. Before you know it, you have a fruit fly infestation. Eliminate the things in your home that attract fruit flies or set your own fly traps and you should be able to avoid problems.  

Phorid Flies

Also known as the “humpback fly”, the phorid fly is attracted to fungi, deceased animals, rotting vegetables, and the moist organic material that gathers in drains and other plumbing. A phorid fly infestation has the potential to cause major damage to your home’s plumbing system and should be addressed immediately by an expert.

Centipedes

A centipede is a harmless, one and a half inch long flat bug with 15 sets of legs, frequently found in the bathroom around drains. The house centipede prefers to live and grow in damp, secluded areas like basements, closets, bathrooms, and crawl spaces. If you’re looking to banish centipedes from your home, dry and vacuum clean the darkest, untouched parts of your home.

Drain Flies

Yes, it’s true. There is an entire species of flies named after drains. And these guys can be tricky to get rid of! Because of their hairy bodies and wings, drain flies are sometimes called “moth flies”. Drain flies breed in drains, sewers, septic tanks, and sewage contaminated soil. You can avoid a drain fly problem by removing areas that serve as breeding sites. If you think you already have a drain fly problem, quickly identify the breeding site and take steps to abolish it.

How Do They Get In?

Perhaps the most frustrating part of discovering you have drain bugs is not knowing how or why they got there. The truth is, most drain creatures are either already living and breeding in your home. It is a common misconception that bugs enter the drain from the outside. While it isn’t impossible, it is not the way bugs normally enter your drains. That being said, if you have tiny cracks in your outdoor pipes, it’s very possible that drain bugs will find a way to creep in.   Otherwise, they enter through your doors, windows, or structural cracks. But whichever they enter, it’s never long before they’re in your home, it doesn’t take long before they find a cozy, wet drain to call their temporary home. 

Tips To Keep Your Drains Bug-Free

Seal Your Pipes

This is a very important first step in preventing drain bugs. Making sure your pipes are sealed and free from any holes will make it a lot harder for “drain bugs” to find their way into your drain in the first place. Use a flashlight to locate, and caulking to seal any cracks or holes in your drains both within your home and outside.

Wrap Pipes With Insulation

As we mentioned before, pests love moisture. And a huge reason why pests find their way into your drains is because of all of the condensation that surrounds them. An easy way to combat this is by wrapping insulation foam around any pipes that seem to be accumulating condensation. We suggest adding insulation to all accessible pipes as an extra step of caution!

Watch Out For Excess Water

Keep your sinks, tubs, and showers as dry as possible. Any standing water is an open invitation for pests to find their way into your drains. Also, be sure to fix any leaking faucets. Standing water will not only encourage pests, but it will also encourage mold growth which will also attract pests to your home.

Prevent Clogs

In drains like showers or bathtubs, it’s easy for hair and dirt to start clogging your drains. And clogs are–you guessed it–another ideal habitat for pests to thrive in. Luckily, there are a number of ways to prevent clogs in your drains. We’ve listed a few methods below:

  • Run hot water through the drain after each use
  • Pour 1 cup of vinegar down the drain and let it sit for 30 minutes, then rinse with hot water
  • Purchase an enzyme drain cleaner and use regularly

Do Some Research

Research more specifically what conditions drain bugs like. If rotting food and garbage are what attracts them, do your best to keep your home free of rotting food and garbage. If you’re noticing more bugs in your bathroom drains, perhaps they’re attracted to the hair and grime in your drains. Whatever it may be, figure out why your drain bugs are there and decide what will work best for your home from there. Luckily, drain bugs are a common plumbing issue and getting rid of pests can be relatively easy for someone who knows what they’re doing. At Killingsworth Environmental, we specialize in all things pest removal and pest control. If you’ve got pests in your drains, schedule a service. We’re happy to help! 

A Spotlight On The Pests That Live In Your Drains

Bedbug inspection

How to Know if Your Hotel Has Bedbugs

Upon entering a hotel room, do you typically reach for the tiny toiletries, take a leap onto the bed, or perhaps start by inspecting for bed bugs? Knowing what to look for is essential. Anticimex Carolinas Service Manager Christian Tweed has shared valuable insights on identifying bed bugs in your hotel room and preventing them from hitching a ride back home with you. And if bed bugs do become an unexpected part of your vacation, remember that Clark’s Pest Control is here to assist!



Q&A with a Pest Professional


How do bed bugs get inside hotels?


Bed bugs are primarily hitchhiking insects as opposed to foraging ones, meaning that they get carried around on people’s clothes and belongings. Someone with an active infestation in their home can easily bring bed bugs to their hotel, but they can also be picked up during travel (airplanes, taxis, and rideshare services) and brought to a hotel room.


What do people misunderstand about bed bugs in hotels?


From a probability standpoint, all hotels will deal with bed bugs at some point in time. If you think about a bed bug’s method of travel, there’s literally nothing a hotel can do to stop them from being carried in. What I have realized is that luxury hotels are more likely to have an aggressive response to dealing with a bed bug case once it’s identified as they tend to have a higher quality of service and a reputation to protect. While this isn’t always the case, it has been my experience more often than not.

Got bedbugs? Call Clark’s at 866-781-4991 today!

What do you recommend travelers do when they get to their room to check for bed bugs?


Most hotel headboards hang directly on the wall. I start my inspection here before even looking at the bed itself. I have found bed bugs, their exoskeletons, and the telltale black stains they leave behind around the edges of or in the crevices of headboards. If the headboard looks clean, move on to looking over the pillowcases and comforter for any signs or stains. You can dig into the bedding as deep as you want here, but I encourage people to look over the top layer of things at the very least.


What are some lesser-known signs of bed bugs in your hotel room?


The specifics of the black stains they leave behind, which as gross as it sounds, are just digested blood as that’s all that bed bugs feed on. If the stains are on a hard surface, they will be small dots as if left behind by an ink pen and will smear into a brownish gray when moisture is applied. If they’re on fabric, they will usually bleed along the fibers making a small diamond, square or X shape.


If there are bed bugs in your hotel room, can they travel home with you?


They absolutely can, however this is easy to prevent. While staying in a hotel, keep as much of your clothing and luggage off the beds as possible. Storing suitcases in the bathroom might sound odd, but it’s an effective method of prevention.

Don’t tackle bedbugs yourself, call Clark’s at 866-781-4991!

What should you do with your suitcase if you suspect your hotel has bed bugs?


When arriving home from a trip, leave your luggage in the garage or on a porch and bring your clothes in one load of laundry at a time. If the clothes are dirty, wash them like you normally would, if they’re clean then run them through the dryer for at least forty-five minutes. Once your suitcase is empty, vacuum over it meticulously (don’t forget to empty the vacuum when you’re done), or if you’re in the right climate, expose it to heat for a few days by placing it in your vehicle (parked in the sun) or for a few weeks in your attic.


The Clark’s Solution


If you brought bed bugs back to you home, Clark’s is here to help. Our Bedbug Control service is designed to eliminate bedbugs and create a safe, comfortable environment.


A Clark’s Pest Professional will do an inspection and recommend a plan of attack to get rid of bed bugs now and prevent them from hatching in the future. Call Clark’s at 866-781-4991 today for more information.




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