Specialty Cleaning Services Needed for Raccoons and Other Home Pest Invasions

During the punishing cold of winter, animals instinctively seek out warm, protected places to live. This can lead to a destructive and exasperating pest invasion in the crawlspaces or attic of your home. Vermin such as raccoons, mice, rats, squirrels, birds and bats may invade your home when cold weather sets in, and must be exterminated or removed as soon as possible for the health and safety of your family.

Once vermin have moved in, their living areas become littered with animal waste and odors. The feces, urine, and saliva of many vermin can carry and transmit bacteria and parasites, which may cause a range of health issues in humans, including such illnesses as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis, and Tularemia.

Extermination or removal of the invading pests is only half of the solution, because animal waste products remain to contaminate your living environment until properly cleaned up. If that job sounds daunting, never fear – professional specialty cleaning services are available for just such pest invasion cleanup.

Many people simply do not have the ability – or desire – to squeeze themselves into an attic or crawlspace littered with feces, urine, and decomposing food waste for a thorough pest invasion cleanup. Nor do they have the knowledge or tools to safely rid the premises of these biohazards. Many everyday cleaning solutions and tools will not sufficiently remove feces and urine from corners, seams, and porous surfaces, leaving hazardous germs and unpleasant odors behind even when the visible signs of infestation are gone.

Depending on the species, cleaning up feces carries the risk of many different viruses, including arena virus, Hantavirus, leptospirosis, or salmonellosis. These viruses in a human can cause fever, diarrhea, chills, stomach pain, vomiting, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, as well as other symptoms. There are health issues to consider, and to be safe, it is best to hire a company to complete the specialty cleaning services needed to clean and disinfect so that your home is safe and healthy.

The keys to a safe and thorough pest invasion cleanup include:

Protective gear – Cleaning hazardous substances such as vermin urine and feces (especially in enclosed, poorly-ventilated spaces) can expose you to infectious microbes – on surfaces and in the air – which remain even when visible signs of the infestation have been removed. Strong cleaning solutions can irritate skin, eyes, and breathing.

Correct antimicrobial cleaning solutions – It is vital to completely disinfect the area with strong antibacterial cleansers to remove infectious microbes, and to use professional-grade deodorizing solutions that will remove the foul odors (that may have soaked into surfaces) instead of temporarily masking them.

An assortment of specialized cleaning tools – You must be able to reach the depths of corners, get into seams, and thoroughly work cleaning solution into porous materials

Not disturbing the infested areas – Vacuuming, despite built-in vacuum filters, is not recommended because tiny particles can be stirred up and circulated around the home through the vacuuming action.

Correct disposal of waste – Specialty cleaning services have their own containers and double-thickness waste bags, and will remove all waste and contaminated cleaning tools from your property to prevent any possibility of recontamination.

If you have had an infestation of raccoons, birds, bats, or rodents in your home, cleaning up after the pests’ removal is crucial to the health and well-being of your family. Cleaning up after a vermin infestation can be messy and hazardous, but professional technicians are trained to help.

Want more tips about keeping things clean? ServiceMaster by the Border provides specialty cleaning services along with quality carpet cleaning and janitorial services and started a blog to give extra help to homeowners and businesses.