How to Pest-Proof Your House in 15 Minutes

Watching the leaves change is arguably the greatest pastime of fall. The worst? Dealing with unwanted house guests—rodents, cockroaches, stinkbugs, spiders, and other insects that are looking for a warm, cozy place to curl up for the winter. Opting for the chemical pest-control sprays at your local hardware store will only pollute your air, and could put you at risk for various types of cancer and nervous system problems. Also, they’re unnecessary. Most pests can be controlled with some do-it-yourself pest-control tricks that take less than 15 minutes and could actually save you money in the long run.
Got a few minutes? Here's what to do:
#1: Set out some sticky traps. It can take all of five minutes to set out glue traps, such as the Victor Poison-Free Insect Magnet.
What you'll trap: Anything that crawls—spiders, stinkbugs, roaches, ants, crickets, and silverfish.

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#2: Clean up your kitchen. Set aside 15 minutes of every day to wipe down your countertops with vinegar (vinegar removes odor trails left behind by foraging insects such as ants), put dirty dishes in your dishwasher, sweep your floors, mop up any spills, put away food, and empty your garbage, if needed. On grocery day, transfer any food that comes in a plastic bag from its original packaging to tightly sealed glass jars, particularly grains, rice, pet food, and nuts.
What you'll trap: Pests coming inside looking for a meal, from roaches and ants to rodents, as well as wasps and spiders, which feed on the insects coming indoors looking for food.
#3: Seal up their entry points. This project could take longer than 15 minutes, only because it involves a little bit of hunting. Insects and rodents will use even the tiniest hole to get inside your warm, cozy home, and a tube of low-VOC silicone caulk, which you can find at any hardware store, can be your best friend in sealing up those holes. Pay particular attention to window and door frames, the seal around your external dryer vent, anyplace where pipes enter or leave your home, and anywhere TV or cable wires come inside. Stuff some steel wool into larger holes, or cover them with wire mesh, before sealing them up. The good news? In sealing up all those pest entry points, you'll also be sealing up tiny air leaks that allow precious heat to escape your home during the winter.
What you’ll trap: Every pest that views your house as its new home.
#4: Install a door sweep. Another tool that keeps pests from entering your home and will save you energy this winter, a door sweep blocks the gap between the bottom of your door and the ground. You can buy one at any hardware store, and for a super-easy fix, buy the kind that simply sticks onto the door with an adhesive strip—no drilling needed.
What you’ll trap: As with caulk, every pest that views your house as its new home.
#5: Vacuum. It won’t be possible to seal up every hole or keep every critter from crawling indoors. That’s where a weekly vacuuming session comes in handy. You’ll suck up any crawling insects that make it indoors and trap them before they can get crushed and stink (stinkbugs) or leave stains (some varieties of ladybugs). Plus, if they’re gross—cockroaches—you can vacuum them up without having to squish anything.
What you’ll trap: All crawling insects.
#6: Clear the clutter. In addition to weekly vacuuming, spend 15 minutes a week clearing out piles of newspaper or junk mail and removing piles of clothing from your floors. All these things serve as nice, dark hiding places for insects.
What you’ll trap: Roaches, spiders, stinkbugs, and silverfish.
#7: Fix leaky faucets. Insects need water to survive, and the most common source for them is a drippy faucet. Fixing leaky faucets is a lot easier than you might think and, like sealing up cracks, it’s an insect-control measure that’s good for your wallet and for the planet.
What you’ll trap: Rodents, roaches, and spiders.

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How to install motion detector lights

How motion detectors work

Motion detectors are small electronic eyes that detect infrared waves—heat waves that radiate from moving objects. When the detector senses an object moving across its field of view—especially warmer objects such as people, animals and cars—it electronically turns on the lights. The light stays on anywhere from 1 to 20 minutes, depending on how you preset the timer. Then the detector automatically shuts the light off unless it continues to sense movement. A photocell deactivates the light during daylight hours. Most motion detectors have a semicircular field of view of up to 240 degrees and a distance range, adjustable on most detectors, that extends to 70 ft. or more. The detector will react to the movement of your dog, an approaching person, a passing car or sometimes even wind-blown leaves.
Nuisance “trips,” such as blowing leaves or a passing car, can fool the detector and turn the lights on when you don’t want them. These can be annoying to both you and your neighbors, and in fact, some homeowners won’t install motion detector lights for this reason. However, you can solve most unwanted switching-on by adjusting the distance-range setting and by carefully aiming the sensor to limit its field of view. You can also narrow the field of view even more by applying tape to the sensor, as shown in Photo 7. If nuisance trips concern you, be sure to buy a light that has an adjustable distance/range setting, and an aimable detector unit as shown in Fig. A, Nos. 1 and 3.
Motion detectors allow you to operate the light in the conventional, manual way, usually by flipping a switch  off for a second, then back on. This allows you to keep the light on at night when you want to, even when there’s no motion. By double flipping a second time, you return to automatic.

Motion detector and light styles

Figure A: Motion detector and light styles

There are many motion detector and light styles to choose from.

Where to put them

For best effectiveness, position motion detector sensors to cover the walks leading to your front and back doors and the driveway (see lead illustration). That way the lights will come on when you come home at night. You can also use them to light up decks, patios and any potentially hazardous locations such as around stairways and swimming pools.
If improved security is a priority, position the lights to cover all the approaches to your house, including fence gates, the patio door, the darker areas of your yard, and around trees and bushes. Good lighting can’t guarantee security, of course, but it’s one of the best low-cost ways to get unwanted intruders to back away.
Ideally, it’s best to mount motion detector lights 6 to 10 ft. above the ground and position them so that most movement will occur across the sensitivity zone rather than directly toward the detector. Obviously you can’t always do that if you use existing light locations. One solution is to buy a remote motion sensor unit that you can mount some distance away from the light itself (Fig. A, #3). The wires connecting them to the light are low voltage and may not be dangerous, so you don’t have to enclose them in metal or plastic conduit.

How to install motion detector lights, step-by-step

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Photo 1: Shut of the electricity

Turn off the power to the fixture at the main panel, then test the wires to make sure the current is off. Rub one lead of a voltage tester (from hardware stores or home centers) against the ground wire and rub the other lead first against the hot wire (black), then the neutral wire (white). If the tester lights up in either case, the power is still on. Shut off the correct circuit at the main panel.

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Motion detector lights are easy to install, but each brand has a few different details, so read the instructions. You’ll find the basic information printed on the outside of the box. Read the box before you buy the unit so you know what you’re getting. You’ll find more detailed instructions inside the box.
Our step-by-step photos and tips from our experts provide a general guide of how to do the job. In most cases, you’ll simply replace an existing fixture with the new one, as our photos show. Make sure to turn off the power to the fixture at the main panel before removing it.
However, if you have to run a new electrical line and install a switch, the job can get much more complex. Outdoor electrical lines must be encased in approved conduit and weatherproof electrical boxes. If you’re not familiar with conduit or the rules for running new electrical circuits, call in a licensed electrician.
Working with old electrical boxes can be tricky too. Sometimes they don’t contain a ground wire (bare wire or one with green insulation) or other grounding means such as metal conduit. The National Electrical Code requires all electrical boxes and fixtures to be grounded. If you’re not sure yours is, check with your electrical inspector to determine if you have to run a new ground wire.
Additional installation tips:

• The cover of an outdoor electrical box must be waterproof. Seat the rubber gasket carefully (Photo 4). And if you are placing it against a rough surface, caulk it as well.
• Moisture can seep into the detector and light and ruin them. To prevent this, either locate the fixture under an eave or other protected area or buy one that has bulb seals  and angle the bulbs downward so water can’t run into the
• Heat from the light bulb itself can confuse the detector. Keep the bulb and detector as far apart as possible
• Adjust the field-of-view angle and set the distance range of your motion detector to avoid nuisance trips from normal passing traffic, animals, pools of water, air conditioners, heating vents and wind-blown trees and shrubs

Get an electrical permit from your local department of inspections. Check for special local rules and have your work inspected when finished.
CAUTION:Don’t let your ladder or your body touch lethal overhead power lines while you’re working.
CAUTION: Aluminum wiring requires special handling. If you have aluminum wiring, call in a licensed pro who’s certified to work with it. This wiring is dull gray, not the dull orange that’s characteristic of copper.

Size requirements of electrical boxes

You also need to check out the size of your electrical box. A shallow box like the one shown in Photo 1 no longer meets code requirements, and we had to replace it with a larger box, shown in Photos 2 and 3.
The computation table gives the method for calculating minimum box-size requirements. To do the calculation, count the number of wires coming into the box. However, some other things besides wires are counted as “wires” for computation purposes. For example, all the cable clamps used count for one wire, and we recommend always counting the fixture as two wires. Then multiply this total wire number by 2 cu. in. for 14-gauge wire (or 2.25 cu. in. for 12-gauge wire, even if there’s just one of the heavier wires in the box).
The computation method given here sometimes overestimates the minimum box size required by code, but it simplifies the calculation.Required Tools for this Project

Have the necessary tools for this project lined up before you start—you’ll save time and frustration.

• 4-in-1 screwdriver
• Wire stripper/cutter

Required Materials for this Project

Avoid last-minute shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Here's a list.

Motion detector light
Electrical box, remodeling type
Wire connectors
Clear silicone caulk
Electricians tape, plastic

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