Controlling Pests in an Apartment

Pest control in an apartment can be a real challenge.  You are at the mercy of factors beyond your control.  

For example, you don't control the construction quality of your building. If the builder left gaps that bugs can get through, your options are limited. 

You also don't have any control over the behavior of your neighbors.  If they leave doors open without screens, bugs can crawl or fly right in.  If they have poor hygiene and kitchen cleaning habits, bugs will be there to take advantage of the situation.

By Amada44 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Fortunately, there are a few things that ypu can control:

First, you can make your own environment less attractive to bugs by keeping your kitchen clean and sanitary.  Every night you should make sure that the dishes are washed, food is put away, and counters are clean and wiped down.

Second, you can keep doors and windows closed.  If you plan to open windows, you can make sure that they fit properly and are in good repair.

Third, you can have pest control visit your apartment on a regular basis.  In some states, the law requires landlords to provide pest control.  It's good to be home when pest control comes so that ypu can discuss pests you've seen and problem areas.

Fourth, you can supplement pest control with your own efforts.  You can sprinkle diatomaceous earth in locations that people and pets do not access. For example, you can sprinkle the white powder behind the refrigerator.  You can also use roach and ant traps or even spray yourself.

Defensive Driving within Your Complex

In the past year, we've had about six  significant traffic accidents on the grounds of our apartment complex.  As a casual observer, it's difficult to identify the root cause of each accident.  However, I suspect there are a few contributors to each accident.

1.  Foreign National Drivers.
2.  Young Drivers.
3.  Wet Roads.
4.  Distraction.

Three accidents took out trees and shrubs, one accident left a bumper and broken glass just inside the gate, and one spectacular accident took out a guard rail, sent a car airborne, and significant damaged a parked SUV.  These accidents are scary because we have many pedestrians within our complex.  Someone may get hurt.

While speed limits are low, you have to drive defensively in an apartment complex.  Since the entire complex is basically a parking lot with a twisting road through it, there are plenty of people trying to get in an out of spaces.  You also have children and pets darring from between parked cars.

In our complex, we also have a large number of foreign guest workers who walk for recreation.  They are completely clueless of how pedestrians act in the United States.  Suffice it too say there is a whole family and a baby stroller behind every blind corner.  If you add in all the joggers with iTunes impaired hearing, you have a disaster waiting for someone to roar around a corner too fast.  Slow down and don't even think about toiching your cell phone while driving here!

It's enough to make me want speed bumps!

Common Courtesy in Apartments

I am always amazed at the complete lack of common courtesy people display in an apartment complex.  

For example, one tenant kept a broken down motorcycle in a prime space in front of our building for many years.  When she moved out, she blocked three spaces with a portable shipping container.

Still other tenants move in or out of a complex at night.  There's nothing like a hand truck full of boxes bouncing down a flight of stairs at midnight to promote a good night of sleep.

Still other people just leave cups and litter from their car out on the street. Believe it or not, the grounds keeper has other duties to perform.  In a community, you just don't do things like that.  Civilization depends on people to act civilized.  It's that simple.

Using The Apartment Complex Amenities

There has long been an adage in sales that you sell the sizzle not the steak.  Apartment complexes sell us with amazing club house facilities, gyms, pools, and tennis courts. Unfortunately, we seldom use any of those amenities.

One way to get the most for your money when renting an apartment is to use every available amenity to the maximum extent possible.  Most people pay $30 to $200 per month for a health club membership and you have all the equipment available for free.

Go to the pool while you still have some summer left!

Apartment Complex Critters - The Worm Snake

Yesterday I rescued a snake in our apartment complex.  I believe he was a worm snake.  He was a chubby little black fellow about five inches long.  He had a teeny-tiny head and seemed to be blind.  Naturally, he lurks under the pine straw mulch used in our flower beds where he eats tiny bugs.  However, he fell out of the safety of the shrubbery and onto the concrete gutter.  He was not big enough to make it up over the curb so he opted to hide under a leaf.  I scooped him up with an envelope and put him back in the pine straw.  He promptly disappeared.
The little fellow was a reminder that all sorts of creatures live in our complex.

This one in the hands of a Virginia park ranger looks very similar to the worm snakes we have in Georgia.

Worm Snake in Virginia - Photo By vastateparksstaff [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Beware of Door Dingers

Many people in this world are unable to park a car properly.  They leave their car parked in a space at an angle or with a wheel across the line separating spaces.  With little room between their car and the car parked next to them, they often end up dinging the doors of neighboring cars.

How do you combat these door dingers?  The best you can do is to try and identify who the door dingers are and then park away from them.  Some folks with fancy cars in our complex park far away from the building in seldom-used spaces.  Another tactic is to park in the last space in the lot so that only one side of your car is exposed to a neighbor's car.  Typically, you park right up against shrubbery or a handicapped spot.

Ultimately there isn't much you can do.  Once we buy a house, we'll have to take our long suffering cars to Maaco!

Maintaining Your Apartment Building

As a tenant, I'm always dismayed when a property management company doesn't take proper care of an apartment complex.  But, the folks in the rental office can be very clueless about issues on a property.  If you think about it, it makes sense.  The leasing consultants and complex manager aren't out and about on the property after dark or when it rains.  They won't notice a plugged gutter or bugs in a hallway or a streetlight that is out.  But, as a tenant, you do notice.  When you see something, you need to say something.  No one else will.

Over the years, I've reported holes in a building, siding falling from an eave, evidence of a burglary, bugs in hallways, and terrible leaks at the carwash.  My wife has often called in about street lights that were out or that were flashing intermittently.  Hearing all that, you'd think we live in a ghetto.  But, we don't.  We live in one of the nicer apartment complexes in our area.  Of course, it's only a nice complex because people do call about problems.  So, if you see a serious issue on the grounds of your apartment complex, call it in!