While wooden buildings are much more susceptible to pest damage than metal buildings, you may still find droppings in odd corners of your metal shed. If you’ve heard odd noises or found nests in your steel garage or building, you may be wondering which pests like to live in steel structures — and how you can safely and efficiently manage pests in your metal buildings.
From birds roosting in your building’s trusses to mice scuttling away to shed corners, pests will make themselves comfortable in structures that offer permanent safety and comfort. Here, we’ll go over a few easy-to-implement ways to pest-proof your shed.
Unroll That Welcome Mat: Dealing with Pests in Your Metal Buildings
If you’re interested in ways to manage pests in your metal buildings, read on.
1. Seal your foundation.
A metal structure with a base exposed directly to soil leaves a direct line open for small critters! Consider surrounding the base of your metal building with wire mesh to keep out larger animals like mice, or taking the time to install your structure on top of a concrete slab with a tight seam, if possible.
2. Patch up holes.
The same philosophy applies to the part of your structure above the ground, as birds and bugs can easily trespass on your property from above. Use weatherstripping or another type of tight seal to handle any gaps in your building.
3. Apply deterrents strategically.
From natural oils (such as cedar and peppermint) to stronger chemical products, there are many different types of substances you can use to keep pests at bay. You can simply dab natural oils around the base of your building, or place rat poison or traps in the dark corners of your shed. Whatever you choose, just make sure that you stay safe as well — keep children away from strong substances, for example, and remember where you’ve placed your traps.
4. Keep food stored safely away.
Often, when pests enter specific properties, they’re doing so in search of strong-smelling food. Even sealed sacks of dog food can be attractive to hungry rodents. Tied-up trash may have a distinct appeal. Keep these sources of food located elsewhere, if at all possible, to reduce your pest population.
These four tips will help you reduce the likelihood that your metal structure will host large numbers of tiny unwanted guests. However, before we end this piece, there’s a specific type of pest we’d like to mention in more detail.
Live in an Area with a High Skunk Population?
No one loves how skunks smell in any location, but in a small, confined space, a skunk’s spray is a big problem. It will take you hours, potentially-expensive materials, and a lot of unpleasant effort to start to scrub a skunk’s odor off your shed (or, worse, each individual piece of equipment in your shed).
Additionally, once a skunk comes across your shed, you don’t want to face killing it. That’s a far more complex endeavor than simply laying mouse traps or putting down bug deterrents. It’s likely best to keep skunks far away from your shed in the first place. Consider purchasing specific skunk repellent from your local garden or hardware store. This type of repellent specifically leaves behind the aroma of a fox, which is a natural predator of a skunk. That’ll inspire any skunks to steer clear of your property!
Turn to GA-Based Steel Contractors for a Naturally Pest-Preventing Structure
Although metal buildings aren’t strictly impervious to spiders, birds, mice, and other uninvited guests, they are much easier to pest-proof than wooden structures. (Termites, as one example, are lethal for the integrity of wood sheds — and they’ll have a much harder time doing damage to hardy steel!)
If you’re looking for an upgrade to a pest-ridden wooden building that’s on your property, perhaps it’s time to invest in a steel structure for your property. That’s where we come in. Call our Georgia-based team, and we’ll get started designing and planning out the perfect building for you. Check out our gallery of past projects, and then connect with us at (706) 715-5212!