Florida’s warm weather, which keeps people visiting and living in Florida all year round, is the same warm weather that also attracts pests. The heat and humidity in Florida is known to attract common pests like ants, cockroaches, mosquitos, termites, and rodents. HOAs have a responsibility to ensure shared spaces and homes have a plan in place to tackle pest control and keep residents safe.
Working with a Sarasota HOA management company like Wise Property Management can ensure that boards stay prepared to tackle summer pest control.
Common Summer Pests
While Florida residents are no stranger to some of these common pests, summer especially brings out the worst in these critters. Ants, roaches, mosquitos, and termites all can be a growing problem in the warmer months as the weather brings more outdoor activity, breeding, and swarming seasons.
Ants and mosquitoes are most active in warm weather as they look for food and water, as well as try to find mates. Ants are known for invading homes to find food, and mosquitos often become far more active in hot and humid climates as they breed in stagnant water. Roaches also prefer warmer climates, and in the case of extreme heat during Florida’s summers, they can seek cool places to live indoors.
Termites are most active when the weather gets warmer, as this is when they migrate to breed and establish new colonies. Worker termites also feed 24 hours a day, and warmer temperatures increase activity, meaning summer is the most active they will be throughout the whole year.
HOA’s Role In Preventing and Controlling Pests
Regular Inspections and Monitoring
The best way to control pests is ensuring routine inspections of buildings and treatment of those areas by pest control specialists. Sarasota homeowners association management companies like Wise Property Management can help you ideate and implement a schedule to ensure regular upkeep of your spaces.
Regular monitoring should include checking for signs of termites, treating grassy areas to ensure ants are not invading public spaces, upkeep to remove food and debris that may attract unwanted pests in common areas, and removal of any stagnant water that could attract mosquito breeding. By monitoring the common spaces, HOAs can more readily control pest problems before they spread to individual homes.
Coordinating and Arranging Building-Wide Treatments
Pest control is often a team effort. While HOAs should maintain regular treatment of common areas, resident communication around potential infestations or problems within individual homes is essential in ensuring building-wide upkeep.
Common spaces with high frequency, like hallways, storage rooms, elevators, and parking lots/garages, should also be treated and regularly inspected. A Sarasota HOA management company can manage these building-wide treatments should they be needed, as well as the communication between the HOA team and residents to ensure a pest-free community.
For more information about how we stand out among Sarasota homeowners’ association management companies, please request a proposal today or call our office at (813) 968-5665.