When pests gain access to your home despite preventative treatments, they can make use of everything from overhanging trees to your home's own air ducts. Here are three ways insects and rodents can continue to sneak in.

Overgrown Trees

If you have trees on your property, especially if they're close to your home, pests might be using them as a way in. Trees that grow too large to the point where their branches and leaves are touching any part of your home's walls or roof can act as bridges that let pests bypass any preventative measures you may have used on the ground, such as a perimeter treatment.

The easiest way to avoid this issue is to keep your trees pruned so that they don't touch your house. However, if you suspect any pests have been using your trees to gain entrance to your house, call for a pest control service anyway. A professional can look for any damage that might have already been done to your home, as well as check to make sure the pests aren't harming your trees themselves.

Beyond keeping pests away from your home and trees, pruning your trees also prevents them from causing physical damage to your roof.

Drain Pipes

While most drain pipes lead to sewers or septic tanks, there may be other exposed pipes around your home that could let pests right in. Some examples are condensating drain pipes and plumbing vents. If these have no protection on the outside of your house, pests are able to get in that much more easily. One important step toward fixing this problem is to close off outward-facing pipes using a metal mesh and to make sure that the area of your home through which the pipe protrudes is properly sealed.

Because many of the pipes in your homes connect to different rooms, it's not always easy to tell which pipes the pests may be coming through. Additionally, if you are having trouble with smaller pests, like ants, you may also need to make use of traps and baits, which a professional can set up for you.

Air Ducts

Your HVAC system's air ducts provide a perfect highway through which to travel. Properly maintained ducts will be mostly sealed throughout your home, but if your ducts are old, haven't been inspected in some time, or have been recently damaged, this can give pests easy access to every room in your house.

Look for signs of droppings in or near vents, an increase in debris around the vents, or a sudden increase in allergy symptoms. Even if you don't see any pests coming in and out of ducts, these signs can hint that creatures are using them anyway. A professional can help make sure pests are removed from your ducts, and can also recommend whether or not you need your ducts sanitized, as pests traveling through your ducts can pose health risks. An HVAC technician will also need to inspect your ducts to make sure they are repaired if necessary. For more information, contact a pest control service.