7 Ways To Get Rid of Fleas in Your Basement

Getting your home infested by these small, dark, oval-shaped insects is your worst nightmare coming to life. Unfortunately, fleas usually multiply substantially in basements because of the dark, damp, and warm environments.

They are typically brought into the house through pets or other animals like raccoons, squirrels, rats, and the like. The little crawlers love to find nooks where they can hide, like cracks in furniture or flooring.

They also love nestling in soft furnishings like sofas, carpets, and curtains.

So, let’s find out how you can evict these unwanted guests and keep your house hygienic.

7 Ways To Get Rid of Fleas in Your Basement

Here are some effective ways that can help you get rid of fleas:

1. Cordoning Off Your Basement

The first step of order is preventing people or pets from entering the basement. Unfortunately, people or pets can unknowingly help the fleas spread far and wide in your house.

As soon as you identify this issue, it would help to quarantine your basement immediately.

2. Decluttering

Basements are usually used for storage, and clutter is usually where these little monsters typically hide. As a result, the cardboard boxes or the furniture you may bring into your basement may have fleas hiding in them.

This can singlehandedly cause infestation in the first place.

So, it’s about time you bid farewell to the ball gown you intend to fit into one day and your friend’s toolbox that is too rusty to be good for anything. Instead, eradicate the excess from your basement (and your life) to get rid of fleas once and for all.

3. Layering Food Grade Diatomaceous

After clearing the unnecessary things out of your basement, it’s time to move toward the second step, which includes layering your basement floor with Diatomaceous earth.

It is powdered fossilized algae and has different variations in terms of sizing. It gets in all the nooks and corners, and its rough edges severely damage the flea’s protective outer covering while dehydrating them.

In addition, if consumed by the fleas, it rips their body apart.

You can also spread this substance on mattresses and couches to eliminate fleas.

4. Vacuum

Once you have layered the diatomaceous earth, let it sit overnight and vacuum it thoroughly in the morning. Please make sure you are diligent in this process and give it time. Remember, it is extremely important to vacuum every nook and corner.

Do not miss out on any spot in your basement. After vacuuming, make sure to dispose of the vacuum bag conscientiously outside your house to avoid any fleas finding their way back into your home.

5. Wipe Down

After vacuuming every inch of your basement, mix two to three tablespoons of dishwashing soap or any detergent into a small bucket of warm water. Then take a mop and wipe down your whole basement with it. Ensure that you do not miss any spots.

Detergents and dishwashing soap act as a pesticide here, and a thorough wipe-down would help you wipe out fleas from your basement.

6. Spraying Insecticide

Now, to ensure you don’t miss any of this crawlies, go to your nearest store and get a microencapsulated flea spray. There are some standard sprays out there that are advertised to get the job done. Still, they are usually very volatile and tend to get absorbed into the concrete.

So, make sure you buy a microencapsulated flea spray. The general method to apply this spray is to seal your basement and spray it generously in all the affected areas.

For the best result, try to close your basement. This would also help you avoid any allergies the spray might trigger for you or your children.

7. Filling Up the Cracks

As a precautionary measure, ensure you get a silicon-based sealant from your local hardware store. Then, using that sealant, seal up all the gaps and cracks in the walls and floors.

This helps eliminate a few fleas that may have survived the former measures by trapping them in as they can’t chew out of this sealant.

The best part is that these sealants are made to last at least a decade.

Ways To Avoid Flea Infestation

Getting your basement infested by fleas is a pure headache. But, unfortunately, getting rid of them is not a piece of cake.

So if you want to avoid getting fleas in the future, there are a few ways you can prevent them from infesting your home:

1. First of all, start shampooing your pets with anti-flea shampoo, as they usually tend to bring fleas into the internal spaces of your house.
2. Inspect everything you bring in, from cardboard boxes to used furniture, to ensure they are not infested.
3. Try to keep out unwanted animals that may have access to your house. These include rats, possums, raccoons, squirrels, etc.
4. Try to bring in natural lights through windows in your basement, as dark and damp environments are ideal for fleas.

Conclusion

Getting your basement infested with fleas is very off-putting, and getting rid of them is hectic. The steps given above will take some time and effort to implement. But these steps will help you eliminate fleas from your basement.

So make sure your cordon off your basement, declutter, layer food-grade diatomaceous, vacuum, wipe down, spray insecticide, and fill up the cracks.

Then, after the infestation has been successfully stopped, take all preventive steps to keep your house from getting infested again.