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Closing Up Your Florida Home for Summer: Pest Checklist
Family-run, licensed and insured pest control in South Florida.
$50 OFF your first service + FREE inspectionNew customers · No code needed · No expirationClosing up your Florida home for summer is mostly about leaving pests nothing to eat, nowhere to drink and no easy way in, and making sure someone can get in for service. In the last two weeks, clear the pantry and the fridge, deal with any activity you've seen and book your visit. On the last day, run every drain, take the trash out, close up the pet food and check the shutter tracks before you close them. Then leave a key or code with whoever will let us in. Snowbirds who skip that last step often come home to a long list. Closing your shutters? Check them for wasps first.
Two weeks before you leave
- Clean out the pantry. Use up or toss open flour, cereal, rice and pet treats, and put what stays in sealed containers. Pantry pests are covered under our regular plan. See bugs in the pantry.
- Plan the fridge and freezer. Decide what stays and what goes, so you're not emptying it at midnight.
- Deal with activity now. If you've seen roaches, ants or droppings, call us before you go, not after a summer of it.
- Book your service. Tell us your dates and who will let us in.
The last week
- Take out the trash and recycling, and don't leave cardboard in the garage. Roaches hide in it; see roaches in cardboard boxes.
- Seal the pet food or take it with you, and bring the bird seed inside.
- Empty anything outside that holds water: buckets, plant saucers, the kids' toys. See mosquito breeding sites.
The last day before closing up your Florida home for summer
- Run water in every drain and flush every toilet.
- Close up the pantry and empty the fridge if you're turning it off.
- Check the hurricane shutter tracks before you close them. If you see a wasp nest, don't close the shutter on it. Leave it alone and call us; see wasp nest removal.
- Lock the pet door.
What not to do
Don't set off a bug bomb on your way out. Foggers don't reach where roaches hide, and they leave residue on counters and other surfaces that has to be cleaned. Read do bug bombs work on roaches?.
Access for service while you're away
We service seasonal homes while the owners are away. Access is usually a lockbox, your property manager, or sometimes your cleaning service. In a gated community, give us the gate code or put us on the gate list; see what the HOA covers. Regular visits keep the outside of the house treated while you're gone. We don't offer home watch, so keep your property manager or a home-watch service for the rest of the house.
Our general pest plan is $125 per quarter, about $42 a month, and monthly or custom schedules are quoted after the inspection, so you can set a flexible recurring schedule around your season. For plan customers: "If pests come back between visits, so do we, at no extra cost." Keep kids and pets off treated areas until dry, and follow your technician's instructions. There are no long-term contracts and no cancellation fees, just a simple service agreement. We're family-run and licensed, with 30+ years in the business, and hablamos español. See general pest control and rodent control, and our pages for Boca Raton, West Boca and Delray Beach.
When you come back
Use the back for the season checklist for the first 48 hours. Browse more guides.
Closing up for summer questions
How do I close up my Florida house for summer, pest-wise?
What should a snowbird do before leaving a Florida house?
What temperature should I leave a vacant house at in summer?
Can you service my home while I'm up north?
Leaving soon? Let's get a visit on the calendar.
Get $50 OFF your first service plus a FREE inspection. No code, no expiration. Call or text anytime: 833-845-9284.
Prefer to text or email? Text us · info@prospraypest.com