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As the holiday season draws near, the upswing in travel, guest visits and furniture exchanges brings an often-overlooked risk to rental properties: the spread of bed bugs. These tiny, elusive insects are expert hitchhikers, clinging to luggage, clothing, holiday gifts and used furniture. In dense housing situations—like Fremont’s many rental duplexes—the movement of people and…

Crawlspace vents are a deceptively small part of a home’s exterior, but in neighborhoods like Green Lake—where seasonal rains and high humidity are common—they play a pivotal role in protecting your house from moisture-related damage. Proper ventilation helps equalize temperature and humidity between the crawlspace and the outside, discouraging mold growth, wood rot, and pest…

As West Seattle embraces the shift to cleaner, more efficient home heating and cooling, air-source heat pumps have become a common sight on properties across the peninsula. Those outdoor condenser units do important work year-round, but their location—often close to the ground, tucked against foundations, or surrounded by landscaping—also makes them a tempting habitat or…

Magnolia trees, with their glossy leaves and generous canopy, make patios and decks inviting outdoor rooms — and the space beneath those decks a convenient spot for storing garden supplies, firewood, and seasonal furniture. But come winter, that same tucked-away under-deck area can become an ideal nesting site for rats. Cold temperatures drive rodents to…

On Capitol Hill, where narrow brick rowhouses and late-19th-century townhomes cluster along tree-lined streets, window trim is both a functional component and an important piece of architectural character. Those carved sills, muntins and narrow casing pieces have aged alongside their buildings, and their joints and gaps—whether from settling foundations, repeated window sash movement, or centuries…

Queen Anne houses—those ornate, turreted, gingerbread-accented Victorian homes that proliferated in the United States and Britain between roughly 1880 and 1910—are beloved for their craftsmanship and complex floor plans. But their distinctive construction techniques and the way they were retrofitted for plumbing over the last century also create ideal hidden thoroughfares for pests. Narrow cavities,…

On a gray, drizzly morning in Phinney Ridge, the carpet in an otherwise cozy living room can suddenly tell a story: faint, sinuous tracks of tiny ants cutting across the pile, marching with single-minded purpose. In this neighborhood—known for its tree-lined streets, mature gardens, and a mix of older homes and apartments—wet weather isn’t just…

Laurelhurst’s yards and gardens are a defining feature of this lakeside neighborhood: mature trees, lush planting beds, and the small outbuildings that store tools, potting supplies and seasonal gear. As temperatures dip and rains increase, those same sheds that protect your lawnmower and heirloom planters become attractive shelters for wildlife and insects looking for warmth,…

An attic ladder is more than a convenience; it’s one of the most common—and most overlooked—access points between your living space and the vulnerable environment of the attic. Ballard attic ladders, whether wood or metal, fold and seal into an opening in the ceiling, creating hinges, gaps and cavities that rodents find attractive for travel,…

When temperatures drop in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood, one of the least obvious but most common winter problems for homeowners and renters is an uptick in roach activity—often centered around heater closets and other warm, hidden mechanical spaces. Heater closets, water-heater compartments, and utility rooms create the ideal winter refuge for cockroaches: consistent warmth, elevated…