Steger, IL Pest Control & Exterminators

Pest Control in Steger, IL

Steger was laid out in the early 1890s as Columbia Heights and later took the name Steger. The village straddles the Cook and Will county line, with Steger Road itself marking the boundary. Near the old railroad corridor, blocks of frame houses from the 1890s through the 1920s still stand, many with wood siding, deep porches and full basements. Postwar ranches and later subdivisions spread outward from that core. Older wood construction and mature shade trees make bats, squirrels and carpenter ants familiar visitors, while mice and termites are a concern throughout town.

Old frame houses near Steger's rail corridor

The houses built when Steger was a young industrial town have balloon framing, wood lap siding and attics that were never meant to be sealed tight. Over time, gaps open at the eaves, around chimneys and where porches connect to the main house. Big brown bats slip through openings as narrow as a half inch and roost in attics and wall voids, while house mice climb inside the hollow walls from the basement upward. An inspection of the roofline and foundation will usually turn up several entry points. Proper bat exclusion is timed around the summer pupping season, and mouse work pairs sealing with trapping.

Mature trees and squirrels on both sides of Steger Road

Steger's older neighborhoods on both the Cook and Will County sides are shaded by large maples, oaks and other mature trees, and branches often hang over rooftops. Eastern gray squirrels and fox squirrels use those branches as bridges, then chew through soffits, fascia boards and roof vents to nest in attics, especially in late winter and again in late summer. Chewed wiring in an attic is a real fire risk. Trimming limbs back from the roof, installing heavy-gauge vent guards and using one-way exclusion doors are the standard approach, and a wildlife specialist can repair the damaged entry once squirrels are out.

Carpenter ants and termites in aging wood

Porches, window frames and sill plates on older Steger homes often have spots where paint has failed and moisture has soaked in. Carpenter ants seek out that softened wood to excavate nests, and swarming winged ants indoors in spring usually mean a colony is inside the structure. Eastern subterranean termites are the other threat, entering from the soil through foundations and feeding on wood from the inside out. The two are easy to confuse, but treatment differs. A licensed pro can identify which one is present, locate the source and recommend repairs to the moisture problem that invited them.

Areas served in Steger: Downtown Steger, Steger Road (Cook and Will county line), Chicago Road corridor, Cook County side, Will County side, Rail corridor blocks.