While you re away the pests will play

While you and your family pack your bags and abandon the house for vacation this season, some populations are poised to play in your absence.

For certain pests, an empty home is a friendly home. And when you rush out of town, it's important to take precautions so unexpected pests don't get too comfortable roaming in and around your house.

"When your family is at home, the house may seem perfectly pest-free," said Frank Meek, entomologist and technical director for Orkin, Inc. "But when you leave, the inactivity invites some pests to venture from the safety of their hiding places."

Ants and roaches are common household pests that enjoy the freedom of foraging when homeowners are away, especially if foods have been stored carelessly in the haste of travel preparations.

Like many insects, these pests are not picky eaters. While they normally dwell outdoors, they often enter homes in search of food, warmth and water, exploiting cracks around doors, pipes and windows.

Fleas are another pest that may thrive around your home during the summer months. These small, wingless parasites find their way inside on family pets and can lay eggs in carpet, bedding and floor cracks. When you return from vacation, vibrations in the house cause fleas and their eggs to spring into action, looking for new hosts on which to feed.

However, ants, cockroaches and fleas are not the only pests that may take advantage of your absence. Other pests, including crickets, flies, spiders and rodents, enjoy low-traffic, human-free environments, especially when they provide food and shelter.

To prevent such invasions, Orkin offers these pre-vacation tips for homeowners:

• Seal any entry points around windows and doorways, such as cracks and unnecessary openings.

• Remove any type of food attraction: tightly seal stored foods and pet foods, secure garbage and remove dishes from the sink.

• Frequently check your pets for fleas and other parasites. Wash pet bedding and vacuum carpets weekly.

Your swimming pool could get you sued

Installing a backyard swimming pool can make those hot summers a lot more fun and relaxing, but could it get you into a lot of financial trouble too? The short answer is: yes.

If you're not properly insured, and someone gets hurt in your pool, you are inviting law suits. I know what you're thinking: my friends and family are the only ones who use my pool... they're not going to sue me if anything happens.

Guess again.

It's not necessarily that people love to sue or even want to. They may have to. With the high costs of medical expenses today, a family that suffers a serious injury (or--god forbid--a death) probably can't afford not to sue. And if a person was injured at your pool in your backyard, guess who's technically at fault?

If someone gets hurt, don't be surprised by a lawsuit: expect it. And don't think you can watch the pool every moment to make sure nothing happens. Accidents will occur no matter how relentless you are in trying to prevent them. Risks of accidents are statistically proven to be very high around backyard pools and hot tubs.

This isn't to say you should pour dirt into your pool, plant a nice safe flower bed, and post "keep out of yard" signs all over your backyard. You just need to make sure you are adequately covered when it comes to insurance.

Okay, you're sold. Now how do you make sure you're covered?

If you own a swimming pool or hot tub, you should carry very high liability insurance, i. e. in the range of a million dollars or more.

This can be tricky since many homeowner's insurance policies limit the maximum exposure of the insurer to $100,000. Sometimes you can get this raised to $300,000, but getting covered beyond that, from your homeowner's plan alone, will likely prove difficult.

This is why you want to look into an umbrella plan. This is a separate liability policy in addition to your homeowner's coverage. It generally picks up where your homeowner's insurance leaves off, and you can get coverage of several million dollars.

The cost for this additional coverage is usually minimal, in the neighborhood of $500 per year. This may seem pricey, but considering the millions of dollars of coverage it affords you, it's worth the money, especially if you entertain and have a hot tub or pool.

One last thing to note is that you may have to buy all your insurance from the same place, which would include home and auto. If you have a pool or spa, it's probably worth changing insurers to find one who offers an umbrella plan.