Pest Control in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn
Ditmas Park is part of the area often called Victorian Flatbush, a surprising pocket of freestanding wood-frame houses in the middle of Brooklyn. It sits roughly between Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Avenue, south of Beverley Road and north of Newkirk Avenue, surrounded by related enclaves such as Prospect Park South, Beverley Square West and Fiske Terrace. Its tree-lined streets feature large Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Tudor-style homes with porches, driveways and lawns. Cortelyou Road is the main dining and shopping strip, and Newkirk Plaza is one of the city's first pedestrian shopping plazas. The B and Q trains run through an open cut along the neighborhood, stopping at Cortelyou Road and Newkirk Plaza.
Also known as: Victorian Flatbush.
About Ditmas Park
Ditmas Park was developed on former Dutch farmland between about 1902 and 1914 by developer Lewis H. Pounds, who built large, individually designed homes marketed as a suburban retreat within the city. The Brighton Line railroad, now the B and Q, made the commute to Manhattan practical. The neighborhood's name comes from the Ditmas family, early Dutch landowners. The Ditmas Park Historic District was designated in 1981, and several neighboring Victorian Flatbush enclaves have since received landmark protection of their own.
Common Pest Problems in Ditmas Park
Ditmas Park's large wood-frame Victorians, with porches, wooden siding, basements and old detached garages, are much more vulnerable to subterranean termites than typical Brooklyn brick buildings. Wooden porch posts and sills near damp soil are common entry points. The mature oaks, maples and lush gardens also make this a squirrel paradise, and squirrels regularly chew into attics, soffits and roof vents of these big old homes. Old stone foundations and crawl spaces add further risk.
Raccoons are frequent visitors, nesting in chimneys, attics and under porches, and raiding garbage cans in driveways. Mice move into houses through gaps in old foundations and around utility lines, particularly as the weather cools. Carpenter ants can also tunnel into damp or rotting wood trim, porch floors and window frames on these century-old homes. Some homeowners also find squirrels or raccoons in detached garages. Because these homes are large, with multiple floors, attics and basements, infestations can go unnoticed for a long time, so regular inspections by a licensed pro are especially useful for owners of these historic houses.