You’ve just closed on a beautiful new-construction house in a master planned Houston home community.
Everything is clean, new, and under warranty. You can still smell the fresh paint.
So you assume you’re safe from “old house” problems like rats and raccoons.
But think again, because new construction zones are actually high risk zones. They’re often more vulnerable to wildlife incursions than new homes because of where they are built and how they are finished.
Why does a new build community’s location make a wildlife infestation more likely?
When a new build community breaks ground, all that wildlife gets displaced. Construction crews move into what used to be rice fields, oak woodlands, or prairies and disrupt everything that used to live there.
Now those animals perceive your house as the only shelter that is left in what used to be their territory.
How do new builds leave homes vulnerable to wildlife?
Builders are focused on code and speed, and Houston building codes don’t necessarily require home builders to prevent wildlife incursions.
For example, many 2026 homes use plastic roof vents or thin bug screens that a squirrel can chew into in under two minutes.
Then there are the soffit gaps. Builders often leave small openings where different rooflines meet. They’re easy for a mother raccoon to pry open just in time to get inside and have her babies.
A/C line chases cause problems as well. Gaps around coolant lines lead into the house and are rarely sealed with chew-proof material.
And if even one animal gets in during the construction phase, something that happens quite often, they leave behind pheromones that tell other animals exactly where to go.
Even if that animal is gone by the time you move in, the scent trail acts like a neon sign for every other animal in the neighborhood. Without professional decontamination and permanent sealing, your brand new attic has essentially rolled out a neon “Vacancy” sign.
Be Protective, Not Reactive
If you want to keep your brand new home safe then an inspection is key. We can trap and remove any wildlife that is already in your home before using proven exclusion methods that blend into your home’s aesthetic and keep rats, raccoons, and other wildlife out of your house for good.
Your home is your biggest investment, and you bought new because you wanted to enjoy clean, comfortable surroundings. Don’t let wildlife destroy your new haven! Contact Elite Wildlife Services to get help today.