Pests are a part of life. If you have a home then pests will become an unwelcome part of your family very soon. Pests not only spread diseases, they will also become nuisance. Creepy crawly termites and flying cockroaches invade your house and make life hell for you. It gets worse if there is rodent infestation and other creepy crawly things. If you notice the first hint of the presence of these pests it is time to call in a pest control service.
Wait. Before you pick up the phone and call a pest exterminator, prepare yourself by knowing about how they work and what to ask them and how to evaluate them. This way you save yourself from high charges or shoddy services or both.
How Pest Control Services Work
There are the usual handymen offering pest control services and then there are specialists. Handymen may not have the required level of knowledge, expertise or experience to fix matters. Specialist pest control services are different. They are staffed by experts who are knowledgeable about various pests common to the area and climate, their habits and methods to exterminate pests as well as prevent future infestation. If anything, they are thorough and need to be because just one visit is not sufficient to exterminate pests completely. When amateurs make use of poisonous pesticides, modern pest control relies on the use of safe and environment friendly as well as pet-friendly biocides. This is one main reason why one must be careful because toxic pesticides can harm children and pets. Worse, they are difficult to remove from surfaces and once they get inside our body systems, they have long term toxicity effects. Pest control services you can trust usually carry out a survey first, identify problem areas, devise processes and implement them with the help of a team. Professional pest control companies are technical experts. For instance, rodents can be a nuisance and it requires efforts to ferret them out, lay bait, seal points of entry and be absolutely thorough. You are lucky if you get experts. More often than not you might come across a so called expert who promises but does not deliver.
With that in mind, prepare yourself to deal with a pest control firm.
- License: Ask the representative if the pest control company is licensed and certified. People carrying out the application process need to possess appropriate licensing or certification. They should be happy to show you proof of their accreditations if you ask for it.
- Pesticides used: Genuinely reliable pest control companies will explain the type of pesticides they use and its impact on humans, animals, and environments. These days the trend is towards using plant based environment-friendly biocides.
- Equipments: Some applications such as termite control may require the use of high pressure jetting and pumping equipments to force the chemical deep into walls, foundations and even the earth. Ask what equipments your pest controller proposes to use for the specific problem and how effective it would be.
- References: Always ask for references. If they have worked for someone in the neighborhood, then check about the quality of service and work done by that pest control service. Experience in this business counts a lot.
- Guarantee of work: Many promise, but few deliver. If they offer a guarantee, it is a mark of reliability. Committed service providers usually carry out 2 or 3 or even more visits post the first application to ensure that all traces of pests are wiped out and they include this within the cost. This is because, the existing generation of pests might have been wiped out with the first wave of pest control process, but then the next generation will reach maturity in a week or two. There for the second process should be initiated before the second generation matures enough to procreate. One more process after an appropriate time gap will ensure beyond doubt that no further generations of pests survive this onslaught.
Lastly, you must enquire about the charges. Compare the quotes from two or three such services and you will know what the fair going rate is.