Do pest control options work?
This question has often been raised or asked by homeowners. It arises out of frustration due to pest presence even after using a variety of control strategies.
Pests are a common problem in human dwellings. Living creatures that become a nuisance to humans are generally referred to as pests. These range from insects such as cockroaches, bed bugs, mosquitoes, etc to mammals such as rodents and raccoons, etc.
How effective is pest control? Is pest control really necessary?
The usual response for most people will be to activate control measures. Such measures range from the adoption of DIY approaches or calling an expert. Experience has shown that the latter option is the most reliable.
This isn’t to say that DIY pest control strategies don’t work.
Do Pest Control Methods Work?
Pest control does work.
The continued presence of pests in your home after treatment may be because you aren’t doing it right. You may be rolling your eyes due to how our response sounds ridiculous.
However, the truth is, you may have avoided or are ignorant of certain basic actions necessary for success.
Why Am I Not Getting the Results I Seek?
Frustration naturally results in persons having difficult infestation problems. Such frustration is even worse when you’ve exhausted all options available to you.
If this represents your situation, you may want to pay attention to the finer details.
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You May Have Adopted a Faulty DIY Strategy
One of the likely reasons why you’re still having pest issues could be due to the adoption of a faulty or ineffective DIY strategy. Not all DIY strategies work. Some may work on certain pests but won’t be effective against others.
There’s no one-strategy-fits-all when it comes to pest control.
A homemade organic pesticide for roaches and mosquitoes, flies, and several other insects may not work on bed bugs.
One made for bed bugs may not work on termites and so on. You’ll need to have an understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
Unfortunately, there are lots of online articles that make false claims about certain DIY strategies working on certain pests. Such may not be the case in reality. You’ll have to know what works and what doesn’t.
Also, you need to match certain organic or homemade pesticides with appropriate pests.
Quite a lot of research will go into determining what homemade pesticides work and which do not.
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Your Pest Management Service May Be Incompetent
Sometimes, in a bid to get the cheapest prices for pest control, people end up being ripped off their money. There are quite a lot of scam pest management services around. These make bogus and unverified claims that mislead.
You’ll need to know which pest management service actually delivers.
The only way of knowing if a pest management service can perform the task at hand is by finding out. The next logical question to ask is how? It’s easy! There are tons of online reviews about every reliable pest management service. This also includes not-too-reliable services.
Customers always seek to find drop positive or negative reviews about the quality of service they got from a pest management service. One of the ways to differentiate between competent and incompetent service providers is to check the volume of positive and negative reviews.
Pest management services with the most overwhelming positive reviews should naturally be preferred. Those attracting the most negative responses should be avoided like a plague.
The reviews dropped by customers are a testament to the reliability or otherwise of a pest control company.
Some other pest management services don’t have an online presence altogether. These should be avoided too.
A serious pest management company should have an online presence and should also have customer feedback in terms of reviews.
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Where to Look for Customer Reviews
In a bid to give you the needed support, we’ve not forgotten to show you how to go about seeking customer reviews. Consumer Affairs is a great place to start your search from.
Others include Angie’s List and Pest.Org among so many others.
It’s important to seek or visit independent review sites like the ones listed above and not the company’s own reviews.
This gives you a more unbiased assessment of how effective the pest management service is.
What To Expect From A Pest Management Service
To ensure that a pest treatment is done properly, you’ll need to have certain expectations from your service provider. These include a professional introduction, entry point inspection, and yard examination.
Others include moisture check, review & report as well as the discussion. This is the sequence that treatment should follow. With such, there’s less likelihood that you’ll fall prey to incompetent services.
Let’s look at each of these points as follows;
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Professional Introduction
All reliable pest management services have professionals working for them. These professionals or technicians come to your home to assess the pest situation.
Appearance matters a lot! They should be dressed in a uniform and act professionally by properly introducing themselves.
Technicians should be willing to answer any questions you have before proceeding to inspect affected areas.
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Entry Point Inspection
Every pest issue you have in or around your home comes from the outdoors. These pests get into homes through openings. The technician will normally inspect for such entry points.
Entry points may include cracks on walls, pipes, crevices, and so on.
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Yard Examination
Apart from inspecting indoor areas, an experienced professional should proceed to check your home’s surroundings.
Here, outdoor spaces are under focus including the perimeter of your property. Existing or impending pest invasion is easily detected.
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Moisture Check
Pests are generally known to be attracted to moisture.
As such, any leaky pipes or clogged drains will produce lots of moisture. The technician should check around to detect such issues.
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Review & Report
Having gone through all parts of your home to detect pest activity, it’s time for the pest technician to carry out a review and write a report of findings.
Under normal circumstances, the technician should retreat to his vehicle or get some time alone to work out and put together a comprehensive report.
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Discussion
The actions to be taken depend on the findings discussed. Here, the technician unveils all their findings relating to pest presence. You get to make an input as to how the treatment should proceed.
Remember, ask as many questions as possible to clarify any aspect of the process you don’t understand.
Does pest control work? It does!
However, it depends on what methods you adopt, how well it’s implemented, and who does the job. All of this information has been provided above.
Hello! My name is Oluwasegun, and I am the founder of SafeandSanitaryHomes.org.
As a young boy who grew up in the suburbs, my family had a green lawn. I actively cared for this and maintained hedges and trees.
I’ve also grown into a DIY enthusiast for cleaning tasks and home improvements. As an expert animal healthcare provider, I also discuss tips to help you combat pests.
I’m happy to share my experience and hope you find it helpful.