Pest Control – Something Bugging You

If you have trouble with unwelcome bugs in your home and have exhausted all the self-help remedies, you may consider hiring a commercial pest control corporation to deal with the problem. Hiring a professional may be the right solution, but you must do your homework. First, how do you locate a pest management service? Checking the yellow pages of your local phone book could be a good start; doing a keyword search on the Internet for your area could also work, and you have the added benefit of seeing what information the pest management service provides, on itself on pest control typically. Ask friends and coworkers for recommendations after you’ve developed a list of pest control services. Before you call these corporations, ask your friends and coworkers if they have worked with pest control services. Have any of them used these pest control services? What was their experience? Did the pest control company in question solve its pest infestation issues? Were there any problems dealing with the pest control company? Any problems in the home after the pest control company performed their services?

Once you’ve narrowed your list to several potential pest control corporations, call them on the phone and ask some more questions:
Does the pest control company offer a free home investigation and estimate costs?
Does it provide you advice on what you can do to deal with the problem yourself?
Is the pest control company willing to answer questions readily?

Specific questions to ask:
What types of chemicals are used? (If possible, have them provide written information on the chemicals.)
What are these chemicals’ side effects or potential dangers on family members, adults, children, and pets?
Do your family and household pets need to vacate the premises during the pest control treatment?
Ask whether the pest management service offers non-toxic, natural pest control. The pest management service ought to be willing to discuss the options at least; if its representative dismisses the notion of non-toxic pest control without intelligently discussing the pros and cons of the natural remedies available but wants to get into your house and spray, beware! With written information (or your notes) in hand, research any chemicals that will be used – their effectiveness, possible side effects, and potential toxicity. (The Internet is a perfect place to start for this.) If you have family members with serious health issues, particularly asthma or other respiratory ailments, make sure you know what the potential effect of sprayed compounds could have on them.

In conclusion, if you have any questions about the pest control provider’s reliability and you are not able to find anyone you know and whose judgment you trust to vouch for them, contact your local or state BBB.org or Consumer Protection Division, to discover whether there have been any complaints lodged against them. Once you’ve hired a pest management provider, know who will show up at your home and when. Make sure they have proper I.D. and ask if you can supervise the process if you need to leave and for how long. And while you’ve got access to the professional treating your home, ask what you can do to avoid pest control problems in the future, especially those involving destructive carpenter ants and termites. The guy (or gal) who does the work most likely has insights into the subject that the office staff does not have.