Having Pest Control Services in Lubbock TX regularly inspect and treat your property is essential to keep them at bay. It’s also a great way to avoid future problems, such as cockroaches or mice.
Before a specialist comes to your home, remove food from your kitchen benches and clear away clutter to ensure they can access all areas. This will allow them to identify problem areas more quickly and effectively.
Pest Inspections
Unlike a home inspection, which looks at the main structures and features of a house or building, a pest inspection focuses on finding unwanted creatures that may be hiding in crawl spaces, basements, attics and garages. While many people think of a pest inspection as something only required for buying a new home, it’s actually a valuable service to perform for any property, regardless of ownership status.
During a pest inspection, an inspector will walk around the property and look for signs of insect or rodent infestation. They’ll also check for any existing damage that may have been caused by pests and make note of any conditions that could lead to an infestation in the future. For example, damp areas are a magnet for termites, and cockroaches love warm, moist environments.
Pest inspectors typically use a variety of tools to help them spot problems, including thermal imaging cameras and moisture meters. These can detect issues that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye, such as termite activity or the presence of water leaks. They’ll also look for other conditions that can attract pests, such as dense brush or tall grasses that could provide shelter or food to rodents and insects, or any standing water in or near the structure.
Once the inspector completes their walk-around, they’ll prepare a report that will outline any evidence of current or past pest infestation and damage. They’ll also provide recommendations for preventing infestations in the future, such as caulking cracks and crevices to control moisture; blocking exterior openings with sheet metal or grilles to keep out mice and rats; draining standing water; removing debris from the yard; and storing garbage in containers with tight lids.
If the property is to be purchased, the pest inspector will likely recommend termite treatment, if necessary, as well as a warranty to cover any resulting damage. They’ll also give the buyer advice on preventive measures, such as spraying for fleas and ticks, and vacuuming regularly to remove pet hair and dander from the home. Often, these services can be combined with other property maintenance tasks such as weeding, trimming trees, and mulching.
Interior Pest Control
Keeping indoor pests at bay is important for health and safety. Cockroaches, mice and rats carry bacteria and viruses that can cause gastroenteritis; moths and bees produce allergens that can trigger asthma attacks; mosquitoes are a major source of disease-causing mosquito-borne diseases including West Nile virus, malaria, dengue fever and encephalitis.
Integrated pest management (IPM) includes prevention, monitoring, trapping and extermination. Preventive measures include cleaning and sanitizing kitchens and bathrooms, keeping garbage in tightly closed containers, fixing leaky plumbing and making the home unappealing to pests by eliminating food, water and shelter sources.
Inspecting and identifying pests is the first step in IPM. Identifying where pests are entering the house or building helps our technicians decide what type of treatment is needed. In some cases, simply removing the food, water and shelter sources can solve a pest problem without any chemical treatment.
There are many different pest control treatments available. Some require inhabitants to leave the premises during treatment, while others do not. Generally, those that do require inhabitants to leave the building are those that use toxic pesticide fumigants. During this type of treatment, the building is covered with a plastic tent that fills up with toxic fumigant which permeates the entire structure and kills all bugs inside. After the treatment, a careful inspection is conducted to make sure that air quality is safe before inhabitants return.
More recently, there has been a great movement toward safer treatment options for routine pest maintenance. These newer treatment options don’t rely on harsh chemicals but instead use natural extracts to eliminate and repel pests. These newer treatments are often more effective than older, more toxic treatment options and are much safer for inhabitants.
When choosing a company to perform routine pest maintenance, be sure to ask about their experience and qualifications. Insist that they follow a procedure to evaluate the effectiveness of their services and provide a written control program for evaluation before you sign a contract. Ensure that your chosen company recycles unused pesticide containers. These can be taken to household hazardous waste collection days or can be placed in special trash receptacles designed for the disposal of these chemicals.
Exterior Pest Control
If pests are able to enter your home, they will have the opportunity to cause damage and create a health hazard for you and your family. Fortunately, there are a variety of preventative pest control measures available to keep bugs and rodents out of your home, such as spray or granular insecticides, traps, and bird-repellant spikes or gel.
Exterior treatments work best in conjunction with a comprehensive pest management program. These programs include pest inspections, interior treatment and preventative maintenance such as caulking and sealing cracks around doors and windows.
The first step in a perimeter pest control application is to perform a thorough exterior inspection. A trained technician seeks out pest hiding places such as under eaves, in the attic, under porches and behind landscaping rocks or mulch. All doors, windows, foundation and vents are inspected, and the appropriate treatment is applied.
When applying a barrier spray, a technician will follow the label instructions carefully. They will use a hand pump sprayer, a hose with a nozzle that is capable of producing a fine mist, and they will wear long pants, safety gloves and a mask to protect themselves from over-spray. They will spray a continuous band without skipping areas and will treat any soil, turf or mulch that adjoins the foundation of your house. They will also spray where dissimilar building materials meet (siding to brick, wood trim to window frames) and around doors, windows and utilities entering the structure.
After the barrier spray has been applied, you should remove children and pets from the area until it is dry. Insects need water to survive, so they are drawn to moist areas like soil and mulch. If these areas are raked, turned and sprayed periodically they will be less attractive to insects and rodents. Store pet food and garbage in tightly sealed containers. Keep garbage cans closed and removed regularly and do not stack reusable materials such as cardboard boxes or paper bags in the yard or on the deck.
The most common bugs and pests can be eliminated with a proper seasonal EPC (exterior perimeter) application. However, some pests need a more extensive treatment to eliminate them completely. These pests include bed bugs, cockroaches and termites, and are often not covered by seasonal EPC guarantees.
Termite Control
Termites are one of the most destructive wood-chewing pests that can be found in homes. If left untreated, they can cause extensive damage in a very short amount of time. For this reason, it is a good idea for homeowners to have their homes regularly inspected for the presence of these insects. Many companies, such as Orkin and Terminix, offer free termite inspections to homeowners. These inspections include a thorough examination of all common entry points, as well as a detailed written report. In addition to routine termite inspections, there are several steps that can be taken by homeowners to help prevent a termite infestation. For example, keeping trees and shrubs trimmed, storing firewood away from the house, and not piling mulch on or against the foundation of the home can make the structure less attractive to termites. Additionally, it is important to reduce moisture around the house by repairing leaky faucets and ensuring that gutters are properly functioning.
Besides preventing the spread of termites, proper treatment is also necessary to kill existing infestations. Two types of treatments are commonly used: soil treatment and baiting. Both require special training and equipment that homeowners typically do not have, including a 100-gallon tank, roller pump, hoses, treating tools, etc. Ideally, termite treatment should be performed at the time of construction to protect against infestations from the beginning.
A soil treatment forms a chemical barrier in the ground that prevents subterranean termites from entering and infesting buildings. To perform this, a trench is dug around the perimeter of the building and the soil is treated with liquid insecticide. In some cases, a physical barrier is built inside the trench using rock, sand, and mesh that can further enhance the effectiveness of the treatment.
Liquid termiticides have been around for decades and act as a long-lasting barrier in the soil that prevents subterranean termites and other wood-boring insects from infesting structures. They can also be used to treat existing termite infestations in and around buildings. Some liquid products are repellent to termites, while others like Termidor / Taurus (fipronil) and Premise (imidacloprid) are non-repellent and will kill any termites that tunnel into the treated areas.