Are you noticing some unwelcome guests in your home? Perhaps you’ve seen a few spiders, ants, or baby cockroaches milling around your residence, or had an ant infestation in your kitchen. It might be time to consider scheduling a meeting with a pest control technician. But what exactly should you expect from this meeting?
Remember, this technician will be working both outside and inside your home several times throughout the year, so this meeting is an important one. As a homeowner, you want to feel safe and comfortable around this individual, and well informed as to what services they can and will provide for you.
8 Things to Expect from Your First Pest Control Visit
Here are some ideas of what to expect from your visit.
1. Pre Service Requirements
In most cases, your pest control company of choice will inform you of any pre service requirements they may have before they arrive. Your specialist will need to access specific areas of your home, and will want to be sure they will have unobstructed access to these areas. Some examples would be your garage, entry points, attic, kitchen and outdoor spaces.
They may also ask that you remove any food items that are sitting out, as well as used dishes. If you have pets, be sure to ask if your specialist is comfortable with animals, or if they would prefer that you keep them safely tucked away in an area of your home that your technician will not need to access.
Although it may not be a requirement, it’s also always a good idea to clean your home before any pest control visit. This will allow your specialist to more easily identify signs of infestation in your home. As you clean, be sure to look out for any dead pests, bite and chew marks, feces, or signs of any infestation you may not have been previously aware of.
2. Attempt to trap the insect you’re having problems with
This is not necessary, and not always possible. But, if you can safely trap an example of the pest you’ve had problems with in your home, attempt to do so. If you can trap one in a plastic container, keep this in your freezer until your specialist arrives. This can be helpful for several reasons.
As we the homeowner are not pest control experts ourselves, it may be easy to mistake one insect for another. For example, if you are struggling with an ant or termite problem, knowing exactly which subset of ant or termite you are dealing with may determine varying courses of treatment.
3. A scheduled meeting with a well dressed professional
It is important to remember that your local pest control specialist will be inspecting and working both inside and outside your home, so this initial introduction is important. You should expect to meet with a well spoken, knowledgeable, and well kept professional.
This individual should be dressed in uniform, and introduce themselves by name. Make sure you feel comfortable working with your specialist, and ask any questions or voice concerns during this initial meeting. Inform them of the specific problems or concerns you’ve had, if any. Point out specific areas that have been problematic, and be clear about exactly what you’ve been struggling with.
As they work through their initial inspection, don’t hesitate to continue to ask questions about their process and their findings.
4. A Full Internal Inspection
After you’ve explained to your specialist any problems you’ve had, he or she will need to examine these areas in your home, as well as other areas that could likely be the source of infestation. Common problem areas that will require inspection are areas like your drain and sink in your kitchen, or any plumbing in your home.
Your specialist will also likely take into consideration the level of moisture and humidity in your home, as these conditions may lend to a pest control problem.
5. An Entry Point Inspection
After looking at these specific problem areas in your home, your pest control specialist will then conduct an entry point inspection. This means they’ll be looking at areas where pests most commonly enter your home, like doorways, windows, pipes, crawl spaces, and attics. They will also check for cracks and holes, or any other areas in your home where pests may find entry.
6. Exterior and Yard Examination
Once your specialist has inspected the interior of your home, he will move outside to look for potential problem areas with the exterior of your home. This may mean examining your yard, areas directly surrounding your house, and checking for any areas of high moisture that may pose a problem in the future.
7. Review and Report
Now that your specialist has thoroughly examined your property, he or she may need to take some time to analyze their findings, and put them into a well organized, easy to read format for you.
They may spend some time in their vehicle or sitting inside your home gathering and assessing this information, so allow some time for this process when planning your visit.
8. Detailed Discussion
Once the report is prepared, your specialist should take the time to explain their findings. They will outline their analysis of the problems you posed, any new findings they discovered, and begin to plan a course of action with you.
This is the time to ask any and all questions you have about their analysis, so make sure you feel comfortable asking them to explain anything that may be unclear to you in detail.
Gecko Green’s Pest Control Procedures
Here at Gecko Green, we provide unparalleled customer service for our pest control clients. When scheduling your first pest control meeting with Gecko, you can expect to meet with a licensed, road tested, and DOT certified technician. We take the time and care to background check and develop meaningful relationships with our technicians, so that we feel assured they will make our homeowners feel safe and comfortable.
During your first free initial consultation our technicians will provide a thorough inspection of your home, address the issues you’ve seen, and also create their own analysis of potential problems you may be unaware of.
They may be able to offer assistance in fixing broken screens, caulking, or weather stripping to vulnerable areas of your home, as well as recommend other similar services and fixes you may need to best protect your home from pests.
In the interior of your home, they will thoroughly inspect areas like your garage, kitchen, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room and pantry. They may identify existing problems in these areas, or be able to provide you with some tips for prevention. They will employ the use of either general or specific insecticides to problem areas, as well as lay down discrete bait and trap systems to eradicate any existing pest problems you’re facing.
After their interior inspection is complete, they will move to the exterior of your home for inspection. At this time your technician will inspect gutters, points of entry, AC hoses, and lines into your house. They may recommend trimming low hanging limbs away from your home, or recommend exclusion service to repair an entry point for rodents that may be causing damage. They will put copper mesh into weep holes to help block pests from accessing your home.
At Gecko Green, we understand that prevention is the best form of treatment when it comes to pest control, and entry point closure will ensure that the treatments we do apply inside your home will be fully effective. Our tri-annual service with a licensed technician will help ensure that you maintain a happy, healthy, and pest free home year round. If you’re interested in scheduling a free pest control consultation, give Gecko Green a call today!
