Why do you see pest activity inside your home?

No matter your frequency of service, indoor activity is a direct result of structural vulnerabilities, small cracks and crevices, openings around pipes from outside and within the home, open doorways and windows, poor weather-stripping on doors that lead outside and on garage doors, eaves, etc. There are numerous ways pests can enter a structure. When your home struggles with conducive conditions, the survivability of pest populations increases.

If there are conditions that attract pests and make it easier for them to  thrive, the percentage we control, and therefore, the percentage we cannot control, represents a higher number. Conducive conditions are things like too much leaf debris near the foundation, standing water in buckets, bowls, tires, or toys, using white lights outside instead of amber or yellow bulbs, clogged gutters, firewood too close to the home, clutter near the foundation, overhanging branches, vegetation growing too close or onto the home, moisture issues inside or outside the home, trash bins too close to the home, etc. 

Residual pest products contain active ingredients that remain present as the water in the solution evaporates. When a pest crosses the area, they will be affected by the product. However, these products are designed to provide lasting control and manage the ability of pests to reproduce and thrive indoors and at the perimeter of the home, not to guarantee that you will see no pests at all. Standard treatment  prevents infestations and keeps activity to a manageable amount. However, with openings and entryways providing access and conducive conditions attracting pests or providing a pathway to the home, pests are still able to cross the product and be seen inside before they drop dead.

Routine pest control reduces populations over time by regulating reproductive maturity in young insects, and killing off adult insects. The time of year with the most variety in activity is Spring, as we experience warmer weather following months of consistently cool temperatures, and then again as the season shifts from summer into the cooler temperatures of fall. April through the end of May and October through November have the widest variety of activity as pests mobilize.  Through each season, we learn the needs of the property and control becomes more and more an act of prevention, assuming you have addressed the conducive conditions or had a service provided to remove or reduce those conditions.

Active ingredients in standard, routine pest control products last from 30-75 days outdoors. Outside the home, products are broken down by powerful UV rays. The sun will break a product down faster than the heaviest of rainstorms. A provider may be using products with strong photo-stability, and still, the active ingredients will be broken down by day 75 with temperatures above 90 degrees. Your only protection at that point, is inside. Pests won’t contact the treatment until they are inside the home with you.

To maintain control with re-application before active ingredients have broken down outdoors, we always recommend Every Other Month pest control. This is a great option that keeps outdoor pests under control without the high annual cost of Monthly service. Every Other Month service also keeps scheduling convenient by allowing for scientifically-sound, effective, outdoor perimeter extension standard treatments with inside treated as planned or upon request.