How Often Is Pest Control Really Needed?

Depending on the extent of the infestation, you might need a pest control company to visit your property several times a month – if you hire an ordinary exterminator who uses chemicals and traps to kill animals. Still, you have to wonder whether or not there’s an alternative to lengthy pest control contracts. Isn’t it possible to minimize the number of visits someone has to make? We’ll outline the basics in this post to show you how often you need pest control services.

As a homeowner, it’s your duty to keep your property beautiful and look as fantastic as when you moved in. If it’s an older property, you may be inheriting a high infestation risk, yet newer homes can have pest problems too. It all depends on many factors, so let’s dive in to show how a reputable home protection franchise plays the trade. 

Doesn’t every home need constant home protection services?

The bottom line is that animals and bugs will eventually get into a home because no property is perfectly sealed. Even if you do everything right, all it takes is one small hole for a rodent to find a warm place to nest. You could have a hidden opening in your roof’s eaves that you can’t see unless you look carefully. That’s just one example we’ve seen in the field.

So, how often should you need pest control in general? The honest answer is that you don’t need a dozen visits per year when the problem can be fixed in one trip. If you have a pesky momma raccoon that keeps breaking into your attic like a little furry Houdini, there’s obviously some way the animal is penetrating the property. The issue is that an ordinary exterminator might only lay traps, poison, or use other inhumane (and ineffective) methods, which require several visits to “check progress.”

The flip side is that your property’s environment and location might demand an annual inspection before winter, but that doesn’t mean a pest controller needs to come out to the home twice a month. You can get by nicely with an on-call service you don’t have to use every month. On the other hand, many of our customers at Skedaddle want us to come out to inspect their homes a few times a year to stay ahead of the problem before the busy season arrives.

Why would a pest problem need multiple visits?

The exception is when you have a severe insect infestation because it will require an all-hands-on-deck approach. Homes in moist environments – or areas prone to flooding – have a higher risk of water damage. When that happens, wet dry walls and soaked wooden frames practically send a siren call to bugs, so what does a normal exterminator do? Will they have the courage and honesty to recommend a full-scale replacement of a wall to clean out the infestation properly? It’s not exactly a typical scenario, but it’s a prime example of when you need honest work.

You have to determine where pests are getting their food source to get rid of them the right way. Simply killing them, again and again, doesn’t deal with the issue. It lines the pockets of ordinary exterminators because they can charge per visit instead.

The good news is that you can find many honest and forthright exterminators who will give you a straightforward assessment of the problem. The issue is that the methods they rely upon require several visits at a minimum. If a pest controller uses traps, they must return to the property regularly to check on the traps or reapply poisons.

Is it possible to remove pests in one trip?

The short answer is that it is possible to remove pests in one trip and do it humanely as well. The catch is that it requires a holistic approach that identifies how pests are entering the property, cleans up the mess they leave behind, and protects the property from future incursions. But does a standard exterminator possess this kind of knowledge? Usually, they don’t unless they’re in the humane wildlife control business because it’s an entirely different approach.

You don’t have to kill raccoons and mice to keep them away. You have to pinpoint why they chose your home in the first place, and it’s most likely that they’re warm and well fed. Efficiency pest control needs to account for all factors that lead to an infestation before it’s too late for an easy fix. If all else fails, Skedaddle is ready to help minimize the inconvenience for homeowners.

How does Skedaddle offer different services?

Having said that, Skedaddle offers a different way: humane wildlife removal. And our methods work well too! If we can get rid of pests in a single trip, we’ll tell you as much and accurately assess what caused the problem and what we’ve done to prevent it. Over the years, we’ve refined our process, added technology, and simply paid attention to what people want from a pest control professional.

We begin with a thorough property inspection, clean out the infested areas, go the extra mile, and recommend ways to seal the property better. After all, you don’t have to kill pests to be successful.

Check out our franchise website for more information about a Skedaddle pest control franchise for sale.