Most people undo half their pest treatment with a mop
A treatment is a band of product on the surfaces pests walk across. Wipe the band off and you have paid for nothing.
Here is exactly where the product goes, the fifteen minutes of prep that decides how well it works, and why you will see more bugs afterwards rather than fewer.
WHERE THE TREATMENT GOES
Three zones. The third is the one you never see and the one that lasts longest.
Break that band anywhere, a locked side gate or a mopped skirting, and pests walk straight through the gap.
Inside. Skirting boards, window and door frames, cupboard voids and the wet areas.
Outside. Full perimeter, eaves, window frames, pathways, garden edges and the entry points.
The voids. Insecticidal dust into the roof void and subfloor. Most of the harbourage, and the part that keeps working longest.
FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE WE KNOCK
You do not need to empty the house. You need to give us the edges.
Furniture off the walls, especially in rooms where you have seen activity. We treat the skirtings and corners, so the edges are all we need.
Clear the kitchen and bathroom benches, and empty the cupboard under the sink.
Anything open into a container or the fridge. Fruit off the bench.
Pets and bowls out of the rooms we are treating until the surfaces are dry.
Damp towel over the fish tank, air pump off. Tell us beforehand about tanks, aviaries or reptiles.
Unlock the side gates. A locked gate or a dog in the yard means no zone 2, which is most of the treatment.
Do not clean the webs down first. People do it thinking they are helping. Webbing shows us exactly where the harbourage is, and we knock it down as part of the job anyway. Do run the vacuum through, though. It lifts eggs and debris and gives the product a cleaner surface to sit on.
WHY YOU WILL SEE MORE BUGS, NOT FEWER
This catches almost everyone, and it is the call we get most in January.
For a fortnight the treatment drives pests out of the harbourage they were hiding in, into the open, across treated surfaces. More sightings, fewer survivors. It settles down. If it has not settled after three to four weeks, that is when to ring us.
AFTER WE LEAVE
Do not mop the skirtings. Wiping the treated band takes the product straight off the surface. Clean the middle of the floor as normal and keep the mop off the edges. Same goes for hosing or pressure washing around the outside of the house.
Stay off treated surfaces until they are dry, usually a couple of hours. Open the windows for a while. Leave the dead ones a few days if you can face it, other insects feed on them and pick up the product.
WHEN IT IS NOT A GENERAL PEST JOB AT ALL
German cockroaches. Small, light brown, in the kitchen at night, living permanently inside the cabinetry and appliances. Gel baiting and a follow up visit. A surface spray scatters them deeper into the house.
Rodents, fleas and termites. All separate programs with their own methods. Tell us what you are actually seeing when you ring and we will quote the right job.
Licensed and insured. Dan holds PMT 011689823 and QBCC 15550975.
Locally owned and family run, out of Upper Coomera, servicing the Gold Coast and Logan.
You always get an owner. No call centre and no ticket numbers. Ring Dan or Amy.
BOOK A GENERAL PEST TREATMENT
Once a year suits most homes, ideally heading into spring rather than the middle of summer. The right frequency depends on where you live, what’s around your home and how comfortable you are with the occasional bug. We’ll help you work out what suits your place. Six month free service period on the pests we treat.
We service Coomera, Upper Coomera, Ormeau, Pimpama, Oxenford, Helensvale, Hope Island, Maudsland, Pacific Pines and many more suburbs across the Gold Coast and Logan.
Call 0431 380 591 or request a quote.
