Posts Tagged ‘heat’

Sometimes those termites drive you daffy…

Every once in awhile you get that termite job that is either unique or somehow just different. No matter what you do, the termites continue to do some damage in a home.

Scenario

House is about 20 years old, no record exists for a pretreatment with the state – in Arizona (Office of Pest Management)we are required by law to report all termites treatments. I actually wrote a blog “Termite Sleuth on the Job” same house – continued issue but in a different area.

Treated entire house with Termidor, down drilled all attached slabs and garage and have drilled various areas within the home on the wooden floors. I’m almost convinced that no pretreatment was ever done. No further issues along the exterior of the home, only on the interior and once we drill the area we notice activity later. Now I did mention Termidor, but if it isn’t where they are moving through it – it won’t work. So without taking the floor up I decided to use some bait stations – FirstLine™ by FMC. I used another product in Florida and have learned a few things on bait systems after some time in Arizona. I place the units in areas where there is some shade or something with a bigger footprint to help hold cooler temperatures and maybe water.

Bed Bug video (recent job)

It’s winter – who’s knockin on your door?

Even in Arizona it gets cold or at the very least cooler, so making sure your home is bundled up tight to prevent pests from getting in  is important. So what have you done?  One of the biggest costs associated with a home is the loss of heat or cool air depending on the time of season. It is also a entry point for pests like ladybugs that try to overwinter in homes and sheds. Installing new windows, sealing and crack and crevices or installing door sweeps are excellents ways of saving money and keeping those pests out.

When was the last time you checked to make sure mice or rats weren’t getting in, they don’t like cold weather just as much as we don’t. So checking your home for holes or opening that rodents and birds can get into. There are many new devices available to seal holes and even garage door thresholds.

Storm shield is designed to keep out rain and bugs and is more durable than door-mounted weather-stripping, our floor mounted, and precision-engineered vinyl threshold provides a tight fitting, long lasting barrier between your garage door bottom and the floor. The weight of the door presses down on it to keep out most rain, rodents, leaves and insects.

It really works, we have tested it…

Any ideas on where Bed Bugs hang out the most?

University of Kentucky did some extensive work to determine the following information!

I think most people immediately think Bed Bugs = beds but that’s not always the case. As you can see from the work that was done that were are many other places where these little biters can be hanging out.

“Sleep Tight, Don’t let those Bed Bugs bite.”

200x’s the sniffer – Bed Bug Dogs

I’m all about efficiency but the Bed Bug dogs got it going on. I had this school that thought they might have an issue with Bed Bugs and I thought WOW just how many places could a Bed Bug hide. Well I can now tell you – thousands maybe tens of thousands. From carpet tack strips to electrical outlets, from back packs and wall paintings to – well you get the picture right – anyplace where there is a crack or crevice. It only takes a small space ——————————– maybe that line right there to hide something like a Bed Bug. That dog Olivia was amazing, she went around the room with her handler and sniffed and sniffed, this would have taken me hours and I might have missed something.

Come on look at that face – only a Bed Bug should be scared!