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preventative pest control in Oregon

Does Preventative Pest Control Really Work In Oregon?

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It’s a sunny summer afternoon, and you just enjoyed a big lunch. Now you are savoring the warm rays of sunshine and slowly drift into napping bliss. A buzzing fly lands on your nose and jars you awake. The next 10 minutes you spend waiting and smacking with a flyswatter until you reclaim your place at the top of the food chain. Your restful nap was quickly destroyed. If only there was a better way…maybe there is! Let’s check out Preventative Pest Control In Oregon and when it works.

All About Preventative Pest Control In Oregon

So, let’s take a closer look at how that pesty fly problem can be resolved without interrupting your summer nap! I’ll provide answers to all the following questions:

  1. What makes preventative pest treatments work?
  2. Which pests can be eliminated with preventative pest control treatments?
  3. What can I do to ensure the treatment works?
  4. How often is a treatment required?
  5. What results can I expect after treatment?
  6. What if I already have a bad pest infestation?
  7. Is preventative pest control treatment safe for pets?
  8. Do I have to hire a pro?
What makes preventative pest treatments work?

Pest prevention can be extremely effective when top-grade products are applied according to label instructions around all entry points of structures. We often select products with a repellant factor when completing this type of treatment. The goal is to kill and deter insects attempting to pass over treated areas before they gain access to interior portions of the home.

Like many things in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to pesticide products. Generally, the less expensive products such as Bifenthrin are only effective at killing bugs for approximately four weeks. The more expensive, high-grade pesticide products like Deltamethrin remain lethal to many bugs for 2 full months. The very most expensive products (like Suspend Polyzone) kill spiders and many other bugs for a full three months.

Which pests can be eliminated with preventative pest control treatments?

The effectiveness of preventative pest control in Oregon is influenced by the products applied, the detail of the application, and the technical expertise of the applicator. Even a very skilled applicator expects short term results when low-grade products are applied quickly around a structure.

We suggest addressing conducive conditions in conjunction with detailed preventative treatments. Pest control can treat the following pests:

  • American Cockroach
  • Ants
  • Boxelder Beetles
  • Brown Banded Cockroaches
  • Carpenter Ants
  • Carpet Beetles
  • Centipedes
  • Crickets
  • Earwigs
  • Flies
  • Ladybugs
  • Mice
  • Millipedes
  • Oriental Cockroaches
  • Pantry Moths
  • Paper Wasps
  • Rats
  • Silverfish
  • Sowbugs
  • Spiders
  • Stinkbugs
What can I do to ensure the treatment works?

One of the best things you can do to help ensure a successful pest treatment is to make sure treated areas are allowed to dry undisturbed by people and pets after application. Keep in mind that the most effective preventative pest control treatments don’t just rely on pesticide products to kill pests. Instead, an expert technician and homeowner will work together to address conducive conditions that might be attracting pests to the structure.

A few examples of conducive conditions that homeowners can help rectify include the following:

  • Bushes or tree branches touching the siding or roof create an access bridge over treated surfaces.
  • Bird feeders positioned near the home can create a continuous food source for rodents.
  • Pet dishes left outside overnight can attract rodents.
  • Items stored against homes potentially allow rodents access to entry points without exposure to predators.
  • Overfilled trash receptacles can serve as a breeding ground for flies and attract rodents.
  • Tallgrass can lead to tick infestations.
  • Unused tires left out in the rain can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitos.
  • Firewood stacked on the ground and next to a home can attract termites.
How often is a treatment required?

One of the main goals of preventative pest control in Oregon is to maintain a strong pest killing barrier without creating a health risk to occupants of the home. Years ago DDT was among the primary pesticide products used to control pests. This product was highly effective for years, but since it did not break down rapidly, a significant environmental hazard and potential health risk for homeowners was created. Learn more about DDT here.

To protect people and the environment, today’s preventative extermination products break down more rapidly but need to be reapplied more frequently than in the past. After experimenting with monthly, bi-monthly (every other month) and quarterly treatment frequencies, we have found that applying high-quality products every other month results in the overall best customer experience.

What results can I expect after treatment?

The first time a home is thoroughly treated inside and outside with high-quality pest products, we generally see a massive decrease in pest activity. We apply the products where pests are most likely to contact treated surfaces. After this contact insects usually die within only a few minutes. If you see a live bug inside the home after treatment, then don’t panic. As the bug moves across treated surfaces it will soon be dead.

A few products, like those used on ants and rodents, are slower acting and may require several days before complete eradication can be expected. As professional exterminators, we use several classes of pest killing products and sometimes a follow-up treatment is necessary. Our treatment plans are worry-free because we warranty every treatment and return at no additional charge if a followup service is needed to obtain complete pest elimination.

What if I already have a bad pest infestation?

No problem! Before each treatment, we go through a detailed inspection checklist and ask lots of questions to determine the exact pest species and best methods of treatment. It’s not just a matter of spraying the home. Each service truck carries approximately 40 different high-grade products. This allows our super trained techs to custom design a treatment that will provide the best results at your specific home.

Based on the many unique factors observed (such as pets, children or fish ponds), our technician may choose to treat using dust, baits, granules, aerosols, foams or liquid spray treatments. For the best results, please take a few minutes before treatment to help our technician understand areas of infestation and any concerns you might have. Working together will help us quickly eliminate any existing pest infestation and fortify your home against future pest issues.

Is preventative pest control treatment safe for pets?

Pet Friendly Preventative Pest Control In OregonAbsolutely! Some types of pests such as reptiles and fish are extra sensitive to pest killing products. We specialize in pet-friendly treatment methods. Each of our technicians has received extra training and are pet-friendly treatment certified. We’ll work with you to ensure treatment processes and methods adhere to the highest standards of pet protection.

Just a few of the extra pet-friendly protective action steps we follow include:

  • Ensuring pets don’t contact treated areas until they dry completely.
  • Using extra heavy-duty stations to prevent pet access to baits.
  • Placing food and water dishes in a specially prepared pet-friendly bag during treatment.
  • Covering fish ponds or not treating where there is a risk of drift.
  • Placing ant baits in protective stations and out of reach of pets.
Do I have to hire a pro?

Nope…but it sure is worth it!!! Lot’s of people do their regular home treatments for pests. I even tried that for a while before starting Bug Zapper Pest Control. The trouble is homeowner grade products found in hardware stores just aren’t the same quality as the commercial products we use.

The other problem I ran into was life got busy and despite my best intentions, I struggled to maintain a consistent treatment schedule. There are a lot of pests in Oregon and every time I treated, I seemed to be playing catch up as I reacted to pest invasions. I never got around to treating often enough to achieve good quality pest prevention.

Maybe if the cost was higher it would be different, but for the few bucks a month it costs to get the great results we can provide, doing it yourself just isn’t worth it.

Locally owned for fast, exceptional service.

5 Star Pest Control Service available in Albany, Ashland, Coos Bay, Corvallis, Eugene, Grants Pass, McMinnville, Medford, Newberg, Portland, Roseburg, Salem, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Woodburn, Tigard, Tualatin and surrounding areas.

Rodent Prevention Tips For Oregon Homes

Rodent Prevention Tips

Rodents, ,

Who doesn’t love fall with brightly colored leaves, fuzzy scarves, hot apple cider, and football! But rain and cold weather also send rats and mice scurrying in search of a warm place to spend the winter. Here are a few must-have rodent prevention tips to keep rodents out of your home this winter.

Rodent Prevention Tips

We’re not certain weather is the only factor, but this year we’re already getting an unprecedented number of calls for rodent attacks on homes across Oregon. The average rodent removal service now costs nearly $700. In this case a few cents of prevention can save dollars of cure!
Here are three must have Pro Tips to prevent rodent intrusion at your home this winter:
  1. Watch out for pet food! This includes food for dogs, cats, chickens or any other pets where food is left outside overnight. We suggest bringing in all food at night to deter rodents.
  2. Trim back plants. Dense foliage touching roofs, siding or the foundation provides travel paths  where rodents can seek entry without exposure to predators.
  3. Seal gaps. Using durable materials like caulk and 1/4″ hardware cloth (not expanding foam in a can) screen and seal gaps around the foundation, siding and even on the roof where rodents can gain access. (Click Here To Learn More now)
Rodent Proofing Gaps
While these rodent prevention tips can help you get started, we’ve found that not every home can be completely sealed up to prevent rodents. And, sometimes all the construction required for rodent proofing a home just simply costs too much.

We Put Our Heads Together To Come Up With A Solution

Whenever we hit a big problem, the entire Bug Zapper Team puts their heads together to come up with a solution. Well, this time we knew we’d really hit on something BIG when someone suggested a simple rodent protection plan. Pest Control companies have never done this before. We tried it out, revised a few things and now it’s so good we can warranty it 100%.

How Does The New Rodent Protection Coverage Work?

All you have to do is call or text us at 541-636-0146 to add our 100% Warrantied Rodent Protection to your existing Silver or Gold Pest Service.  We’ll visit your home to provide a detailed rodent inspection and install 10 or more rodent prevention stations. Each station can knock out 20 rats each so times 10 that’s a big enough arsenal to take out a small army of rats and mice!

What Happens If I Get A Rodent After I Add Rodent Protection To My Current Plan?

Well, our job is to make sure that doesn’t happen, but just so you know, if a rodent were to make it by our prevention system, we’ll come catch little Houdini for FREE. That alone could save you hundreds of dollars and a big headache.

You Might Not Be Able To Get Our Rodent Protection Plan…

Making sure our protection system stays in top shape requires extra time and attention for our team. That’s why we really can’t offer this for all the homes we work at in the winter months. At least for this year, we’re having to limit the number of homes where we can provide full rodent protection. Basically we’re doing first come first serve for the first few homes that want to add Rodent Protection Coverage to one of our Insect Protection Plans. Also, existing rodent issues do not qualify for this plan (we have other ways of helping with those).

Our Best Rodent Prevention Tip

Add this exciting new Rodent Protection to your home’s pest plan so you don’t even have to worry about rodents this season!
  • No extra start up costs
  • No contract required
  • No plan upgrade required–just add rodent protection to your existing pest plan.

And THE BEST PART is since we are already providing service at your home, adding complete rodent protection to your current plan is inexpensive. Actually, you’re going to be surprised how little it costs. With our new system available and so inexpensive, there is absolutely no reason to take chances or try dealing with rodents on your own. Let us completely eliminate the risk of rodents at your home.

Call us now at 541-636-0146 for additional detail about this completely new rodent protection option available only from Bug Zapper Pest Control.

Locally owned for fast, exceptional service.

5 Star Pest Control Service available in Albany, Ashland, Coos Bay, Corvallis, Eugene, Grants Pass, McMinnville, Medford, Newberg, Roseburg, Salem, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Woodburn, Tigard, Tualatin and surrounding areas.

Is Pest Control Necessary in the Winter?

Pest Control, ,

You’ve had your home treated for pests all summer long and now that it’s getting cold outside, you just might be wondering if winter pest control service really makes sense and if you need pest control through the winter.  After all, the wasps seem to be gone, and you haven’t seen much in the way of stinkbugs or flies lately, so…

Winter Pests
I guess our work for the year is done!

We get it, who doesn’t want to save a few bucks right before the BIG holiday shopping spree?  December can bring with it many expenses, and pest control might not figure heavily into your plans.  You might even reason, “when was the last time I actually saw a bug anyway? Maybe I could just temporarily suspend my pest service until next spring.” We’d like to explain some of the major reasons pest control is necessary in the winter,  and why keeping your pest control service active in the winter is a good idea.

3 Reasons Winter Pest Control Service is Needed

  1. Better bug protection
  2. Early rodent detection & prevention
  3. You actually SAVE money

Allow us to explain these features in greater detail.

Better Bug Protection With Winter Pest Control Service

Many insect species do NOT go away in the winter.  Their numbers can diminish, but their nests and life cycles do not.  Spiders are still quite present during the winter.  The cold outside cuts through their numbers heavily, but it’s not cold in your house.  Any spiders who manage to make it into your structure, or are already present in, say, an attic or crawlspace, will do just fine through the winter and, like other pests, will eventually make their way into the more visible areas of your home. Spiders are not the only pests that remain through the colder months.  There are several wintry pests that manage just fine in through the frost and rain.

“Hi there!”

Along with roaches, fleas, and spiders, ants are another pest well-suited to surviving the colder season.  In fact, it’s a survival trait of our common sugar ants to seek out warmth and shelter when temperatures drop.  If winter truly killed off ants, we’d never see them again come spring!  As the frosts come and the rain becomes frigid, ants will actually seek out your home.  Next to rodent control, ant extermination is still our number one requested service through the winter.

“Summer, winter, day, night… it’s all the same to us, really.”

If you’re not seeing bugs lately, that’s because our current service is really working!  Every time we have serviced your home, we’ve actually built upon previous treatments to establish a virtually impenetrable barrier against insect intrusion around your home.  In order to better explain how this functions, let’s get into why we’ve chosen the particular products we use:

Unlike publicly obtainable pest control products you’d find in a big-box store, the commercial-grade products used by our technicians have a long lasting residual effect.  In fact, they are often referred to as “residuals” in the pest control industry.  These are pesticides that do not kill instantly like a “knock-down” pesticide, but slowly, the trade-off being that the treatment lasts for much, much longer.  We use products designed to slowly remove any potential of the pests to enter your home, and once the insect population is gone or distant from your structure, we switch to a long-lasting “repellant” to KEEP them away.  By refreshing that protective barrier every other month, a strong insect-killing base is established, which both repels and keeps your home pest-free.

Winter pests
To be fair, it IS our job.

Another trouble with ceasing pest control during the winter months is the weather, itself.  If your pest service is stopped for the winter, then winter rain and snow, any harsh weather in general, erode the barrier quicker than in summer months.  Soon, your home becomes vulnerable again, as the protective base wears thin or is removed completely. Since cold winter months push insects, such as spiders and ants, to seek shelter inside warm indoor environments like your home, this actually makes winter months a HIGH RISK time of year for certain pest infestations.  In short, a bad time to have no barrier.

Winter pests
We can’t show you the invisible barrier because it’s, well, invisible. So instead enjoy this concept art.

There’s more.  Other insects, such as queen wasps, overwinter  in old nests or in the ground, preparing to start a new colony in springtime. Winter preventative pest control treatments proactively work to limit overwintering insect reproductives, and they can drastically reduce insect populations in the springtime.  What we do through the winter keeps pests from being able to proliferate in the spring.

Early Rodent Detection & Prevention

Winter Pests
Our graphic guy really likes the concept art stuff.

We all know that rodents can quickly cause hundreds of dollars worth of damage to plumbing, electrical wiring, heating systems, and other components in your home. Chewed electrical wires and rodent-borne illnesses (like hantavirus) put homes, pets, and families at risk.

Our Silver, Gold and Platinum pest protection plans each include active detection and prevention devices designed to knock rodents down before they ever get inside your home. By maintaining these devices each service for active rodent prevention, our technicians are able to actively monitor problem areas, detect early signs of rodent activity and place control devices where they can protect your home. This low cost rodent prevention system drastically reduces the chances of you having to pay out big money to fix damage caused by rodents within your home.  A big part of our ongoing service is inspection, and stopping problems early, before they can evolve into serious issues.

You Actually Save Money

Winter Pests
Pictured: Money. Also a spider.

Whether it’s a vehicle, your furnace, or your pest control service, simple planned maintenance is easier and far less expensive than reacting to breakdowns. Here is a real example of how canceling your winter pest control service can actually cost you more in the long run:

Let’s say your home was last treated in September.  With the holidays looming, you decide in October to look at how much you might be able to save by postponing your pest control service until springtime. Since we come every other month you won’t get your normal $68 bill in November or $68 again in January. By March, however, the bugs and rodents are out in force again.  Spring is when most pests begin fast-tracking their reproductive advances and building their numbers.  If they’ve managed to overwinter in or near your home, they’ll start advancing right there, from ground zero.  This gives them free reign over your structure right from the get-go.  If you’ve cancelled service for the winter, the protective barrier is gone and we’ll have to start all over to rebuild a complete barrier.  The means a full interior and exterior treatment costing $199.  You saved 2x$68=$136 ,and now are spending $199 to start service again!  In the meantime, your home has been left at risk without the protection and warranty against ants, spiders, and other bugs provided by our ongoing pest protection plan.  In the end, you would have been much better off keeping your home protected through the winter.

The Point?

To summarize why winter pest control is important, on going service provides better residual protection, early rodent detection and prevention, and it actually SAVES you money. Letting us protect your home from pests year-round is the BEST pest control decision for your home!

Locally owned for fast, exceptional service.

5 Star Pest Control Service available in Albany, Ashland, Corvallis, Eugene, Grants Pass, McMinnville, Medford, Newberg, Roseburg, Salem, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Woodburn, Tigard, Tualatin and surrounding areas.

Call/Text 541-636-0146

For Information Today!

Rodent Proofing

Rodent Proofing Homes Made Easy

Rodents, , ,

Why Its Important To Rodent Proof Your Home

Do you feel like a dog chasing your tail every fall when rodents get into your home necessitating traps, troubles, baits and rodent repairs? Why not just have your home rodent proofed so mice and rats never come back. Rodent proofing homes is the guaranteed long term solution to eliminate rat and mice troubles forever.

Rodent proofing homes

Ideally, the best way to control mice and rats is to make it impossible for them to gain entry into structures. This requires great attention to detail since adult mice can pass through openings 3/8 in. wide.  It is good pest management–for rodents and insects–to rodent proof homes as much as possible.

Rodent proofing homes requires that every possible route of access to the building must be considered. Generally, all openings greater that 1/4 in. for mice and greater than 1/2 in. for rats should be sealed. A common field practice is to inspect the home to locate any gaps or holes large enough to insert a pencil.

Pencil Inspection

Common Areas Rodents Can Access Your Home

1. Utility Walls

Points where utility lines penetrate a wall  are likely access sites for rodents. The opening  around service conduits such as water, electricity, air conditioning, drain pipes and vents should all be properly sealed. Sheet metal, poly-resin coated stainless steel fill fabric, hardware cloth and mortar can be used to fill these and other types of openings. The use of expanding foam material that can be applied from cans is NOT considered effective material for rodent proofing homes.

2. Damaged Screens

Damaged screens in foundation vents and attic vents, misfitting crawl space access doors, and gaps under doors are some of the most common rodent entry points we find. Sometime considerable construction work is required to completely rodent-proof a structure.

3. Gaps in Roofs

Rats can easily reach second story roofs so siding, eaves and even the roof should be inspected for gaps allowing rodents access. Stink pipes on the roof allow easy access too.

Rodent Proofing Stink Pipes
Before
Rat and Mouse Proof Stink Pipe
After

If all this sounds difficult…it is. But the GOOD news is we do it all! Every Rodent-proofing job we complete comes with a 1 year 100% rodent proof warranty. And best of all rodent proofing is generally far less expensive that fixing rodent chewed water or electrical lines or even heating systems full of rodent holes.

Learn more about all-natural rodent solutions for your home.

Start Here

Tough Rodent ProofingBefore you fall off a ladder or get stuck under your house call Bug Zapper Pest Control for a FREE Rodent Home Inspection. Let our trained technicians accurately identify points of entry and help you find the best solution.

Locally owned for fast, exceptional service.

#1 Oregon Pest Control Service

Call or Text 541-636-0146 or contact us here to schedule today.

5 Star Pest Control Service available in Albany, Ashland, Corvallis, Eugene, Grants Pass, McMinnville, Medford, Newberg, Roseburg, Salem, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Woodburn, Tigard, Tualatin and surrounding areas.