5 Tips To Find The Best Pest Control Near Me

If you suspect you have a pest issue that requires professional treatment, who do you contact? The sunshine state, with its pristine beaches, warm temps, and all manner of recreational opportunities, also comes with a wide variety of pests that love the sun and moderate temps that South Florida is famous for, such as termites, mosquitoes, roaches, bed bugs, rodents, ants, bees, spiders, and others.

As a home or business owner, you want to keep your structures pest-free and protected from these invaders. So, ideally, before pests cause damage and/or pose health threats to your property, loved ones, colleagues, and/or clients, proactive home and business owners should consider hiring a professional pest control company to treat their homes to prevent pests from entering and wreaking havoc on their lives.

This month, we explore 5 tips to find the best control companies in your area.

1. Research

One good way to start looking for a reputable pest control company is by Googling, “the best pest control company near me.” From the list of “the best pest control company near me,” you can get information about the location, hours of operation, services, and other pertinent information about local pest control companies. When looking for the best pest control company near you, the qualifications to look for in a pest control company include:

• Licensing by the FDACS
• Carrying the required insurance coverage
• Employing a full-time Florida-certified operator in charge of the pest control operations for every location of a pest control company

Additionally, certified operators in charge of pest control operations must have achieved certification in these areas: General Household Pest and Rodent Control, Termite and Other Wood-Destroying Organisms Control, Lawn and Ornamental Pest Control, and Fumigation.

You can also go to Angi or Yelp sites to find reviews of pest control companies you are interested in contacting. Today, online customer reviews are valuable in choosing everything from a place to visit restaurants you’d like to try, to choosing a pest control company. Shoppers find customer reviews helpful in that the reviewer, ideally, represents a neutral party, with no private interest in the business they are reviewing. You can also get an idea from consumer reviews about how businesses relate to their reviewers. While it might seem counterproductive to include negative reviews, companies who respond to negative reviews, as soon as possible, resolve issues and show consumers that they care about them. When you research “the best pest control companies near me,” home and business owners can check out price ranges and services offered from nationwide companies to local companies, such as Petri Pest Control Services, Inc. Additionally, ask people you know and trust about their experiences with pest control companies they have used. To narrow your search, look for pest control companies that offer free pest inspections.

2. Free Pest Inspections

Generally, reputable pest control operators offer free pest inspections, but some may charge a fee that is refundable when you commit to working with them. In the event you have a current pest issue, certified technicians will inspect places where pest activity is likely to occur, to find the source of your current pest issue. These places include:

• Under kitchen appliances
• In water-prone areas
• In basements and attics

Technicians may look for indications of pest-specific activity, including in the case of:

• Rodents—looking for chewed wiring, gnawed wood, rub marks on walls, and the presence of pathways
• Roaches—pulling appliances away from walls in your kitchen, checking for dark stains in drawers
• Termites—tapping surfaces to listen for hollow sounds, looking for blistered or warped walls, floors, and ceilings, and checking bathroom fixtures to determine loosening from walls. Checking for mud tubes on the outside of your home or business

Depending on the type and extent of your pest issue, most reputable pest control companies will devise a customized plan to treat your home or business.

3. Treatments

Most trusted pest control companies will work with you to provide the pest control that fits your budget and lifestyle. When researching pest control companies, you can inquire what type of treatments they use, whether it involves broad spectrum sprays or a more integrated pest management (IPM) approach that uses common sense methods, along with pin-pointed treatments that are geared for pests present in your home or business at the time of treatment. IPM approaches also use animal and kid-friendly gels, baits, and non-repellent materials to protect your home or business from future infestations. Top pest control companies will break down your treatment, step by step and be willing to answer any questions that you have, before, during, and after treatments. Expert pest control companies guarantee your satisfaction and are willing to return to re-treat if pests reappear. But do you need a professional pest control operator?

4. Professional Pest Control or DIY solutions

While it may be tempting to consult your favorite big box home improvement location to resolve your pest issues, usually, you will spend more money and get fewer results than you will if you just contact a reputable pest control operator in South Florida, such as Petri Pest Control Services, Inc. Due to concerns about the safety of chemicals used to treat pest infestations, most over-the-counter products don’t contain the intensity and quality of the industrial products, available to certified pest control technicians.

Also, when it comes to rodents, trained technicians know where to strategically place baits and traps, so that rodents don’t die in hard-to-reach places, such as inside wall voids that can prove expensive to retrieve. Spending money on tadpoles, mosquito fish, and foggers can get expensive when trying to eliminate mosquitoes from your yard yourself, when more effective solutions are available from reputable pest control companies, such as innovative and eco-friendly In2Care Mosquito Stations. Professional pest control is required to tackle these pests, including:

• Termites
• Cockroaches
• Rodents
• Bedbugs
• Carpenter ants
• Beehive removal

5. Pest Prevention

Finding the best pest control company near you before you need one is the smartest way to approach pest control. Petri Pest Control Services’ signature Protect-A-Guard program prevents pests from entering your home or business. Treating pests on the perimeter of your property where pest infestations are most likely to originate is more effective and more convenient than traditional interior treatments. As long as pest professionals can access your backyard or the perimeter of your property, you don’t need to be at home when our certified and experienced techs perform bi-monthly or quarterly treatments. For termite protection, most professional pest control companies offer a separate program that guarantees your satisfaction, such as Sentricon®’s Colony Elimination System Baiting Stations for subterranean termites and no-tent liquid treatments for dry-wood termites.

Home and business owners can get into the habit of diligently cleaning and practicing common sense pest prevention tactics, beginning with excluding pests from entering their home by sealing or caulking all cracks, holes, and crevices in your home or building’s foundation and around windows and doorways. Keeping your property clutter-free, your lawn cut short and branches trimmed away from your house will help deter pests from entering your property. Inside your home or business, thoroughly cleaning your home regularly, wiping down all dining and snacking areas after every use, and storing all dried goods and open food containers in the fridge or hard plastic, metal, or glass containers with tight-fitting lids will also help deter pests.

Finding the best pest control company near you in Broward and Palm Beach Counties can be as simple as contacting Petri Pest Control Services, Inc., serving South Florida residents and businesses since 1956, from our locations in Boynton Beach and Pompano Beach.