After your home or office has been professionally inspected and treated for pests, there are a few things you can do to make sure the pests stay away! Taking a proactive approach will help lessen the need for future treatments.
Keep An Eye Out for Pests
After a pest control treatment, you may notice a couple of different things depending on the type of pest you are looking to eliminate and the severity of the problem. In some situations, a pest infestation will be dramatically reduced almost immediately. In other situations, pests will begin to slowly immerge from walls or other hiding spaces as they continuously die over the next 2-6 weeks. Our pest control technicians will be sure to explain exactly what to expect at the end of their visit. Over time, fewer and fewer pests will find your home comfortable, but that doesn’t mean you should relax. Keep a sharp eye out for any signs that pests have returned and please reach out with any follow-up questions or concerns.
In general, here are a few tips for what to do after a pest control visit:
Discard Any Food Left Out
If you accidentally left any food out during your pest control visit, double-check it was not contaminated during the cleaning process. It’s possible dust or other bacteria was kicked up while our technicians inspected hard-to-reach areas.
Don’t Clean Right Away
Tactical’s pest control experts will not leave behind a mess. After a visit, there should be no need to immediately sweep and mop treatment areas. Sweeping, dusting, or vacuuming immediately after a visit is counterproductive to the pest control process as it will reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. Pest control treatments are customized based on your needs. At the end of the treatment, our experts will walk you through any specifics on when you can clean again and if there are any areas you should not wash. In general, avoid any deep cleaning for a few days after our visit.
Check For Any Leaks
Once an infestation dies down after treatment, it’s important to look for any leaking taps or drainage pipes in the house. If you find any, get them fixed as soon as possible! Water coming from leaks is a great food source for most pests and may lead to a re-infestation.
Store Any Loose Paper
Any type of paper can make a great food source for most pests. Like checking for any leaks, properly storing any loose paper lying around your house will help eliminate food sources for pests. Especially watch out for any wet paper and brown bags, like the ones used to carry groceries. Do not store old newspapers and magazines in or near the kitchen.
Be Careful and Protect Yourself
Everyone has a different sensitivity level when it comes to pest control chemicals. There are a few different kinds we use and this will be something discussed during your initial consultation. Figuring out the right combination of products to use for both the pests and your home environment is our specialty. If you have not received pest control treatments before and don’t know how sensitive you are, just be careful. One of the most effective ways to avoid issues is to wear a pair of disposable gloves when you handle sprayed surfaces for the first time.
For the most effective and longest-lasting treatment, we encourage our customers to avoid any disturbance of the treated areas. You can still clean, vacuum, or even hose down certain outside areas of your property, but just avoid mopping right up to the edges of internal walls for up to a week. Since every pest control treatment plan is different, the best advice we have is to follow the instructions provided to you by our technicians. As always, if you have any questions or concerns after your visit has been completed, please reach out and let us know!
