exterminators

stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
So what is the deal with exterminators, my wife is flipping out because there are little roaches running around the kitchen, and sugar ants. I've never actually done any exterminating or hired an exterminator. How do I pick one that is good at killing roaches?
I'm tankless right now. So that isn't an issue.
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
I grew up in Austin Texas and I remember always having roaches in our house growing up. My parents would buy those fogger things and they would kill a lot of them, but they would always come back. They finally broke down and hired an exterminator and the roaches never came back after that. A good exterminator will not only find all of their hiding spots in the home, but also how they get in the house too. They need to spend much of their time spraying outside as well as fogging the ********. I would think that any exterminator that has a few years experience should be able to spot these areas.
 
bionicarm

bionicarm

Active Member
I've always used the foggers, and it gets rid of them for a while, but roaches are just a common pest in South Texas. Professional exterminators will look around your exterior for places roaches can enter and plug them up. You can try it, but it may be an effort in futility.
As far as the 'sugar ants'? Good luck with those. You probably have the same one's I have. They're actually Pharaoh ants, and are VERY difficult to get rid of. You actually don't want to try and use foggers or other ant baits with these ants. They end up splitting off into multiple colonies, and travel through your house on the electrical lines. They also hang around the water faucets. I've talked to professional exterminators about them, and they tell me the best way to fight them is using a Boric Acid solution with a protein-based food like peanut butter. Place the solution somewhere in their trail.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3262325
I've always used the foggers, and it gets rid of them for a while, but roaches are just a common pest in South Texas. Professional exterminators will look around your exterior for places roaches can enter and plug them up. You can try it, but it may be an effort in futility.
As far as the 'sugar ants'? Good luck with those. You probably have the same one's I have. They're actually Pharaoh ants, and are VERY difficult to get rid of. You actually don't want to try and use foggers or other ant baits with these ants. They end up splitting off into multiple colonies, and travel through your house on the electrical lines. They also hang around the water faucets. I've talked to professional exterminators about them, and they tell me the best way to fight them is using a Boric Acid solution with a protein-based food like peanut butter. Place the solution somewhere in their trail.
We did that, and we'll just see a random straggler now, with the sugar ants. The roaches live inside, they're the little ones not the cool 2 inch long ones... When we were little my dad would spray himself, (he even looked kind of like dale) I'm thinking about just doing that.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
If your in an apartment you will never get rid of the roaches. You can knock them down but they will keep coming back unless all your neighbors get rid of them too.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
When I first moved to Corpus I remember calling the front office saying I found a Silverside. She's was like "Honey, you need to get use to the bugs. We have Roaches here that you can put a saddle on". Say wah?
I've never had sugar ants there. Step in way too many fire ant hills outside, but never sugar ants.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3262325
I've always used the foggers, and it gets rid of them for a while, but roaches are just a common pest in South Texas. Professional exterminators will look around your exterior for places roaches can enter and plug them up. You can try it, but it may be an effort in futility.
As far as the 'sugar ants'? Good luck with those. You probably have the same one's I have. They're actually Pharaoh ants, and are VERY difficult to get rid of. You actually don't want to try and use foggers or other ant baits with these ants. They end up splitting off into multiple colonies, and travel through your house on the electrical lines. They also hang around the water faucets. I've talked to professional exterminators about them, and they tell me the best way to fight them is using a Boric Acid solution with a protein-based food like peanut butter. Place the solution somewhere in their trail.
Boric acid can be very effective against roaches and ants. The crystals pack into the spiracles as the animals travel through the powder, and eventually they suffocate. Boric acid is very safe for all other animals since it isn't toxic, it is only the mechanical properties and the unique respiratory system of insects that makes it deadly to most of them.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Originally Posted by GeriDoc
http:///forum/post/3262374
Boric acid can be very effective against roaches and ants. The crystals pack into the spiracles as the animals travel through the powder, and eventually they suffocate. Boric acid is very safe for all other animals since it isn't toxic, it is only the mechanical properties and the unique respiratory system of insects that makes it deadly to most of them.
+1
20 Mule Team Borax for the win!
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/20_Mule_...ax_p/d1002.htm
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3262372
When I first moved to Corpus I remember calling the front office saying I found a Silverside. She's was like "Honey, you need to get use to the bugs. We have Roaches here that you can put a saddle on". Say wah?
I've never had sugar ants there. Step in way too many fire ant hills outside, but never sugar ants.
lol, that is basically what I've been telling my wife. but that is just because I'm a lazy bum...
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Well.. This is actually my profession (unfortunately)...
It'll probably be up to your wallet to decide on what kind of treatment you'll be getting. If you've got no pets or anything then I would suggest having them put down some spray for an instant kill, along with some gel or bait for a over-time kill.
There are a lot of 'do-it-yourself' pest control places here and one of the best products (for roaches) can be purchased by homeowners-Maxforce roach bait gel.
The stuff smells awful, but you'll only notice the smell if you're close to it! I think that a box of 4 tubes costs around 20 bucks here in FL. 2 tubes will certainly do your entire house for sure. You'd want to put small little 'dots' of the gel behind cabinet doors, under/around edgings etc. Of course you'll also want to keep things as clean as possible and avoid leaving food out.
As far as the ants...Ants are one of the harder insects to control...again, maxforce makes an ant gel and I've used it at my house personally and controlled ants. With ants it's going to be helpful to find out where their nest is... find the nest and you'll be able to get rid of the problem quicker.
A good service will offer you a 'right-now' treatment and 'over-time' treatment to fully control the problem. I would recommend having them return in 14-21 days to repeat treatment (this gets rid of newly hatched bugs). I would come do it for you but I'm a couple days drive away ;)
Good luck.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3262416
Well.. This is actually my profession (unfortunately)...
It'll probably be up to your wallet to decide on what kind of treatment you'll be getting. If you've got no pets or anything then I would suggest having them put down some spray for an instant kill, along with some gel or bait for a over-time kill.
There are a lot of 'do-it-yourself' pest control places here and one of the best products (for roaches) can be purchased by homeowners-Maxforce roach bait gel.
The stuff smells awful, but you'll only notice the smell if you're close to it! I think that a box of 4 tubes costs around 20 bucks here in FL. 2 tubes will certainly do your entire house for sure. You'd want to put small little 'dots' of the gel behind cabinet doors, under/around edgings etc. Of course you'll also want to keep things as clean as possible and avoid leaving food out.
As far as the ants...Ants are one of the harder insects to control...again, maxforce makes an ant gel and I've used it at my house personally and controlled ants. With ants it's going to be helpful to find out where their nest is... find the nest and you'll be able to get rid of the problem quicker.
A good service will offer you a 'right-now' treatment and 'over-time' treatment to fully control the problem. I would recommend having them return in 14-21 days to repeat treatment (this gets rid of newly hatched bugs). I would come do it for you but I'm a couple days drive away ;)
Good luck.
well living in florida you'll never be out of a job killing bugs...
Intersting, I might try to DIY approach first, 20 bucks sounds better than paying for a couple of visits. We actually have no carpet in the house which is great, no fleas! But I've gone the flea thing many times in other houses. bleh...
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Yeah, carpet is a haven for fleas! Plus dirt... mold... it's just all bad.
I always hear that FL is full of bugs when northeners come to visit... then when I go to visit Kentucky/Ohio I'm often swarmed by huge bugs! I personally think that other places have more bugs :p It's funny I suppose.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3262602
Yeah, carpet is a haven for fleas! Plus dirt... mold... it's just all bad.
I always hear that FL is full of bugs when northeners come to visit... then when I go to visit Kentucky/Ohio I'm often swarmed by huge bugs! I personally think that other places have more bugs :p It's funny I suppose.
Winter kill off is a wonderful thing. There isn't nearly as much a problem when you get a hard winter.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3262608
Probably a really stupid question... how does one know that their carpet has fleas?
If you don't have pets then you probably don't. I bet you have a lot of dust mites though and those will make you think twice about your carpet.. vacuum and look at the debris it picks up.. will probably see some movement if you look close... it's kinda like pods in your carpet ;)
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefraff
http:///forum/post/3262605
Winter kill off is a wonderful thing. There isn't nearly as much a problem when you get a hard winter.
Hey... FL had a pretty hard Winter this year... Unfortunately I'm already dealing with bugs.. everybody is complaining about mole crickets in their lawns already... I found one while shopping yesterday and saved his little life (I think they're cute.)
http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insec...or/mcrick1.jpg
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3262608
Probably a really stupid question... how does one know that their carpet has fleas?
You can see them jumping. Like lay on your carpet, and look at something white. every once in a while you'll see one of them shoot up into the air... Or in my wife's case, you can watch her and they'll start jumping on her...
 
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