Pest control seems easy, right?

Just spray some insecticide and wait for the bugs to die.

But there’s more than meets the eye in professional pest control, so before you head to your local home improvement store, here’s what you need to know about DIY pest control.

Choosing the Right Product Isn’t Simple or Easy

Spraying your home or yard yourself might sound simple, but depending on your pest control goals, you may need to apply different treatments. Choosing the right product can get complicated, as ants, roaches, mosquitoes, flies, and other pests all respond differently to products and strategies.

Your head might start spinning just reading all those labels!

Indoor and outdoor treatments differ greatly as well, so you’ll probably need multiple types of pesticide to treat your entire home and yard.

If you’re thinking of tackling a termite problem on your own, treatment can take hundreds of gallons of insecticide to get the job done. That’s not cheap, and poor or incomplete application can fool you into thinking you’ve taken care of the problem when termites are still safe underground, just waiting to chew up your property.

Proper Equipment

Of course you’ll need insecticide to treat your home and yard.

But you’ll also need special equipment to spray with. A small sprayer can be inexpensive, starting at around $15, but it will be hand-pumped and might need many refills before your home and yard are completely covered. A more powerful unit can be $200 or up.

Safety equipment is also important – in fact it’s a must!

When handling chemicals, you need to make sure you’re safe, and that includes eye protection, gloves, a mask, and even a protective suit to ensure pesticides don’t affect you.

There’s a reason our pest control vehicles are fully stocked with different types of professional grade equipment!

Know Your Pests

Do you know exactly what you’re dealing with?

Local Louisiana pests have unique habits, and professional pest technicians spend a lot of time learning about how they behave, what kinds of habitats attract them, and tips and tricks beyond pesticide that will keep them out of your home and yard.

Did you know that termites can tunnel underground for hundreds of feet? Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t under your house chewing away.

Did you know that roaches like to eat soap? Or that Crazy Ants are attracted to electrical wiring?

If you’re infested with pests, knowing their unique habits is important to make sure the population is eradicated and preventing them from coming back.

It’s Not Just About Spraying

Effective pest control is much more than just spraying chemicals where the pests are. A professional pest control service includes:

Locating where the pests are coming from and how they’re entering your property
Assessing the size & scope of the pest problem
Correctly identifying the pest
Putting together a treatment plan that involves environmental strategies as well as chemical application when necessary
Exclusion strategy to make sure that once pests are removed, they don’t come back in
Follow up inspections as needed.

So for successful DIY pest control, you need more than just some products of the shelf of a nearby box store!

If you aren’t ready to tackle your pest problems on your own, or if you have an infestation that DIY just won’t fix, call our experts for a free consultation!