Everything Your Need to Know About a Pest Inspection in Port St. Lucie
If you’ve decided to hire professional pest control, we understand the process can be overwhelming. From finding the right company to figuring out a budget, there’s a lot to add to your to-do list.
One of those things is preparing for a pest inspection. If you’re unsure of what’s in your home and why, you may want to get everything checked out.
But you also probably have questions, so we’ll answer them. Here’s everything you need to know about a pest inspection in Port St. Lucie.
Types of Pest Inspections in Port St. Lucie
Termite Inspection
Why are Termite Inspections Important?
Termites are the most costly pests out there, leading to $5 billion in damage yearly. One home can receive tens of thousands of dollars in termite damages.
And the reason why the damage gets so extensive is that termites can be damaging your home for years before you even know they’re there. By the time it’s clear, your home may be severely damaged.
What Happens During a Termite Inspection?
When you schedule your appointment, you’ll be given a 2-hour arrival window when one of our inspectors will come to your home. The inspector will first examine the attic space and crawl space, since termites will often damage the structural wood before damaging anything in the living areas.
Next, the inspector will look under and behind furniture for evidence of termites. This evidence typically includes wood damage, frass , and discarded wings.
From the evidence, they’ll confirm whether the termites are drywood termites or subterranean termites. They will discuss any damage or conducive areas in the home to be addressed, and how termite control can help prevent and get rid of termites in the home.
If you have drywood termites in your home, we can provide no-tent termite treatments or tent fumigation. If they’re subterranean termites, we can provide trenching or termite bait stations.
How Much Does a Termite Inspection Cost?
The cost of a termite inspection depends on the home, the company and the type of pest inspection. At Native Pest Management, we provide complimentary inspections for termite and rodent services.
For termites, this includes tent fumigation, no tent termite treatment, Trelona bait stations, trenching, and termite pre-treatments.
For rodents, we offer our free inspections for rodent trapping, exclusion, removal, and rodent bait boxes.
If you’re getting a Wood Destroying Organism (WDO) inspection, these have an average cost of $225-375. The purpose of a WDO inspection is to discover signs of damage or activity caused by a wood destroying organism, including wood rot, so you can make an educated purchase of a home.
Rodent Inspection
Why Are Rodent Inspections Important?
Rodents infest about 21 million homes in America each winter. They can cause damage to your home, cause fires by chewing electrical wires, spread illnesses, and all around are a nuisance.
By having your home inspected, you could save yourself a lot of time and frustration of dealing with rodents roaming around your attic.
Even if you don’t have rodents in your home, you could have entry points that they can use as shortcuts inside. You’ll want to get these entry points closed off, and the way to do that is through a rodent inspection.
What Happens During a Rodent Inspection?
An inspector will come to your home and look for evidence of rodents such as gnaw marks, droppings and grease stains, spending a majority of the time in the attic. Then, they’ll look for entry points the rodents could get into your home such as through electrical wiring, gas lines, or gaps in your foundation.
How Much Does a Rodent Inspection Cost?
Native Pest Management offers free rodent inspections to all customers! Whether you’ve seen rodents in your home or just one to make sure rodents can’t get inside, you can give us a call to schedule your free inspection.
Termite Extermination in Port St. Lucie
Termites are probably not on your Wishlist. They're damaging to both your home and your wallet and can cause a lot of stress in the process.
If you have subterranean or drywood termites in your home, Native Pest Management is here to give you the best quality termite control.
Tent Fumigation
Tent fumigation is for drywood termites. This is probably the process you’re most familiar with when it comes to termite control.
In the case of a tent fumigation service, you will have to be out of your home for about 2 or 3 days. We will cover your home in a tent, and release a fumigant that will kill all the termites inside your home. The fumigant molecule is so small it can move through any void or crack, so everyone must be out of the home until your home is fumigant (and termite!) free.
The reason we can’t do tent fumigation for subterranean termites is that subterranean termites, including the queen, often live underground, where the fumigant can’t reach. Even if some of the colony is above ground, if the queen is underground then the queen can’t die, which means the colony can’t die.
This is the most expensive termite service; however, it’s also the most effective service for drywood termites. A severe infestation almost always requires tent fumigation to be eliminated.
No Tent Termite Treatment
We use no tent termite treatment for less severe infestations. During this termite treatment, our technicians will apply liquid borate to the accessible wood in your attic.
Next, they will inject foam termiticide into anything with evidence of drywood termites such as frass, kickout holes or wood damage. Finally, they will apply a treatment to exterior doors.
This treatment is much easier for families because you can stay in your home with all your belongings, and you pay less money than for tent fumigation.
Trelona Termite Bait Stations
Termite bait stations are one of the most popular methods of subterranean termite control. The Trelona Advanced Termite Bait System is one of our many eco-friendly methods of termite control.
Your technician will install the stations in soil around the entire perimeter of the home to protect it from subterranean termites. These stations contain an active ingredient that prevents termites from molting, which will eventually kill them. No chemicals from this product go into the ground and they never lose their effectiveness over time.
Termiticide Foundation Trenching
To keep subterranean termites out of your home, we may use drilling and a barrier of termiticide trenching along the exterior of your foundation.
If subterranean termites reach the barrier, they will die, and trigger a “transfer effect”, killing the rest of the colony.
The beauty of this process is that it’s applied every five years. The goal is not just the kill termites, but also to prevent them!
Rodent Extermination in Port St. Lucie
Rodents are another pest you may be praying you don’t have to deal with, and we understand why! They’re pretty pesky to get rid of, with their fast running skills and dark hiding spots.
At Native Pest Management, we have all of the services you need to get rodents out of your home:
Rodent Trapping
Our technicians are experts when it comes to rats and mice, and understand the way they think, act, and their next moves. With this expertise, they can quickly identify where to place rodent traps to remove them.
We place most traps in the attic since it’s the place where rodents are most active; however, we will also place them in the garage and living areas as needed.
Once the rodents are trapped, we will remove the rodents and the traps from your home so you never have to handle them.
If your home does not include an attic, we will place traps on the exterior foundation of your home.
Rodent Exclusion
Exclusion is the process of preventing rodents from coming into your home through entry points. We use materials like steel and copper mesh, steel hardware cloth, concrete, and caulk to seal up these entry points.
Once the rodent exclusion is complete, you won’t have to worry about the rats or mice getting in your home!
A question you may be asking is “what if I get a rodent exclusion, but I have rodents inside that can’t get out?”
For homes that already have mice or rats in the attic, we recommend a combination of rodent trapping, and rodent exclusion.
If you aren’t currently experiencing a rodent issue but want to prevent rodents from entering your home, a rodent exclusion will keep a rodent issue from ever happening.
Rodent Bait Boxes
To prevent rodents from coming inside the home, we can install tamper-proof bait boxes along the exterior foundation of your home. These boxes are refilled and maintained either monthly, every month or quarterly depending on the situation.
The rodent bait needs to be replaced regularly, especially with larger infestations and high humidity. When humidity is high, the bait can get moldy and the rodents will not be attracted to it.
This bait is also safe for other animals due to the active ingredient, which is only harmful enough for rodents the size of a rat or mouse.
Pest Inspections Near Me
Inspecting your own home can be difficult, especially when you don't have experience with identifying pests or looking for evidence of pests.
The good news is you don’t have to do everything yourself! You can call a local pest control company like Native Pest Management to inspect your home for pests like rodents and termites.
We know not everyone is excited for strangers to come to their home, and we want to make your experience as easy and comfortable as possible with our worry free pest control guarantee.
We provide our termite and rodent services all over South Florida in Port St. Lucie, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie. If you’re further north, We also offer our services all over Leon county.
If you’re ready to schedule a rodent or termite inspection in Port St. Lucie, reach out today!