How much pest control does a new home actually NEED?!? (Long post, sorry!)

[MScott1851]

We moved into our new house a month ago. Friday, the Orkin man comes by, invites my husband outside, and shows him "evidence of activity" of numerous pests around the outside of our house. I have seen some random spiders in my bark, but nothing major, and nothing in the house at all. He then tells Clint that a lot of our neighbors have been calling for treatments (NO HOUSE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS OLDER THAN 6 MONTHS) and he would hate to run their pests out of our neighbors' houses and into ours. On top of that, since they are doing a lot of business in the neighborhood, he wants to cut us a "deal." So my husband signs a YEARS' contract, agreeing to let them come 7 times, at $69 a pop, which is supposedly a fabulous deal, instead of $149 per visit. (yeah, right)

When I find this out, I go ballistic, since I think we're getting shafted. I don't think we need seven treatments a year, nor do I think it should cost $490. I got more realistic quotes of $120 per year from several local companies. So, there's a three day period that we can cancel the Orkin contract. We both call, leave a detailed message saying we wish to cancel, sorry, but no thanks.

The Orkin man called me back tonight and needled me for 20 minutes straight about why I wanted to cancel and how my house was going to be devoured by locusts and how the local companies don't have the right chemicals and they use turkey basters to treat with, etc. Basically making me feel like a cheap piece of crap. I'm livid right now, and can't wait til Clint wakes up to tell him.

So I guess my ranting and raving is actually a question. Have any other new home owners been signing up for these kinds of contracts? Do we really need it?

 

[Pop Daddy]

long post

 

[FroggyinArk]

sounds to me like orkin is being way overly pushy here,,, we are under contract with a local termite service, that offers pest cointrol tooo, we pay 45 a quarter they spray every 3 months and we seldom have bugs, if we do he adds an extra trip on him. basiccally ,, most new construction is required to have a heavy termite treatment of the soil prior to building, a perimeter treatment prior to completion, and depending on how long it sat empty before you moved in, maybe one trip by pest service,, now if you are in a fire ant prone area,, that you n eed to treat every 45 days oor so,, but that granules in the yard not a house treatment, and the yard service can ussually provide this as part of regular lawn service. if orkin is trying to sell pest control that takes 7 trips a y ear,, you shoulld try and find a local indipendant operation, yuo will get better service and price and you'll know who to call in case of a problem,

 

[CEDmom]

The pest you need to be most concerned about are termite or carpenter ants. You should see them or evidence of them before they've done any real damage. They are very big and cannot be confused with regular black ants. If your house was built on farm land or other undeveloped land you probably do have various pests but most can be treated by the homeowner. I wouldn't have service unless you see something that warrants it.

 

[Pamlur]

Your building site had to be pre-treated for termites, then Shelby County Code Enforcement had to inspect before they could apply another piece of building materials. You should be guaranteed against inside termites for about five years, but plan to get a termite contract up and running in about 2-3 to be on the safe side.

Am I right in assuming your subdivision is on Houston Levee? That's former cotton fields, so you'll GET some outside bugs. I live on the lake in Lakeland, and spiders are a way of life here. Even termites outside are a fact of life where there has been wood growth in the past. I was planting a bush many years ago, and dug into a HUGE infestation of termites. I put in a call to my pest control guy and went to buy bug stuff. I bought something that's since been outlawed, and poured it on that group with no dilution; by the time my service man got there, all he could find were a bunch of bug carcasses (carcaii?) but he told me that those were OUTSIDE termites and wouldn't have come toward my house.

Orkin is very pushy, and they are obviously running on commission there. Stand firm, you don't need that stress.

 

[Tina]

It sounds like he's really trying to pressure you into something that you don't need. When we first moved into our home in our newly constructed subdivision, we had lots of "bug guys" coming around and trying to get us to contract with them for service. They would go down in the basement and find a dead spider or other bug and say "Whoa! You have a BIG problem...." Blah Blah Blah. I think my shoe works just as good as their bug-killer-stuff and its a heckuva lot cheaper!!

 

[stacilee]

we live in the south but are from the north. we really didn't have any experience with exterminators.
We got duped into a big name bug company coming to treat our house for an amt. even higher than what you quoted.

Finally, after a few years we wised up and I cancelled our policy with them although we still maintain the termite bond (a necessity here).

I now have a small exterm. company that comes once every 3 months, sweet older man, always calls two days before he is due to come, always prompt, always smiling, very polite and always has a funny, clean joke that he heard at church to share. He does the inside of the house and the garage and a quick perimeter spray. The cost is still a little high, 52.00 but he is very thorough and I don't mind paying for good service and decent treatment.

If I have a month where I see what I think of as "more bugs than usual" I give him a call and he comes out the next day and retreats for me. I had ground wasps under the bushes in my front yard last year right next to where I get out of my car. I called him to ask if he could stop by and take a look sometime when he was in the area. He came out that afternoon and put these granules down to kill them. He said "we can't have you gettin' all stung up now can we!"

Tell those Orkin people not to bother you again. Call your local BBB.

IMO, don't bother getting a service to treat for fire ants if you don't mind 30 minutes of easy yard work once a year. "Over N Out" is the greatest product. 19 bucks a bag. it takes us 2 bags for about 3/4 acre and we apply it a little heavy. Once a year application with a broadcast spreader (lowe's $39 for the push kind, handspreader- crank type $12).

Those boogers are GONE! I can actually walk in my yard in bare feet again. This is the second full year that we have used it and I am totally satisfied as a customer.

 

[LindaG4458]

Do you need insect protection in a brand new home? yes Do you need Orkin versus a local exterminator? no

We bought a brand new condo in Vero Beach, FL and passed papers in 9/2002. It was all concrete and stucco construction with the exception of the doors and trim. We were there for a month at that time and a month in the spring. When we returned in 11/2003 we had carpenter ants. I mean we had CARPENTER ANTS!!! We took out three vacuum cleaner bags of ants in one evening!!! We called a local exterminator and the guy was wonderful. He came as many times as necessary to eliminate the problem, and that was twice or three times per week (all included in the original price). The condo association had to become involved because the ants were eliminated within our place, but they kept coming in from outside. After 5 months the problem finally went away. The exterminator said it was the worst he had ever seen, but he had one close to it at the same time (not in the same place). We now have him come once per month to spray inside and the perimeter outside. We get 6 months of treatment for $120. So far, so good.

Most people in our developoment only have spraying when they are present, but we want protection while we are away.