Before you call anyone
36 questions with plain answers: working out what the insect actually is, what to do before the technician arrives, what to ask a company, and what a treatment involves. No prices, because this site holds no pricing data for either country and a made-up range is worse than none.
Exterminator Guild publishes 36 answers to common pest control questions for the United States and Canada, grouped as Working out what it is, Before the technician arrives, Choosing a company, What treatment actually involves, Keeping them out, Renting, buying and selling. Each page gives a direct answer in one or two sentences, then the practical detail. Pest control licensing, wildlife protection and landlord and tenant law are set state by state and province by province, so the pages name the mechanism and send the reader to their own regulator rather than quoting a rule that is wrong in half the continent.
Working out what it is
- Is it a termite or a flying ant?Look at the waist, the antennae and the wings. A termite has a straight, thick body with no pinched waist…
- Carpenter ants or termites? How to tell from the damageCarpenter ants excavate wood to nest in it and push the shavings out, so you find coarse sawdust-like fra…
- How do I know if I have bed bugs?Look for the evidence rather than the bites: small dark ink-dot staining along mattress seams and in the …
- Is it mice or rats?Droppings are the quickest answer: mouse droppings are the size of a grain of rice with pointed ends, rat…
- What is making noise in my attic?Time of day is the best first clue. Daytime scampering and rolling sounds are usually squirrels. Night-ti…
- Why are there tiny black ants in my kitchen?They have found something. Follow the trail back as far as you can to see where they enter, remove whatev…
- What are these tiny flies in my kitchen?Where they gather tells you which they are. Fruit flies hover around produce and recycling and have red e…
- Is it a cockroach or a water bug?Almost always a cockroach. What matters is which one: a small tan roach with two dark stripes behind the …
- Something is biting me at night and I cannot find anythingDo not start treatment on bites alone. Work through the physical evidence in order: bed bug signs on the …
- Should I be worried about the spiders in my house?Usually not. The overwhelming majority of spiders found in North American homes are harmless and are pred…
- There are birds nesting in my vent or eavesIdentify the species before doing anything. Most native birds are protected by federal law in both the Un…
Before the technician arrives
- How do I prepare for a pest control visit?Ask for the preparation list in writing when you book, and do all of it — treatment failure is more often…
- How do I prepare for bed bug treatment?Get the preparation list from the company in writing and follow it exactly. It will usually involve laund…
- Is pest control safe for my pets?Tell the company what animals you have before the visit, not at the door — it changes product selection a…
- Do I have to leave the house during pest treatment?It depends on the product and the method, not on the pest. Targeted crack-and-crevice work and baiting us…
Choosing a company
- How do I check a pest control company is licensed?Ask for the company's licence number and the name it is held under, then check it with your own state or …
- What should I ask a pest control company before booking?Ask what species they have identified and how, how many visits the job needs and whether they are include…
- How do I read a pest control company's reviews?Read the distribution, not the average. Two companies can both average 4.6 and have completely different …
- What are the warning signs of a bad pest control company?Pressure to sign today, a diagnosis without an inspection, a refusal to name the product or the species, …
- Should I buy a one-off treatment or an ongoing plan?Buy a one-off job for a problem that has an end: a wasp nest, a single rodent entry sealed and trapped do…
- What does a pest control guarantee actually cover?Ask four things: how long it runs, what it obliges the company to do — return and re-treat, refund, or re…
What treatment actually involves
- How long does pest control take to work?It depends on the method. Contact treatments kill what they touch immediately and tell you nothing about …
- What is integrated pest management?It is an approach that starts with identification and inspection, changes the conditions that let the pes…
- Heat treatment or chemical treatment for bed bugs?Heat kills all life stages including eggs in a single treatment and leaves no residual, so anything that …
- Termite bait system or liquid treatment?A liquid treatment creates a continuous treated zone in the soil around and under the structure, and work…
- What does a termite inspection actually cover?It is a visual, non-invasive inspection of the accessible parts of the structure: the perimeter, the craw…
- What is rodent exclusion, and why does it cost more than baiting?Exclusion is finding and sealing every gap a rodent can use, with materials they cannot chew through, and…
Keeping them out
- How do I keep mice out in winter?Do the sealing in early fall, before the first cold snap moves them in. Seal every gap wider than a penci…
- How do I stop ants coming in every spring?Work on the outside. Cut vegetation and mulch back from the walls, fix the moisture that colonies sit in,…
- What attracts cockroaches to a clean house?Moisture and warmth more than food, and for German cockroaches, arrival rather than attraction. They are …
- Does mulch attract termites?Mulch holds moisture against the building, and moisture is what termites need. The material matters far l…
- Do ultrasonic pest repellers work?The published testing does not support them for rodents or for common household insects. Animals habituat…
- How often should I have pest control done?There is no general interval that is right for everyone. Regular service is justified where the pressure …
Renting, buying and selling
- Who pays for pest control, the landlord or the tenant?In most of the United States and Canada a landlord has an obligation to provide habitable premises, and a…
- I have bed bugs in a rental. What now?Report it in writing with photographs the day you confirm it, do not move belongings to another room or u…
- What is a wood destroying insect report when buying a house?It is an inspection report on evidence of termites and other wood destroying insects in the accessible pa…