Residential pest control
Residential pest control for Bay Area homes
Pests do not start in the middle of a room. They come in from somewhere, so your technician works the whole property: the eaves, the foundation line, the yard, and the interior whenever you want it.
- 4.9 on Google, 5,000+ reviews
- 7 Bay Area offices
- Often same day, typically within 24 hours
What we do
What a pest control visit actually includes
Most of the work happens outside, which is why most people never watch it happen. Here is the whole visit, in the order your technician works it.
An initial service runs 30 to 60 minutes because of the inspection. Regular visits run 15 to 30. Larger properties take longer, and your technician will tell you what to expect at the door.
01
The eaves
Every eave gets swept with the pole at full extension, whether or not webs are visible from the ground. The front porch gets extra attention because build up collects around light fixtures, and fence lines get the same pass for webs and wasp nests. Eaves are never sprayed: wind carries product where it does not belong, so this part stays mechanical.
02
The perimeter
Garbage cans, pet bowls, shoes and kids' toys come away from the foundation first. Then the foundation line is treated up to 18 inches, focused on the cracks and crevices insects actually travel through. Fence lines and sloped driveways are left alone, per the product label.
03
The yard
Granules go into flower beds and dirt areas when there is activity to justify them, never onto concrete. When it is too wet to spray, granules do that work instead, so a rainy week does not cost you a service.
04
Bait stations and the interior
Stations are mapped so the next visit knows where they sit, cleared of debris, and re-baited every service. A station with no activity gets moved rather than left to look busy. Interior service is there whenever you want it, and it is not automatic.
Before we arrive
How to prepare for pest control
Very little, and none of it takes long. The one thing that genuinely matters is gate access.
What you do
- Unlock the gate. The backyard is half the job, and for a regular visit an unlocked gate is all we need, so you do not have to be home.
- Only if you want interior service, pull furniture away from the walls in those rooms and empty the cabinets you want treated.
- Nothing else. The interior prep can happen while your technician works outside, so it costs you no waiting.
What we do
- Move garbage cans, pet bowls, shoes and toys off the foundation before anything is treated.
- Call, then text, then leave a door hanger if we cannot reach the backyard.
- Tell you when it is clear to go back in. People and pets stay out of a treated room for one hour.
Do you tip pest control technicians?
No. It is not expected, and nobody is waiting for one. If the service was good and you want to do something, a Google review is worth far more to the technician who handled your home.
Cadence
How often do you need pest control
How long pest control lasts depends on pressure rather than on a calendar, but almost every Bay Area home settles into the same shape.
Visit one
The initial service
The long one. Your technician inspects the property, treats the full exterior, and deals with whatever prompted the call in the first place.
About 30 days later
The follow up
Most treatments need a second pass to break the life cycle. This visit catches what hatched after the first one, which is the step people skip when they treat a house themselves.
Every quarter after
The ongoing plan
Four visits a year holds the exterior barrier through each season's pressure. Most homes do best on a quarterly plan, and some properties need a different rhythm.
Some pests take a series of visits to fully control, and results depend on the treatment plus your prep. If something turns up between visits on a recurring plan, we come back at no charge.
Coverage
What your plan covers, and what gets quoted separately
Being straight about this up front saves a frustrating phone call later. Not every pest belongs to the general service, and the ones that do not are not upsells, they are genuinely different jobs.
Included in a recurring plan
The general pest service
- Ants, indoors and along their trails to the nest
- Spiders and the webbing across eaves and fence lines
- Cockroaches other than German cockroaches
- Exterior rodent stations serviced and re-baited every visit, where a property already has them
- Wasp and hornet nests knocked down during the visit
- Silverfish and the general run of household insects
Quoted separately
Pests that need their own treatment
- Fleas
- Bed bugs
- Carpet beetles
- German cockroaches, which need a clean out rather than a routine visit
- Rodent trapping and placing new stations, which is its own recurring plan
- Termites, which are their own inspection and program
If your technician finds one of these during a routine visit, they will document it and the office will send you a quote and a prep sheet, then schedule a time. Your technician will not quote a price at the door, because pricing a specialty job properly takes more than a look.
Plans, what each one includes and what they cost all live on the pest control plans and pricing page.
Store products handle what you can see. The population lives where you cannot see.
A straight answer
Is a pest control plan actually worth it
For most Bay Area homes, yes. What changes through the year is the pest, not the pressure: ants press inside in spring, wasps build through summer, rodents come looking for warmth as it cools. There is no quiet season to skip, which is why a barrier only holds if somebody keeps it current.
The barrier stays up
Four visits a year keep the perimeter, the eaves and the bait stations current through each season.
We treat the source
Integrated Pest Management means going after the nest and the conditions feeding it, not the insect you happened to notice.
We come back at no charge
If something turns up between scheduled visits on a recurring plan, we return and re-treat the area.
If it really is a one off, we'll let you know upfront during the inspection.
Get started
Get a free estimate for your home
Tell us what you are seeing and roughly where. We will walk the property, build the plan around what is actually happening, and come back with a quote. Free estimates, no pressure.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (650) 910-1561