What Is a Pest Control Technician and When You Might Need One

Pests such as roaches, rats, ants, and other creepy crawlies may be small, but they all pose a big problem if they manage to get into your home. Once these uninvited guests make themselves at home in your abode, you can be faced with all manner of serious health risks as well as property damage. 

Fortunately, this worst-case scenario is fairly unlikely for most homeowners, but it is always better to be prepared so you know what to do if the worst should happen. With that in mind, let’s talk pest control. 

What Does a Pest Control Technician Do? 

If you need to get rid of some pests quickly and effectively, you’ll call a pest control technician. Pest control specialists have the training and skills to tackle any pest problem quickly and effectively. 

Pest control technicians specialize in the efficient and effective removal of any and all pests that can infest your home.

Pest Inspection

Before a pest problem can be effectively combatted, you will need to know the extent of the infestation and what parts of the home it affects. This can be difficult to do if you do not have specialized expertise since pests are very good at hiding in plain sight, making it difficult to gauge how many there are or where they might be. Pest control technicians can help determine the severity of your infestation, the type of infestation, and then draft a plan for dealing with insect pests or rodents. 

Pest Control

When you have a major infestation, the primary task of any pest technician will be to control that infestation and eliminate it if possible. This means setting baits and traps to catch the pests such as mouse traps, pheromone traps for pantry pests, CO2 traps for bedbugs, and many others. 

These kind of traps either are designed to kill the pests or to trap them so that they can be safely removed. However, pest removal can also involve more elaborate solutions such as chemicals and insecticides, which will require precautions to ensure the chemicals do not pose a threat to home residents. 

When Might You Need a Pest Control Technician? 

For most homes, there are two main types of infestations that can occur, and therefore, two main types of infestations that pest control workers regularly deal with. 

Rodents love chewing on electrical cables, and this can cause a fire.

Insect Infestation

This can range from common ant infestations to cockroaches and termite infestations. All these insects pose a latent health risk to anyone in the affected home as they contaminate food and can even cause damage to your home’s structure, as in the case of termites. 

In regions where termites are more common, you will likely have pest control technicians who are termite specialists. Bed bugs, ticks, and fleas are another increasingly common infestation in homes and are typically impossible to remove without hiring a professional.   

Rodent Infestation

Rodents are omnivores, meaning that they will eat nearly anything. That means that if they get into your home, they can survive on food waste, damage furniture, walls, or even get into your electrics and cause a fire. To make matters worse, these little guys also can carry diseases. 

Pest control specialists can help resolve such infestations with baited traps, poison, or more humane methods such as rat cages that allow for the rodents to be removed without killing them. 

Collaborating With Other Experts

While it is generally less common, pest control workers can collaborate with other home improvement experts on a larger project, particularly in certain circumstances. 

A pest control specialist may work with a restoration contractor to rehabilitate your home after a disaster.

Renovations

A very run-down home may have a host of different structural and safety problems in addition to having a pest infestation. If you flip homes, it is quite possible that you will need to hire multiple people in addition to a pest control specialist. A termite technician, for example, may need to work with a home renovation contractor to determine which parts of a home have received the most termite damage so that this can be repaired. 

Disaster Mitigation

If a natural or manmade disaster strikes your home, this can leave it wide open for pests to come inside. Flooding, for example, can attract pests such as insects since they will love dark moist places and may also be attracted by the scent of wood rot. In this kind of situation, a pest control specialist may need to work with a restoration contractor to mitigate damage and remove any pests. 

How Much Do Pest Control Technicians Charge? 

The average cost of bug specialist or pest control services will depend on various factors, namely the severity of your pest problem and the type of job required to mitigate it. 

Fumigation tends to be the most expensive service that pest control technicians provide.

Fumigation

The most extreme solution to a severe pest problem is fumigation, ergo, spraying insecticide to eliminate a large number of pests at once. Sometimes, multiple rounds of fumigation will be necessary to remove pests from a home, and this process can be expensive. You can expect to pay between $1 and $4 per square foot of your home for fumigation, amounting to between $2,000 and $8,000 in total costs. 

Pest Control Plan and Inspection. 

Pest inspections are necessary for the pest control specialist to determine what your pest problem is and how it needs to be dealt with. These inspections, on average, cost between $150 and $300, depending on the size of your home. Once this is done, the pest control technician will create a pest management plan, which may require periodic visits, each of which costs between $40 and $70. This can be monthly visits, bimonthly visits, or even quarterly ones, depending on what is needed.   

How To Choose the Best Pest Control Technician 

Here are a few things to look for when you are trying to decide which pest control technician to hire for your pest mitigation needs. Finding the right pest control specialist means doing a bit of legwork, but it’s all manageable, as there are plenty of good options out there. 

Reputable pest control companies should be able to provide copies of their certification and information on the products they use.

Ask For References

Any reputable and experienced pest control company will have a bunch of prior customers and will be able to provide you with references from satisfied clients. This is one of the best ways to gauge what kind of service you can expect from a pest control technician since a client can fill you in on both the good and the bad. Additionally, getting references allows you to verify that the company you are considering is legitimate and has a decent track record. 

Ask About Pest Control Methods 

When it comes to methods, there are a variety of ways that a pest control technician can confront any given pest problem. As such, it is important to ask which services a pest control specialist can provide. For instance, some pest control specialists may only offer chemical pest control but not physical pest control, and vice versa. If your pest control specialist uses chemicals, it is important to know what those products are so you can look up their certification and safety information. 

Look Out For Red Flags 

While most pest control companies out there are bona fide legitimate operations, there are some imposters out there. For instance, you should be wary of a company that is not listed and does not have a working phone number. Be on the lookout for unorthodox practices, such as pest control guys that show up unexpectedly at your home and show you pests that they ‘found’ in your neighbor’s backyard. 

Any company that tries to pressure you into signing a contract by suggesting your home may be condemned or offers you a package “discounted” deal is another big red flag. Some companies might even try to claim that their products or services are endorsed by some government agency, but this is simply a marketing trick, as the government would never endorse one specific brand.  

Ask About Certification and Licensing 

A professional pest control technician will be licensed and certified to apply pesticides and should be able to provide you with a copy of their pest control license if asked. They should also be able to show you the labels for the products they use, the way those products will be applied, as well as any precautionary measures they need to take.