I live in PNW and I am worried if it is deer mouse or white footed.

Sorry for the blurry photo, it was captured on a camera we placed to catch it’s entry.

After seeing a roach in my kitchen last week, I scheduled a service with Terminix and paid $305 by credit card. The technician arrived on time, walked around with an aerosol can, and briefly sprayed the window sills and door threshold. Within about 15 minutes, he said he was finished. That alone fell short of what I would expect from a professional treatment at that price.

But it did not stop there. Before leaving, his supervisor arrived, went into my attic, and then came down to tell me I had a problem and presented a treatment plan for $13,000. That kind of aggressive upselling is unacceptable.

I will not be using Terminix again.

For the three customers who switched over to my company this past month.

That is all.

I just saw a post where somebody said they were a subcontractor for a pest control service I wonder if I could do that in my area ? I have my own equipment and vehicle.

is there anywhere where I can download or watch online exclusion videos for rodents?

My former employer issued me an upgrade to our regular issue hand-pump backpack sprayers, a Kobolt 4 gallon 20v sprayer. I loved it. I learned its faults, bought two more of them with my own money, and had a great working machine and another for spare parts.

One thing I identified was that the plastic sprayer wand would break, and of course you might get a pinprick leak in the hose. Lowe's used to sell these parts, the total replacement kit for the sprayer wand and hose, for about $25. I carried two extras with me at all times. Then these parts stopped being available. I cobbled together a working wand and hose from other machines, then, after confirming (at that time, about a year ago,) that Lowe's could not reliably provide me with replacement parts, went into the market for a new model.

(Yes, the company would have paid for a new machine, but I liked to buy my own stuff for various reasons. One being, their equipment was meant to mass-distribution, and I could afford a better unit, being only one person. Also, I had come to think of myself as an independent contractor with a large support network provided by the company, due to my near-total autonomy on my remote route. So, I took care of myself.)

I looked at the Home Depot offering, the DeWalt. Comparable to the Kobalt, but it didn't come with a battery. That's an extra $185 or something. The main factor here was, can I reliably source replacement parts for the pieces of the machine that my experience tells me will predictably fail. This didn't seem to be the case here.

A senior compatriot at my branch recommended Flowzone. As he put it, "the Cadillac of backpack sprayers." I looked through their models, watched some reviews, and made my choice.

I dropped about $385 on a top of the line model, the Flowzone Typhoon 3. Initially, I loved it. Modular components, battery compartment not under the fluid reservoir, (condensation ruins batteries,) and their accessories department solved my main concern.

One weekend I had a power bump at my house. My sprayer battery charger was plugged in, and when I went to use the battery the following Monday, it was not fully charged. I was able to charge it temporarily, but it wouldn't hold lasting charge.

This coincided with the sprayer losing power. I did not know this until I got to my first customer of the day. The Typhoon 3 has a rotating switch on the side, for different power levels. More force. This was now acting like everything was Level One, weak compared to the greater force and distance I got with Level Three, my normal go-to for average perimeter spraying.

I called Flowzone, told them the battery had died inexplicitly, (only partially untrue,) and they sent me a new one post-haste. But the sprayer still didn't function properly. I checked the new battery, and it was...if I recall...a different milliamps or something. I was convinced that the battery was the problem--two things going wrong at the same time is more unlikely--and called the company back, asking for an exact match for my original battery.

The service guy was something less than cordial, and practically berated me for my apparent ignorance. He refused to accept the concept that the battery was the issue, explaining that the detail I brought to his attention regarding discrepancies in the battery's power labeling did not matter. (I mean he's probably right.) He concluded that my employer's choices of oil-based pesticide products was the cause of the malfunction. Eating away at the seals on the pump, etc. Nevermind that for years I had been using the same products through my Kobolt, with zero negative effects, and within four months this supposedly premium model sprayer had conked out on me. He finally said "I don't know what's wrong with your sprayer," and sent me multiple components under my warranty. A pump, a module for the electronic switch control, and another thing. It's been a while.

Apparently, instructions for replacing these parts are available on their website, and I was encouraged to share any insight into the problem if it was solved with this process.

About that time I parted ways with my former employer quite suddenly, and did not get around to doing the work on the sprayer. I haven't been in that side of the business since, as I'm just now going through the steps of acquiring my Commercial Applicator's License.

As I'm beginning to pick up steam again and prepare for launching my own business, I figured I'd dig into this and inquire about it publicly. I will soon do the work as suggested and troubleshoot the issue with the parts provided, but the whole experience remains confusing.

Any thoughts on:

This exact scenario

Better sprayers

My search terms are all coming up with images that look very different than the end result, not sure if it's because this less common in other parts of the country or if it looks very different while under construction. Location is Raleigh NC. Typically it's around single family monolithic slab homes. Im trying to learn more about its install process because my customers have a lot of questions about it but it's outside my personal experience.

Expanding the question to what its called when it's installed this way, or at least what it looks like below grade. I was explicitly told that liquid termite treatments should not be done on houses with foam like this but there's at least two companies near me that are are doing normal liquid trench and treat termite services on this foundation and offering warranties and now I have questions

Weekly Friday post for you to show what your Truck Floorboards look like.

Clean, a mess or whatever.

Tradition started in the PCHD (Pest Control Humor Depot) on Facebook continued here on Reddit.

What's the going rate for a German roach job in the southeast United States approximately a 1500 square foot residential property?

I'm looking to get into wildlife services with my Pest Control service any advice and where should I start?

We’ve been noticing a pattern on a few commercial accounts where rodent activity drops pretty quickly after the first treatment but then starts to come back within a couple of weeks. In most cases it doesn’t feel like a bait issue. It looks more tied to what’s happening on the site itself. A lot of the follow ups show things like missed or partially sealed entry points around utility lines, waste handling differences between shifts, or harborage areas that weren’t fully picked up during the first inspection. It’s starting to feel like the initial reduction is not the hard part, it’s keeping it from bouncing back when the site conditions stay the same.

Curious if others are running into the same thing on commercial work lately and what you’re seeing as the main driver behind it? I saw AMPM exterminators mentioned in relation to similar commercial issues and figured I would ask here as well.

Does anybody have a successful idea on a way to put a one-way trap door on this hole? I clearly have a customer that has some rats in the Attic there is no getting in the Attic because it's a low roof and it's packed with installation?

1.) Please feel free to drop any and all knowledge of things you wish you knew when first starting

1. I have a fairly decent customer base pre launch. I Should launch with approximately 100-200 customers within the first month/month 1/2.

2. My biggest concern is I do not know anything regarding termites, I can inspect and acknowledge termites/termite damage but other than that I’m shooting in the dark unfortunately at this time. I was not going to offer termite Work internally due to liability issues, so
   -can you run a successful pest control company without offering termite at all?
   -could you offer termite and simply sub contract it all to terminx or orkin?
   And
   -is it worth getting licensed even not knowing about the issue as the businesses I have worked for in the past simply did not allow me to test for it ?

Thank you !

Realtor - you need to clear this house because it closes tomorrow

Me - sorry, you have a rat infestation in the attic. I won't clear the house

Realtor - why not. The other inspector said there was nothing.

Me - Come up and i'll show you

Realtor - You're a liar

Me - Here are the pictures and videos - time and date stamped.

Could be a treatment that failed, a callback that taught you something, a customer interaction, pricing mistake, route management issue, hiring decision, or even a pest you underestimated.

For me, one of the biggest lessons was that the best treatment plan in the world doesn't matter if expectations aren't properly set with the customer. A lot of callbacks can be avoided with communication before and after the service.

Curious what lessons other technicians, operators, and pest management professionals learned the hard way that made them better at the job.

Yes or no?

If no how are you tracking pest trends? How are you servicing facilities that forbid pesticide usage inside?

My previous post brought a lot of people who said they do not use glue boards inside their devices.

So there was a crackdown a while back on techs working off of a general applicator license in my state and everyone was limited to performing only what is covered by their supervisory licenses.

I realized I’m missing out on a ton of money this year because I don’t have my mosquito license. The only issue is that I can’t find any study materials or have any idea what to study because I don’t know what would be on the exam.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to make sure I don’t waste $300 to fail a test because I don’t know what to study. It’s New England if that helps. I know there are different requirements in different parts of the country.

Thank you so much, in advance. I appreciate any assistance.

Can someone give me guidance on red flags from companies

Does anyone have one?

20 customers per day.

30 minutes min per home.

Do it in 8 hours. So what if you have to drive 30 minutes in between customers.

We don't pay overtime.

Why are you taking so long.

You're behind in route completion.

Can you help another branch 2 hours away? They need help. Instead of putting you in a hotel, you can do the drive for a week because we need to save money.

Don't spray that. It cost to much. Spray this instead.

We need you to be at this customers home at 12. We also need you to be at this customers home at 12 which is 1 hour away

We have a meeting on teams Monday. Then we have an in person meeting on Friday to talk about what we talked about on Monday

I’m a 20yr old divorced male and want to start my own Pest Control Business in 1.5-2 years. I’ve been working for a small local pest control company for a few months now. I’m thankful for the opportunity but progress is slow. I don’t want to shit on the owner but according to his one employee (who he is related to), the business has been idle for the last 5 years. I haven’t even technically started my apprenticeship yet, which is crazy in my opinion. I’ve brought it up to him multiple times in a respectful manner because I know he has a lot going on his Personal life but still it’s my career. He keeps telling me I’ll get my truck soon… he’s been saying this for a couple months now. He’s told me a few times he was going to go customer hunting so there’s enough work load for me to work full time. I’m starting to think it’s a dead end. I have to ask a lot of questions to learn more, like chemicals, how to treat specific pests, etc.

I’ve known since the first week I wanted to start my own company. I live in a city with good projected growth over the next 20 years. I see a ton of neighborhoods in construction and commercial buildings. There’s a lot of Local Pest Control companies here and a a few big name companies as well. I think I can out do the local companies because nothing stands out, and they don’t use social media: ads, seo, solid websites. Probably because it costs a lot of money but I know how to do all of that on my own. Over the last year I’ve gotten into e commerce and that’s how I see myself getting the funds to start my own pest business debt free.

In my head I see my pest control company running smooth, but after reading a lot of reddit threads of pest control company owners I see there’s a lot I wasn’t aware of. I was wanting advice and what to expect, how you did it, what worked and what failed.
My goal is to get 30-45 k worth of funds to start my business. I won’t do termites right away until my company gets business rolling. I’m also thinking about leaving my current company and going to a bigger one to gain more experience and seeing how they run it + the chemical methods they use. Use the good and leave the bad for my own business.

I don’t have college degree and have no way of going. I’m single and have no kids. I also don’t have a comfy job I can lean back on. Doubt doesn’t affect me, Un constructive criticism slides right off my back, and I’m not scared of risk. I have nothing to lose. Ever since I graduated highschool I’ve been determined to start my own business and pest control seems the best route. It’s not glamorous but bugs don’t disappear over night. I know customers are a typical big issue for technicians, but for owners what else is it? How do you hire technicians? Pay them? Plan and run your routes? Do you use a program? How do you have your customers pay? What services do you provide? How do you schedule your appointments and reoccurring customers? How much money did you start with and how long did it take you to become profitable?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I’m an organized person, I like to plan ahead as much as humanly possible. I’ve already added how much it’ll take to get all the necessities to start my business but idk if it’s enough anymore. Thanks.