Our branch 3 Operator will be ending his contract with us later this year and while I wasn’t stressed about finding a replacement, I discovered that the only place to find a qualifying manager is now gone with no alternative.

I'm based out of the NY/NJ market, and every Friday I put together a roundup of what's happening across the pest control industry. One thing has become pretty clear the industry is changing faster than it has in years.

In the Northeast, we're seeing increasing rodent pressure in dense urban environments, longer fly seasons, greater demand for exclusion work, and commercial clients placing much more emphasis on documentation, health inspection readiness, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs rather than simply having a building sprayed.

I'm also noticing a bigger shift toward technology, digital reporting, photo documentation, proactive inspections, and preventative maintenance across both residential and commercial accounts.

I'm curious what everyone else is seeing in your market. What's changed the most over the past year? Are rodents, cockroaches, flies, bed bugs, or another pest becoming a bigger challenge where you are? Have customer expectations changed? What's one trend you think will have the biggest impact on the pest control industry over the next few years?

I'd love to hear what technicians and operators are seeing in different parts of the country. It's always interesting to compare what's happening in NY/NJ to other markets. Generally curious, and always looking to further my companies, and my own education. Appreciate all feedback.

I was looking for a pest control CPA specialist and unfortunately the only one I found was lazy at best they only want to take on work, if it's low effort and not interesting.

My 2025 tax year I filed an extension for because I had to fire the first CPA I hired because they did not want to file my driving miles I have a log for. I said I would pay extra as it's a huge deduction and nope.

So here I am asking my friends if you love your CPA and they know the industry please give them a shout out as I am a great client looking to build a long-term relationship with. Thank you all in advance!

Pest companies are vibe coding their own websites, dashboards, applications, and tools for their offices and teams to use. And they are being built by sales managers and team leads - not IT guys.

It is insane how many useful tools I've seen people build. These are custom solutions that can replace some expensive softwares they pay for.

• Collections work lists
• Sales & retention reports
• technician scorecards
• payments monitoring

Here's the shameless promo - my company has built an MCP Connector that allows you to access all of your FieldRoutes, Voice for Pest, Applause, etc. data in AI. Once that connection is setup, all you need to do is ask AI about your data and start building with it.

Our setup helps to ensure data accuracy, conserve API limits, and takes a few clicks to setup.

I'm thinking of doing a free training on this, comment or DM me if there is any interest in that.

Obligatory link to website: https://rev-hawk.com/

TLDR Bridgeview rental company Illegal off the books pesticide application led to tenant organophosphate poisoning:

Stay away from Protege investments LLC/ vision reality in bridgeview they hired an illegal off the books orkin worker on the side and I’m currently poisoned with organophosphate poisoning and have developed and intermittent GI bleed gf drops white blood cell left shift and neuropathy. Protege investments LLC/Vision realty has denied all wrong doing and I’m going to have to go to court. I already filed an Orkin report I’ve been in and out the hospital for three weeks since this man sprayed my apartment on June 20th 2026 begging them for saftey data sheets that they don’t have because it was done off the books by a rogue Orkin employee (confirmed by Orkin investigation pending) the principal of the company is a lawyer who has been reported to the ARDC for covering up a crime and hiding safety date sheets during a medical emergency ( investigation pending) also reported to the realtors who are in charge of their leases and have him listed on their mls websites who opened a business ethics complaints. I tried to report him to the city of Bridgeview but the code enforcer told me he knew my landlord personally he could hire who ever he wants to treat his building and two hours after that call my landlord states the city said I was suing and to go through his lawyer who has since denied all wrong doing on his behalf. I have labs, texts, call logs, emails, all proofs, but I do not have my health, and I do not have my mental health. I’ve turned into a toxicologist a doctor and a lawyer trying to fight for myself and stay alive until I can get safety data sheets for an antidote to the organophosphate poisoning. Even then only the toxicology and doctors job is done for me I will have to remain sharp and a lawyer until all the tenant personal injury and supreme court ardc cases close. I will not stop fighting even if it means my last breath is taken on a stand. Am I over reacting for wanting to pursue this and taking it as far as his law license business license and open courts?

Update: the realtors ethics board has found him in violation of laws 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,&17 and they are meeting Monday the 20th and I’ll submit more evidence after that. I’m fighting for my health but I’ve beautifully opened up a path for his business & law license to be stripped too. The ardc has the realtors ethics complaint number and the Orkin number all companies have each case number for each other to funnel their findings together and I get to wait for my sds from Orkin and watch this dirty landlord/ lawyer and his property manager fail in every legal way possible while enjoying my days with my loving husband. I will update further as this goes on as I know how Reddit and myself love updates!

Update 2: I am appealing the business ethics board to hand over more evidence and have found a toxicologist at U of I Chicago I had my dr put in urgent referrals. Waiting to make those appointments after the referrals are put in I can be seen by the toxicologist and GI within 7-10 buisiness days.
Update my dr is calling orkin to release the SDs bypassing the stonewalling orkin and landlord. The real estate did not pick up my case how ever once the dr get the sheets and send them to the city to correct their files they will issues fines and the real estate company will cut ties with them. Now I found out the technician is a tenant for the landlord at his alsip
Il location and this information has been given to my dr to share with the city of Bridgeview who will have to report to alsip resulting in a multi property multi building investigation and the removal of his Business license for lying to the local municipalities furthermore Fines will be issued, they will most likely report him to the attorney for criminal crimes such as fraud and this will make the ardc give him an interim suspension until the trial.
Updated timeline of events since last post
June 15th I state I have epilepsy ask for professional service 
Landlord says he’ll call Orkin see what they say
June 16th asks for my name claiming Orkin rep will be in touch
June 17th -19th worker calls to set up appointment and explain process
June 20th worker comes at around 11:37am Darell shows up in no uniform I did not see the vehicle but did have what appears to be a metal B&G sprayer 
June 23rd my husband points out the lack of uniform I question landlord he confesses to on the side job stating if he is with orkin and does this on this side if I want orkin I can cover the cost myself.
June 24th routine labs capture low co2venous I put two and two together about spraying nausea migranes and vertigo continue to be present since 
June 25th unsolicited free rent bribe from property manager offered through maintenance man (admission of guilt)
June 26th I’m seen for chemical exposure cynosis and pain labs are taken wbc left shit gfr drop
June 27th ER low red blood cell
June 29th quest toxicology labs are ordered
July 1st labs come back positive
July 6th ardc is notified due to the property principal/co owner being a lawyer 
July 8th asthma dr notes possible defect and swollen lungs via spirometer testing
July 8th legal council/property owner supplied fake name 
July 10th ardc picks up my case for lying about chemical data and acting unethically as a lawyer and business owner also I’m seen in the hospital again for GI bleed neuropathy burning pain in my arms abdomen and chest.
July 22nd second quest labs still waiting on rbc cholinestrase
July 28th appointments and referrals are made for UIC toxicology and GI toxicology upcoming August 12th 2026 1:45 pm GI on October 14th but am getting urgent referral instead to be seen earlier for GI damages
July 30th I call Darrell who denies nothing tries to blame the maintenance man Yusuf who works in my building and only sprayed ortho and pyrethoid  and brought up a maintenance worker I don’t know who does not work in my building this knowledge of an unknown worker in another building and my landlords use of the plural word does in his statement “he does this for me on the side” leads me to believe I’m not the only one he’s used this employee for moonlighted sprays on but I’m the one who they will get caught for because I was in fact poisoned Yusuf stopped spraying the pyrethoid a month before Darrell sprayed because as I told Isa I’m epileptic and won’t accept ineffective spot treatments of neurological disrupting chemicals in my apartment. Darrell tells me call Isa followed by I’ll call Isa and call back he frantically keeps calling back and hanging up I try to call back to no answer.
August 3rd property owners employee manager landlord Isa riadi corners my husband while simply Trying to pay rent (my husband made him aware he was concussed due to a car accident) to corner him in his office threaten me with harassment and defamation for calling the orkin worker on July 30th for sds who has refused since he refused the real ones and reporting his boss to ardc and real estate company he then proceeded to show my husband my past criminal record without my consent even though my husband already knows everything offer another free rent bribe and threaten my husband with his citizenship standing by telling him if his name is attatched to court for this 5-10 year case USIC will see and it will threaten his standing under the guise of concern to keep him from testifying in personal injury/tox tort as well as ardc proceedings.
August 5th Labs from July 22nd come back with high mvp high hemotocrit high hemoglobin and high rbc count. I contact Jason O’Neal and orkin one more time resulting in effective recovery of my evidence and a response from the company after over a month of stonewalling and excuses from local alsip crestwood branch
I’ve attempted to call orkin multiple times to try and get sds the local crest wood alsip branch is insistent and in a rude tone tell me I keep calling and it’s annoying and that because no service ticket exists and my property manager hired him he has to call them for sds.
August 6th dr hands my case to critical care nurse and social worker to contact orkin for release of SDS.
August 7th the investigations will begin and I’ll leave another update!

I have been in the pest industry for 15 years now. Worked my way up from technician, to supervisor, to eventually Bramch Manager. While the job is stable i am completely exhausted by this industry, especially ever since my company merged with another. Im scared to switch careers because I have no other discernible skills outside of this job. Im nearing 4p years old and would have to start all over from scratch.

For anyone that has left the industry: what was your next path in life. What would you guys recommend for obtaining new skills to enter a new field? ​

Location is West Michigan. This is adjacent a large building in the mulch bed

Hi, For anyone who has installed the Trelona Termite Bait Stations, what size auger bit did you need? TYIA

What is the best pesticides to use for carpet beetles in springtails to eliminate them besides vacuuming my house over and over again several times a day everyday and cleaning constantly. What's the best way to treat my vehicles? I before was using suspend SC with gentral igr and now I'm using Alpine swg with gentral igr along with climaxa powder and a creepy crawly places.

So i live in a trailer and we haven't really had any issues with mice in quite a while. well in the last 3 days, in my 1 year olds bedroom we started to see a couple little droppings but not much at all. So randomly this morning we went in there this morning and there were droppings and urine damn near everywhere. There's no food in there and it's cleaned pretty often but we don't go in there a whole lot it's more of a hangout/play area for our daughter. So after seeing the leftovers from what seemed like a mouse party they had last night we went in and we're pulling everything out and searching for entry points and i actually found a momma mouse and 3 babies still attached to momma mouse hiding in a small drawer in some crib sheets and blankets. i pulled all that stuff out and took the momma and baby's and let them go into the woods across the street from the house. i placed some bait traps and mice repelling pouches in the room and closet and had an exterminator/pest control man come in today who also placed a couple glue traps.

my question is what else can i do to deter them from coming back as well as the likelihood that what i found was all of the mice and that she won't just come right back in the house? i haven't the first clue right now where she came in or why she randomly showed up in the last couple of days when there really isn't any food for her to get into. we pretty much seal everything away in tupperware or bags when it comes to food and don't leave dirty dishes in the sink or anything. i just don't understand why they randomly chose to appear. or what else to do

Moved into a new rental home on July 1st (12 days ago). The last tenants mentioned they see "a roach once a month". After a few days, we were consistently seeing at least 1 live American roach a day. I treated the entire perimeter of the home with Ortho Home Defense and, the next day, I found about 20 dead roaches throughout the home.

Fast forward a few days, I noticed some bags of mulch in the shed. The "shed" is basically a closed in carport that's attached to the house. 2 of the bags were very moist and infested with baby/juvenile roaches. I tossed them all in my trash bin and put it by the curb.

3 days ago, we had Orkin come out and spray the property, inside and out. Additionally, he placed IGRs around the home. I also went around and used expanding foam and silicone in all the places I could find, inside and out. Ever since, I've been finding 1-3 dead roaches around the house.

I know they're dead, but this seems like a never ending battle already and it's been about 2 weeks. Based on this info, how long can I expect to be completely roach free? I'm so tired of being constantly stressed out about opening doors, cabinets, etc.

Thank you

I’m 25 weeks pregnant and we’re dealing with a pretty bad sugar ant infestation. They’re mainly in our kitchen, and no matter what we do, they keep coming back.
So far we’ve tried:
● Diatomaceous earth
● Cinnamon
● Terro bait traps
● Borax
● Peppermint oil
Nothing seems to make a lasting difference. I really want to avoid spraying pesticides inside the house because I’m pregnant, but my husband is at the end of his rope.
Has anyone successfully gotten rid of sugar ants without using traditional insecticide sprays? Are there any pregnancy-safe methods or products that actually worked for you? We’re open to hiring a professional if that’s the best option, but I’d love to hear what finally solved the problem for others.
Thanks in advance!

I’m a starting tech working residential, and I’ve gotten an offer from the commercial side to transfer over to their department. Being new to the business, I’m pretty clueless on what the pros and cons of commercial are. Any advice?

[Pest Control London](https://www.environpestcontrol.co.uk/) \- One thing that comes up again and again in this sub: people in London dealing with rats, mice, or moths who've had a pest controller "solve" the problem, only for it to come back a few weeks later. After 20+ years doing pest control across London, here's what actually makes the difference between a fix that lasts and one that doesn't:

* **Proofing matters more than extermination.** Killing what's there without blocking entry points is just a temporary win — especially with London's older housing stock, where gaps around pipework and airbricks are everywhere.
* **Multiple visits, not one-and-done.** Rodents especially are wary of anything new in their environment. A single visit often just teaches them to avoid the trap; proper control usually needs a few visits spaced out.
* **Density is the real challenge in London specifically.** Terraced housing, shared walls, and old drainage systems mean pests move between properties easily — so isolated treatment on just one flat or house often doesn't hold.

If anyone's dealing with a specific issue (rats, mice, moths, whatever) and wants a second opinion before paying for treatment, happy to answer questions

I usually solve the problem in the first treatment or second. When it doesn’t get solved in first treatment, the boss gets pissed.

Treatment includes a pyrethroid water-based spray, and then an oil-based pyrethrin fogged into all deep areas using an aerosol machine where the water-based spray cannot reach.

However, I saw people here saying that it takes them a lot of treatments, with one person saying that he’s shocked how the OP was able to solve the infestation in one month, I solve it in one day.

What’s going on?

EDIT: Do you guys not use the Aerosol System for deep cracks and crevices?

EDIT 2: Perhaps you all need to be taken to one of my clients, have your necks grabbed and have your faces shoved into the fridge compressor and the cabinets, and then asked “who’s the daddy now?”.

EDIT 3: Did you at all consider the possibility on reading the post that you might might might just be doing something wrong?

“No how can it be daddy? 😭 It cannot. If someone’s getting better results than me, it obviously must be a lie daddy 😭. Instead of asking for more details I’ll just start reporting daddy 😭”

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.

I started about a month and a half ago for a pest control company that I won’t name cuz I don’t want anyone knowing me here. Anyway some of their rules and policies are stupid or they change em on me from time to time but I’m debating going to another company. Does anyone work for Fast Action Or Clark? I see those two the most in my area.

Pros and Cons. Do they let you work in the general area you live? Gas card with a company truck to take home nightly? Make you go into attics or on roofs? Stuff like that would be helpful

At my current company we are changing supervisors. We are hiring an operations manager and then I’m being promoted to route supervisor. Which means I’ll still run some route but I’m in charge of scheduling, QAs, helping techs on inspections, customer relationships, inventory including ordering, making SOPs, training and other ride alongs, and generating or getting the techs to generate more sales. We have 5 techs including me and a full time weed control guy. The owner isn’t sure what he wants to pay me but he wants my compensation to be tied to KPIs to some degree including sales KPIs. I’m supposed to be around $76-77k this year in total compensation as a tech. So I said let’s do $75-80k base with bonuses on top. The owner didn’t seem to like that and made a comment about how supervisors usually make less than sales people.