Pestered by Pests? Here Is When to Call, and What Happens Next

Call a pest control professional when you cannot identify what you have, when the problem is inside a wall or structure, when one proper attempt has not worked. Also call when the pest carries real risk (bed bugs, stinging insects near an allergic person, rodents in a home with small children). A good pest control professional treats a first visit as an inspection that produces a plain-language answer, not a treatment applied before anyone has established what the problem is.

Most people wait longer than they should, and then they feel a little foolish when they finally call. Waiting costs money, because nearly every pest problem is cheaper to solve early. Calling is nothing to feel foolish about, since a good deal of what we are asked to look at needs no treatment at all. Getting an answer is a good reason to call on its own.

When you have crossed one of five lines. Below them, prevention usually handles it, and where DIY pest control goes wrong covers the line between the two. At or above them, an inspection is worth more than another product.

• You cannot identify it. Identification determines the approach entirely. Treating the wrong species wastes the product and the season, and a photograph on the phone often settles it in a minute.
• It is inside a wall or structure. Sounds in a ceiling, a nest in a soffit or hollow railing, activity behind a baseboard. Nothing a homeowner buys reaches inside a wall.
• One proper attempt has not worked. Not five attempts over six months, one proper try. If it persists after that, something about the situation is not what you think.
• The pest carries real risk. Bed bugs, stinging insects near an allergic person, rodents where there are small children, or anything where a mistake has consequences beyond nuisance.
• You are about to spend real money on products. Once the running total looks like a service call, the service call is the better purchase.

If you are on the line, call a pest control professional and describe it. Guardian Pest Management is at (303) 346-7087, and telling you that you do not need us is a normal outcome of that call.

An inspection, then a conversation, then a plan. Treatment follows from what is found rather than preceding it. A visit that begins with spraying before anyone has established what the problem is has skipped the part that determines whether the treatment works.

What to expect, in order:

1. A walk of the affected area and the exterior. Where you saw the pest matters less than where it lives and how it got in. 2. Identification. What species, at what stage, and how established. 3. Finding the conditions. Moisture, entry points, hiding places, food. This is the part that determines whether the problem returns. 4. A plain explanation. What was found, what it means, what treatment involves, and whether more than one visit is likely. 5. Treatment, where it is warranted, aimed at where they hide and how they get in rather than applied broadly.

People tend to undervalue the third step. Treating the insects you can see today is the easy part, and finding out why they were there is what changes next month. If you want that step done, call Guardian Pest Management at (303) 346-7087.

Five minutes of preparation makes our visit much more useful, and most of it is information you already have.

• A photograph, or the actual specimen in a sealed bag or container. This is the single most useful thing you can provide.
• Where and when you see them, and whether it has changed.
• How long it has been going on, roughly.
• What you have already tried, including products. This is not a test. It really changes the approach, because some treatments interact badly with what came before.
• Access. Crawl space, attic, garage, and the area around the affected room clear enough to inspect.
• Anything we should know, especially pets, small children, or anyone with an allergy or health condition.

That last point changes recommendations, so say it at the first call rather than at the door.

At home, Guardian commonly treats spiders, mice, voles, wasps and hornets, ants, and bed bugs. We also handle the other seasonal pests a Front Range home sees through the year.

On the commercial side, Guardian works with businesses, health care facilities, restaurants, commercial office buildings, schools, HOA communities, and professionally managed properties. One specialty is worth naming because it is unusual: large estates, and the estate managers, housekeepers, and caretakers who run them. Those properties have outbuildings, extensive grounds, and staff who need a single accountable contact.

Guardian Pest Management is family owned. Sean and Michelle Meade have run it since 2000. We serve Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Castle Rock, Parker, Centennial, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, Greenwood Village, Roxborough, and Cherry Hills. Sean and Michelle personally bring more than 30 years of pest control industry experience, earned before Guardian was founded. That was earned before Guardian opened. We hold a 5.0-star Google rating in South Metro Denver.

We will not tell you that pests will never return. Nobody can promise that. What we will do is treat what is there, address the conditions that brought it, and say plainly what to expect.

Home service does not require a long-term contract, and if pests come back between visits, ask and we will come out again at no charge. That is a commitment we can keep.

Ready to talk to a pest control professional about it? Call Guardian Pest Management at (303) 346-7087, or start at myguardianpest.com.

Related reading: What a pest control technician actually does; Where DIY pest control goes wrong; Finding and treating bed bugs at home; How to keep rodents out of your home.