Integrated Pest Management, IPM for short, is a philosophy that stresses the use of all methods of pest control with the use of chemical treatments as just one important tool in the kit, and perhaps not the most important tool, at that.

 

A key toward reducing the amount of pesticides used in our environment is through pest prevention.  Exclusion, or ‘build-out’ is a mechanical control method for keeping pests out of areas they are not wanted.  It is extremely green. 

 

With some pests, like rats, mice, or squirrels, if you do not perform exclusion, you are almost certain of future infestations.

 

In this home I was dealing, once again, with squirrels in the walls, and squirrels in the roof, or attic.  Another not so typical case of squirrel removal.  First step, live trap the squirrels, and then work to keep future squirrels from moving in.

 

Here is one more unusual area for rat, squirrel, mouse exclusion.  The chimney of this home has settled in such a way that it has separated from the home.  A mason or chimney expert may be able to anchor the chimney and keep it from separating any further.

 

I was asked to rodent proof the gap, post haste.  After discarding the use of flashing, since the chimney incorporated rock and brick, making the surface area highly irregular, I settled on heavy duty 1/4 inch metal screen.

 

The owners of this home were worried about cost factors so we skipped a couple of steps that might have made this application more secure.  I recommended but was over ruled, the use of high quality, high strength mortar, to fill in the screen, and to make it adhere more strongly to the chimney.  Instead I used some ready made concrete patch that should work.  It will dry darker and more similar in color to the chimney in time.

 

Years and years of experience have made us experts in getting rid of rodents. Regardless of how you feel about rats, mice, and squirrels, in general, no one wants them inside their homes, chewing on electrical wiring, making huge messes in their attics and crawlspaces.

 

You can find more info on rodent control, pest prevention, and our company at www.safepest.org.  Feel free to email us with questions service@safepest.org, or call us at 1-877-743-1896

I recently had some fun in an attic.  Squirrel removal and squirrel exclusion or build-out.  The squirrels were coming in through the roof vents.  Most roof vents have very soft, light weight screen that is really easy for squirrels and even rats to tear apart.  This is one of the reasons we always recommend for pest prevention that all vegetation be kept a minimum of three to four feet away from all roof, gutter, and eave areas.  File this story under:  Getting rid of squirrels or rats.




Squirrels were hopping in and out like mad.  To fix this problem, I installed heavy duty 1/4 inch wire mesh known as hardware cloth and secured it with lath screws.



Sorry if that is hard to make out, the attic was rather dark.  If you look closely you will see that all sides of the screen are pushed up into the roof vent to prevent the squirrels from just nesting directly under the vent.  While I am sure that this will keep the squirrels and rats out of the attic, getting to the vent from the attic was problematical.




What you are looking at is the original attic of the house.  It was first built with planks and some sort of membrane.




This membrane was covered over with an additional roof level of lathe and plaster.  Later the home was given a new regular height attic of sheet rock below, but the upper attic with it's many layers was left in place.  And why not, it made for a great squirrel condo?


So all I had to do was break through two layers of old attic while working in a three foot attic space beneath it.  Piece of cake.  Did I mention that the roof angle was really steep outside, or I would have rodent proofed this some other way??? 

I attempted to open about a 2 foot section through both layers.  It took about an hour using prybars, hammers, hand axes, and power equipment.  After I got the area opened up, the remaining lathe and plaster ceiling dislodged and fell the four feet onto the lower leel ceiling and about gave me a heart attack.

Squirrel removal, rat removal, no poisons or chemicals used.  True organic pest control.  Pest prevention is the corner stone of any IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Program.

We have two types of ants in the Northwest which we classify as ‘moisture ants.’  Each of these ants belongs to a different ant genus which may have one or more species which look similar and / or act in a similar manner.  Ants of the genus Lasius, sometimes referred to as cornfield ants, and ants of the genus Acanthomyops, sometimes referred to as the larger yellow ant.  These ants have a few things in common, but mainly, their penchant for nesting in wet decaying wood.

While other ants will nest in wood, wet wood, and even wet decaying wood.  Somehow these two different types of ants got bundled together because they are both fairly small and when they infest buildings they often infest the same areas.

Both of these ants commonly infest trees, stumps, fence posts, and any other wood in constant direct or close contact with the soil.  Soil holds moisture and these ants will not typically infest wood which does not have high moisture content, although on rare occasions they have been known to bring moisture to wood—a process known as ‘farming.’

Other materials besides soil will hold moisture, contribute to wood rot, and provide nesting incentives to these ants.  Beauty bark, wood chips, leaf and other plant debris, sand and gravel all hold moisture very well.  Additionally, many common construction materials exposed to moisture and in contact with wood will lead to moisture problems and ant infestations.

While these ants are often noted around the exterior of the home where siding, or other wood of the structure meets the soil, they can also be found under homes where wood of the structure meets the soil of the sub area, where wood left over from the building process was left by the builder, or where tree stumps or tree root systems where not completely removed prior to building.

On rare occasions, nests of these ants can occur under the concrete floor in basements or in other types of slab homes.  Workers and even the winged swarmers will sometimes come up around the edges of the slab along the interior perimeter of the home, especially if the builder did not clear the wooden form boards used to frame the foundation prior to pouring the concrete which became the slab floor.

These ants can also be found in nests occurring much higher in a building, around windows that sweat, gutters that leak, pin hole leaks in plumbing lines, leaky bathrooms shower enclosures, faulty roof flashing, and even under roofing materials if moisture is consistently present.

Just like Carpenter ants, mature nests of Moisture ants will produce winger reproductives after their nests are well established.  Swarms, or ‘mating flights,’ typically occur in late summer around August.

The most important control aspect for moisture ants is an inspection by a qualified pest control professional.  They should be able to help you pinpoint moisture causes and outline possible steps to reduce the moisture to levels that are no longer attractive to these ants.

A treatment may be recommended, especially if there are a lot of ants, if it will take a little while before all contributing moisture problems can be addressed, in those situations where it just is not economically feasible to eliminate all the moisture problems, or where consumers have a concern about future rot problems.

These ants can and often do tunnel and forage below ground on subterranean insects and insect secretions.  A perimeter band treatment of your structure may not have any effect on these ants; it may not control them or prevent them from nesting, concerns about these ants should be discussed with your pest control provider.

It is important to note that in many areas where these insects are found, rot is found as well. Too often when contractors perform repair work to replace wood damaged by rot fungus and moisture ant infestations they do not remove and replace enough wood.  Rot damaged wood is often cut out at the point where wood is discolored or obviously soft.  Workers often attach new replacement wood right up against rot damaged wood. 

Rot extends inside the wood several feet beyond the point where it is visibly soft or discolored.  It is still there, a living organism, and if there is any future moisture in the repair area it will continue to grow and cause damage. 

While using chemically treated rot resistant wood may slow the spread of rot in an area of repair, it has been our experience that few, if any, contractors are installing these replacement materials properly.  According to the manufacturers, end-cut solution should be applied at every fresh cut, at every crack or split, and at every nail or screw attachment.  Additionally, any chemically treated replacement material specifically used for rot repair in any area of possible future moisture should be rated for direct ground contact.  Too many contractors use replacement materials that are more suitable for decking than for rot repair. 

Treatment of all wood in the area of repair with a material such as Tim-bor will help to prevent the future spread of rot, will help kill moisture ants, and is strongly recommended.  Tim-bor, Bora-care, and other preparations containing borate based fungicides can provide long term control and Tim-bor in particular, as a naturally occurring inorganic mineral compound should be considered a very green approach to rot and insect control.

Each nest may have hundreds, to hundreds of thousands of ants.  Queens may live twenty years or more– workers seven or longer.  (Other areas have different species of carpenter ants with different habits.)

 

The ‘main’ nest site is always located in an area that will never freeze or dry out.  Typical ‘main’ nest sites are trees and stumps.  Ants can retreat to lower levels of the tree or stump to avoid temperature extremes.  Satellite nests can be located anywhere, in other trees or stumps, and in every conceivable construction component, void space, and at every moisture level (including hot and dry).

 

The ‘main’ nest site for commonly encountered Northwest species is rarely found inside a home (5% or less).  If you do not have a long term major rot problem in your home—you do not have a ‘main’ nest site.  Satellite nests, which can also be found outside, are typically the nest type found in a home.  Many structures which have satellite nests will have more than one.   Even after careful inspection, most nest sites in a structure cannot be pinpointed exactly.  Nests can be in crawlspaces, interior or exterior walls, between floors in multi-level homes, in between the layers of flooring in any home, and in any combination thereof.  There are far too many possible areas to mention.

 

Carpenter ants do not ‘eat’ wood.  They eat other insects – they tunnel in wood and other building products, especially the solid core insulation, found most often in certain type of roof configurations, and under fake stucco facades, thereby causing damage.  While not as extensive as termite damage, it can sometimes cost many thousands of dollars to repair carpenter ant damage.  Damage, if occurring, may be happening in areas which are not visible or available for an inspection. 

 

Scent trails connect the ants to feeding areas. They also connect all the nests in a colony, including the ants in your building with the ants in the main nest site. These trails are comprised of formic acid and other chemicals and may take as much as ten years to fade.  Even after your nest is eradicated these trails will act as flashing neon signs pointing to your structure.

 

Related ants from other nests, especially the ‘main’ nest site, will follow these scent trails back and re-infest previous nest sites, including the sites in your structure. Carpenter ants have two egg laying cycles every year and bring more ants to all the nesting sites soon after these cycles complete.  Winged ants are reproductives and indicate the main nest site is at least 5 years old and well established.

 

Conditions which made your home attractive for the ants to begin with are usually still present after a treatment.  This makes a home which has had ants a prime candidate for re-infestation.

 

Ants which show up early in the year and then vanish, do not leave a home, they just stop looking for food inside.  Damage, if occurring, does not stop when ant sightings cease.  They will only look food inside a home in the late winter or early spring in this manner.  This is a sure sign of an active infestation.  As soon as their normal exterior food sources are available they will almost always stop showing up in your living space.

 

There is no such thing as a ‘baby’ ant.  Ants are the adult stage of the insect.  Carpenter ants can be told from other ants based on how they are shaped.  They can come in different sizes and colors.  We have 2 or 3 very common species in the northwest and at least 10 less common species.

 

Carpenter ants are not the only wood destroying ant in the Northwest.  Moisture ants and Velvety tree ants also destroy wood.  Anyone who sells a home in our state is required by law to disclose any infestations of vermin, including Carpenter ants when they sell their home.  Being able to show a professional response by a well trained and qualified pest control expert goes a long way toward giving prospective buyers peace of mind.

Step by step guide on how to build a rodent proof sub area access door.


The old door, in Picture 1, was installed by a licensed, experienced contractor.  He was not however, experienced at rodent proofing.  this door had a half inch gap at the bottom so that it would close over the irregular concrete footing.  It had a half inch gap at the top to that it could fit under the slightly sloping siding above it.  You can't tell by looking, but the door had also warped, which left a half inch gap where the non-hinged side closed against the foundation.  A mouse only needs a quarter inch gap.  A rat can easily squeeze through a half inch gap.  This door was installed to keep rodents out, but did not meet that goal for even one minute.

Picture 1.



The first step was to remove the existing door and any framing that would interfere with the new door.  I took everything down to the bare concrete as seen in Picture 2.

Picture 2



Next in Picture 3, I installed a 2 X 4 base for the frame.  I always install a frame for the door to set into, patterened, at least somewhat, after the frame that any regular door would set into.  This base would corespond to a threshold.  the frame is glued in place using all weather subfloor glue.  The glue is applied everywhere the wood touches the concrete and as a caulk to fill any small gaps.  All the wood used in this project was pressure treated, ground contact rated wood.

Picture 3



Next in Picture 4, I installed 2 X 4 sides that fit from the base, or threshold, up to the existing siding.  These pieces would corespond to the very exterior part of your average door frame, the casing.  This is one specific way of installing a door.  There is another type where the frame is built inside the concrete opening into the sub area.  This opening was so small though, that to save access room, I modified our normal work-up.  Again I use the subfloor as both a glue and a caulk.

Picture 4



Above the two newly installed sides, I installed a 2 X 2 nailer.  I used deck screws to anchor it back into the siding and the structural wood behind it, and I used the same type of screws to anchor the 2 X 2 nailer down into the 2 X 4 side pieces of the frame running up from the threshold to the siding..

Picture 5



In Picture 6, you can see that I installed two pieces of 2 X 2 running from the 2 X 2 nailer at the top of the opening back down to the base, or threshold.  These 2 X 2 pieces were screwed into the 2 X 4 side pieces behind them.  The need for these will become apparent in the next frame.  If you look at a regular door frame in your average house, you will see an inch and half by half inch strip of wood that is set in the middle of the frame that the door closes against.  If you look closely at Picture 6, you will see that a slightly larger expanse of wood now exists that a door could close up against.

Picture 6



I then installed a piece of 2 X 2 that spanned the top opening, just below the nailer.  This was attached with wood screws up into the previously existing framing of the home and also into the two 2 X 4 side pieces I installed in Picture 4.  This gives the entire opening an inner frame.

Picture 7



I cut the 2 X 2 wood in Picture 9 to build a frame for a door that would fit inside the inner frame.  I made the door about a half inch narrower and a half inch shorter than the maximum size of the inner opening.  This makes the door easy to get in and out, but still allows the door to fit flush up against the inner frame. 

Picture 8



I used 2 X 2 corner framing hardware to attach the pieces of the frame together.  I used one inch lath screws to attach the metal hardware to the 2 x 2 treated wood.

Picture 9



Prior to screening the 2 X 2 frame, I made sure the frame would fit properly into the opening.  There is nothing more frustrating than making your door too big and having to take it apart and rebuild it.  As you can see in Picture 10, it fits just fine.

Picture 10



Next I applied quarter inch hardware cloth to the opposite side of the 2 X 2 door frame than I attached the metal hardware to.  This will allow for ventilation and it will keep rodents out.  It also makes the door light and easy to pull out and replace.  The screen is attached with staples every few inches.  Be careful to make sure the screen stops at least a half inch before the wood does as this makes the door easier to handle.

Picture 11



In the final picture I placed the new door into the opening.  To secure it in place, I used two deck screws in the middle of the frame.  One on the top and one on the bottom.  It is hard to tell from this picture, but the screen is facing inward.
Picture 12



Picture 13 illustrates the slight gap around the door which allows the door to be removed and replaced easily.  If a door is too tight, it is too easy for service people to not close it properly.  Remember, the opening has an inner frame that the door is actually attached to with deck screws as detailed in picture 12.  You and any service people you hire will need a electric screw driver or drill to get access underneath, but really, how often does the average homeowner crawl under their home?

Picture 13

If you would like full size, high resolution pictures, simply drop me a comment with your email address in it.

If you are performing professional pest services control in Seattle, or any of the surrounding communities, you are spending a great deal of time providing rodent control. Rat control, mouse control, and squirrel control.

There is a tremendous population of rats and mice in our area.  One of the main reasons we have so many rodents is our mild climate.  Our winters are not harsh and there is easy availability of water throughout the year.

As a society, we preserve green spaces, we install landscape materials that offer ideal nesting areas, such as rockeries, and we often surround our homes and work places with bushes, shrubs, and dense ground cover.  This allows the rodents to flourish on the outside for ten or eleven months each year.  We attach vines to our buildings and let bushes and trees grow up onto our eaves and roof surfaces which allow rodents easy access to our roof tops.

A typical rodent related inspection will also turn up a number of ground level access areas as well:  broken vents, ill fitting sub area access doors, gaps around utility lines, uncapped drain lines, and much more.

The number one reason rodents infest buildings has nothing do with available food or sanitation; it is the availability of access.  Rats will travel several city blocks from their nests to find food.  Mice need a great deal less food and less water and can usually find their food sources closer.  House mice, for instance like to live within ten to twenty feet from their food, but will also travel farther.

Where do they find food? Nuts, berries, seeds of all kinds, insects, and of course the vast banquet that humans provide.  In any one neighborhood they will find at least a couple of bird feeders, perhaps some improperly stored bird seed, typically one or more dog food dishes where someone thoughtfully fills full of way more food than their dog can eat and then leaves outside all day and / or all night. They will eat dog feces, and let’s not forget garbage cans with ill fitting lids, or compost piles.

Anyone can set out a trap or throw around rat poison.  Trained professional rodent control experts know how to set out the trap properly to increase the chances of the trap actually catching rodents.  They know what type of attractant to use on the trap and how much (non-professionals almost always use about ten times too much). There is a science to trapping, including not just trap placement but pre-baiting and multiple trap sets.

There is a tremendous amount of liability when it comes to putting out rat or mouse bait (rat poison).  State law requires that all rodenticides be placed in special tamper resistant stations that make it difficult for children, pets, and non-target animals to access the poison.  Poisoning your neighbor’s cherished family pet can invite huge law suits.

The most important and professional rodent control measure that can be offered by a service company however, is a full rodent inspection and exclusion report.  If a building is not rodent proofed it may not be possible to control the existing rodent population, and the rodents will always come back. 

This type of work is referred to as IPM or integrated pest management.  It can be thought of as pest prevention if it is performed before pests move in or before pests move back in.  WHy is this type of work necessary?

Rodents urinate wherever they go.  Their urine contains and great number of pheromones which are chemical markers that tell other rodents such information as: the sex, social status, stress status, and dietary status of the rodent who urinated. It is like a neon light flashing a huge vacancy sign that can be read by any passing future rodent.

Rodents will sometimes become ‘food specific’.  If rodents have been feeding on one food source for a period of time they may ignore other foods, including the attractants on traps, or the attractants used in poison baits.  As long as they have access to their preferred food source it may not be possible to control a given rodent population.

These are two very good reasons to make sure that your home is rodent proofed.  Rodent proofing is both an art and a science.  Most experienced contractors, handymen, and otherwise skilled homeowners totally botch rodent proofing.  Rats can enter a building through a gap the size of a quarter; mice need only an opening the size of a dime.  They easily chew through expanding foam and soft woods like cedar.  Steel wool, by itself, is not usually a good rodent proofing material either.

In the coming weeks I will be adding more posts, including blogs with step by step instructions on how to perform rodent exclusion properly.  Rodent proofing done early can save you thousands of dollars as it is becoming increasingly common for purchasers to require rodent clean-up and sanitation methods prior to buying homes and other real estate.  Replacing all the insulation under a home can be very expensive.

Stayed tuned.  In the meantime, if you have a rodent situation that you need help with – give us a call!

Slow moving wasps are crawling across your floor, counter, and window sills.... Well, maybe not at your house, but they're out there and their on the move, in homes through out our area.

Overwintering wasps, including yellow jackets are starting to emerge from their hiding spaces for the spring.  The only problem with this phenomena is that they have been hiding, secreted away, in the depths of your home.  Yes, your home.  Warm and cozy in your walls, attic, or sub area.  Often nicely tucked inside whatever type of insulation you've provided them with.  They usually move so slowly that they pose only the slightest threat to your safety, but your peace of mind may suffer a little.  Unless, of course you step or sit on them.

They hide away in almost all homes, whether or not you see them on any given year, may has a lot more do with how your house is built than on how many of them are nesting in it.  They need only the tiniest little holes to wiggle into.

When they wiggle out, they are not looking for food, nor are they are not looking for a caffeine fix, although after months of hibernation, I know I would be.  They are looking for a way out.  Usually what brings them inside is some stray bit of sunlight that reflects into their nice warm winter habitat.  They fall out of whatever crevice they can and begin the slow perilous trek to the closest window with good sunlight.

You can swat them with a rolled up newspaper or bedroom slipper, you can show them to your trained attack cat, or you can call a professional.  Ahem, that would be me

I would be happy to inspect your home to see what could be done to reduce their numbers.  I would be happy to perform a preventative treatment to help keep them from building nests.  Unfortunately, keeping them from making an appearance right now can be problematical.

At this point in the year they have the same metabolism as your basic berserker.  Sometime later, long after they are dead, their muscles really will stop moving.  Just don't count on it being any time soon.  In fact, pesticides often have very limited effect as their metabolism is so slow they don't absorb enough for the materials to be functional.

We will do everything we can to help you and we can do a lot to keep them from nesting in your crawlspaces or up under your eaves, but we can't always guarantee the you won't see any more of them crawling slowly across the back of your couch.

The cost of yellow page advertising continues to rise each year, even as the return on investment continues to decrease.

At Safeguard, we get most of our business from repeat customers and from customer referrals.  Safety is our number one goal with quality being a close second.  We don't compete on cost - we leave that to the huge multi-national companies - with their huge advertising budgets and their incredibly constant flow of employee turn over.  We compete on quality.  We want to be the very best.  We want to be worthy of every referral we get.

This has led to very loyal and satisfied customer base.  However, in the past, to keep the business growing, we have relied on yellow page advertising as well.  It brings in new customers and allows previous customers to find us.  However, fewer and fewer people use the yellow pages.

With everyone turning to the web these days, we get more and more of our new business from the search engines.  Of course, the search engines aren't free either.  They are cheaper than yellow page advertising, for now, but the day is coming when they too will cost an arm and a leg.

Every time you perform a search, the first several pages of results are from paying customers.  All those paying customers are bidding on your ever important click.  That bidding is raising and will continue to raise the cost of every click.  Search engines are getting very fussy about the content at your site as well.  So a hidden cost of internet advertising is the increased amount of time spent managing the advertising campaigns, and content.

Its a good thing we do good work.  Please keep putting out the good word on Safeguard- - and thanks, MrSafeguard

Somewhere between the end of February and the middle of March, something wonderful happens.  The temperature slowly rises.  The sun makes the occasional appearance, and insects slowly poke their sleepy little heads out from their winter hiding places. 

Yippee!

Soon the phone will be ringing.  Soon the wasps will be falling out of the ceilings around light fixtures.  Soon the ants will be marching four by four, hurrah!  Soon we will once again be as busy as, as, well, as a bee

All kinds of people who had no idea that they were infested late last year, will find out all about this spring.  I love the spring.

MrSafeguard

IPM.  Integrated pest management.  The idea that pesticide applications are only one aspect of solving a pest control problem.

Yesterday I installed wooden framing with vaulted screening around and over recessed lighting in a customer's attic.   Wasps nesting in roof voids and attic spaces will often exit the attic around lighting and attic fans into living areas.  The screen I installed will prevent this from happening.  It does not rely on pesticide to solve the pest issue, so its green, and it is a long term solution.

At Safeguard we always consider IPM on every job.

MrSafeguard