Pest Control Q&A Episode #171

Description

Another round of Q & A for you friends who want a professional opinion.  We answer questions on which is better to use steel wool vs. copper mesh and where most rodents find entry into your homes or buildings.  We talk about one of the worst insects to try and DIY.  How a clean home can suddenly get roaches and so much more.  Send us your questions at colonyconfidential@gmail.com

Show Notes:

Ed Sheehan: [00:00:00]   [00:00:00] Mr. And Mrs. America and all the ships at sea Ed Sheehan for colony confidential, just fresh from shoveling a couple hours and feeling mighty fine.

[00:00:10]Joe Sheehan: [00:00:10] HAppy snow day . This is Joey buns. Welcome to another  question and answers podcast.

[00:00:16]As we got about what'd we get two feet of snow, total?

[00:00:19]I don't know. I think down here we got about 16 inches. 

[00:00:23], we got we got a good amount. Nothing new Yorkers can't get through , as always be powered through to get it done. Thank goodness for zoom. So I could still talk to my dear old dad.

[00:00:38] All right , let's get right into it. We got a couple of questions. This comes in from Mary Kate. Doesn't say where she's from. Can you use Brillo soap pads to plug up holes, to stop mice from coming in? 

[00:00:49]Ed Sheehan: [00:00:49] Yeah, you could, but I would strongly recommend  copper mesh because your steel wool is gonna rust and it's going to weaken and you have to remember something.

[00:01:00] [00:00:59] Anytime you plug up a hole where a rodent can get his teeth on that hole. That's holding it up.  He's going to get it out and he's not doing it in an hour or two hours or a week or a month. Maybe it'll take him six months. He got no place to go, nothing to do, except fool around with your steel wool, or your copper mesh.

[00:01:23] So even with the copper mesh, which I recommend highly. You're going to have to check it every couple of months. And if you see it's weakening up, you're going to have to put more in and tuck it in very tight.  So , yes, the steel wool will work, but it's not as good as the copper mesh.

[00:01:40] And either one  the mice are going to loosen it up eventually. 

[00:01:43]Joe Sheehan: [00:01:43] Just to answer the question the soapy Brillo pads or whatever name brand, it's not good to use the one with the soap in it because the soap is already breaking down the steel wool.

[00:01:53] You would want straight steel wool and just keep in mind that steel will break down in the elements. [00:02:00] So like Ed said, if you put it around a pipe, You're going to have to check it regularly and you're going to need the profit tools first to find the hole and then to check it, which mainly is a flashlight, you'll want a screw driver to stuff it in there.

[00:02:13] As Ed mentioned, the rodents can tug on it or push or pull it. So you may want to add some type of sealant or what I've seen some people do is use expansion foam with the steel wool. I'm not a big fan of that. Xpansion foam at all, because they can choose through that too. Another thing to do is stuff it with the steel wool and then fit sheet metal around the hole.

[00:02:37] So that then even if they do pull the steel wall out, then you have the sheet metal, which is another layer. Also there's a product on the market that is  basically a coated steel wool. So it does not break down in the elements. That product is Called xcluder. X, C L U D E R. It's a fabulous product.

[00:02:55] We've actually used it in a large, I think it was [00:03:00] 200, probably about 2000 square feet, 200 by 10. And we laid it down like sod for a rat infestation and we dug up the soil probably about , six or nine inches and then laid this almost like you would lay 

[00:03:14] the fake grass or the grass that already comes green  and we nailed it down with sod spikes and it worked very well,  I hope that answers your questions.

[00:03:23]Ed Sheehan: [00:03:23] I want to add something you had said about , the sheet metal. See, okay. Sheet metal. But if you put that sheet metal down tight, Over the steel wool.

[00:03:35] Can't get a grip on it with their claws or their mouth  you put that in once and you put it in right. And getting through it. However, they could start to chew around the side of it, so you may want to put a nice chunk, not only to cover the hole, but maybe to cover three or four inches on either side of it.

[00:03:53] Yes. Correct. Thank you. This is from Johnny mans.  I have been suddenly seeing [00:04:00] roaches in my apartment. After two years, I'm renting an apartment, never saw roaches in the past, but now I see them in the kitchen and bathroom. My house is clean . This is  a layup.

[00:04:08]Yeah he says he just moved into the apartment a while ago. No, he's been there two years. And the reason I say to lay up is because  we're in this every day and we know it. Roaches can get into your home with anything you bring in. So fast food you order the fast food.

[00:04:25] There's multiple touch points. You could get a road from, it could be from the kitchen that the food is cooked in. It could be from the counter of the place where the food waits, while it's waiting to be delivered, it could be the vehicle of the person delivering it. Basically it's   likely that they were brought into your home.

[00:04:42] Even with groceries. What does he say? He's seen a few roaches or a lot of roaches. He's just seeing them he's never seen him before.  From previous experience personally, and in working sometimes a new neighbor  moves in next to you above you, below you, besides you, [00:05:00] whatever.

[00:05:01] And they have roaches because they're not too cleanli or whatever. I had that an apartment. I lived on Cross street and I used the spray, their apartment was on one side of my apartment, but my wall that their wall, I used to spray that once a week. And then  I knocked on the door and said, you have roaches.

[00:05:20] No, I go, I've seen them on your wall. Oh, we can't afford an exterminator. I says, I'll take care of it. So I sprayed their wall and they said, what about the rest of the apartment? I'm not interested in the rest of the apartment. I'll come here and spray a wall for free  but that could be a problem too,  a new neighbor  moves in ,

[00:05:40]Joe Sheehan: [00:05:40] so that's a luxury as a PMP that we have where we can treat our own apartments. Another thing that I would say, if you identify a neighbor like that you could always drill the abutting wall and dust the wall so that when they come through the wall, they get the pesticides dust on them.

[00:05:57]Ed Sheehan: [00:05:57] Good idea. . 

[00:05:57] Joe Sheehan: [00:05:57] That's one way, but you got to remember. [00:06:00]  Roaches are most likely being brought in somehow, because just being dirty does not create cockroaches.

[00:06:08]Ed Sheehan: [00:06:08] They're after your blood. Oh no. That's bedbugs,

[00:06:11]Joe Sheehan: [00:06:11] but you know what I'm saying? Being dirty doesn't create roaches, having a Roach, get into your apartment from packaging boxes, deliveries, and the whole thing we just discussed.

[00:06:23] Having a friend of yours who came to visit correct,  but if one Roach is introduced to your house and then you provide. The famous word, conducive conditions or perfect home for them to live in. Then you are allowing them to multiply 

[00:06:40]Ed Sheehan: [00:06:40] I have a real clean apartment. Oh yeah. Turn over  your toaster and see what comes out of the toaster. Remember, these guys don't need a lot to food to survive on. So I've been in places that my God, the place is spotless. And I turned over the toaster and bingo. 

[00:06:56]Joe Sheehan: [00:06:56] Yes. And  just a reminder to everyone out there. You [00:07:00] can get roaches if you're clean, but in that situation, it should be easier to eradicate them by hiring a professional

[00:07:09] and even though your home is very clean, like ed just said, it might be pulling out the stove or pulling out the refrigerator, or there may be an issue with your dishwasher.  Those are the top three, especially in clean homes that a lot of us forget about. So it's possible to have roaches, even though you clean  so another fun fact about roaches, just so you  know, Ed mentioned friends coming over. Obviously if your friend has roaches crawling all over them, you're not letting them in the apartment, but if you will roaches, especially  our favorite, the German Roach. If they get a dose of pesticide and they feel themselves starting to die, they will jettison the ootheca.

[00:07:48] So basically they will shoot out the egg capsule that holds hundreds of roaches , they're all about continuing their lineage so  their offspring will live a fabulous [00:08:00] life. So they may have shot that in your best friends Shirt pocket after they got a dose in your own home and then unknown to you, you bring it to your friend's house, you leave your bag there.

[00:08:11] And  the Roach has come out of your bag and there you go.

[00:08:13]Pest control is fascinating. Isn't it? It's never dull because you're always solving problems, which, keeps your mind going. And. As I have a very strong mind and anyway it's exciting. It's fun. You got a problem  and to sum it up, if I walk in your apartment is spotless and you know what it certainly is, but  like Joe said, if I pull out your stove, how often you clean there, and by the way that gas pipe behind the stove is.

[00:08:44] Usually one of the entrance ways that mice get in and  when's the last time you pulled out your refrigerator because your refrigerator usually has a motor and the motor is warm and, roaches like to stay warm, they don't need to go to Miami beach, [00:09:00] nothing like that. They're not interested in it, but  if you're comfortable in your house at 70, they're very comfortable at 70.

[00:09:08] If you're freezing at 20 in your house move because they certainly will too. So that's a good point about the heat from the appliances because the dishwasher is too. Yeah. The dishwasher has that space where you fit it in under the counter. And it's a perfect gap for roaches and heat. And even the moisture that comes off, it's like the perfect environment.

[00:09:31] And we find roaches in there often. It's like when that dishwasher is on and the roaches on top of it, it's like what my friend, uncle Jimmy used to call. It's like a sauna. You and I would call it a sauna and it's nice and warm there, oh my God, this is grand loosening up all the joints, I do.

[00:09:53] And so that's an ideal spot, Hey, you  want a little R&R

[00:09:58]ALl right. So I hope we answered your question. [00:10:00] Here's another question.  What are the best ways to get rid of bedbugs? How do you deal with one's clothes? What about dry clean, only materials books we're walking around and infested area with shoes on mean that your shoes are now infested.

[00:10:14] So let's take the question one at a time. What's the best thing to do? Call the professional pest management association. Check  credentials, make sure he's got insurance. He's certified by New York state or New Jersey, Pennsylvania, whatever. And if he's certified most likely we can check if he's got insurance just in case.

[00:10:36]I would also look online to see some of the reviews that they've gotten. And that's your best bet. Now, what was the second question? 

[00:10:44] I agree, definitely hiring a pest management professional. Makes the most sense as always it's even recommended by all of the health departments that we function in.

[00:10:53] They all recommend hiring a professional,

[00:10:56] The Do it.Yourself market is huge. Let me go buy a can of this to get [00:11:00] rid of it. And bedbugs are definitely one of those ones that I don't care. How frugal you are. It's one that you need to hire a professional. Ed said, make sure that their credentials are correct.

[00:11:12] And you could even ask for referrals if you want. And the reviews online, like he said, are perfect way of checking and, 

[00:11:19] Ed Sheehan: [00:11:19] doing it yourself? There's hazards. And I always refer to this article number of years ago, somebody in a bakery didn't want to hire an exterminator because it was too much money.

[00:11:30] And he went out and he bought all these bombs. Did he read the label? No. Did he blow up his bakery? Yes. He set off too many bombs. He didn't read the label saying you got to shut off  pilot lights, yada, yada. So  hope he was heavily insured, but you gotta be careful when you're going to do it yourself.

The only thing I recommend on do it yourself for bedbugs is to use a vacuum cleaner wherever you see them, suck them up.  When you're done. You got to empty the bag  in the vacuum cleaner put it in a big plastic bag and throw it outside immediately.

[00:12:04]You don't want to leave it in it cause it will start jumping out of the vacuum cleaner for you. When you do that with the vacuum cleaner, you are not exterminating. You are harvesting. Oh, it's nice. What are you talking about? It's been good for two or three days.

[00:12:17] Give them Time. These bed bugs are very horny. They're going to have a lot of kids. You didn't get them all. So that's where the professional pest management person comes in. 

[00:12:28]Joe Sheehan: [00:12:28] And  he asked about dealing with one's clothes. So basically if you hire a good pest management professional, they'll be able to talk you through all of this for your

[00:12:38] particular needs. But let me just give you the current state and the most popular opinion is for you to prep by washing all of your clothes and bagging them before each treatment. Usually there's two to three treatments,  at Colony we do three mandatory. And then. The prep sheet will speak to everything that you're talking about.

[00:13:00] [00:12:59] Dry cleaning stuff should be re dry, clean an idea behind all of this washing and dry cleaning   is that. Eggs may have been  laid on any of these items, even in your closet even under the plastic wrap that the dry cleaning is in he brings up books and toys and things of that nature.

[00:13:18] You can wipe them all down with a solution or you can use our friends in New York city. I'm moving right along. They'll pack all of your belongings and now take it into truck and fumigate. The entire truck fumigation is amazing for pests period, because it kills everything. But yeah just don't get in the truck with it, with them.

[00:13:40] Yeah. Yeah. But we've used them in the past and it works well combined with our treatment in the apartment.

[00:13:48]Ed Sheehan: [00:13:48] I have a question. Yes, sir. With books, can you put them in a microwave? 

[00:13:52]Joe Sheehan: [00:13:52] You might be able to, but the concern with the books,  is  what it's bound with. Is it bound with a glue?

[00:13:58] Yeah. [00:14:00] Oh, good point. And you can't put any plastic stuff in it cause it's going to melt. a lot of plastic these days can withstand 150 degrees or higher. Obviously look at what you microwave on a regular basis. It's in plastic.  Good PVC piping, I think is easily. Can withstand over 180 degrees.

[00:14:18] And For bedbugs, you only need to reach a temperature of 122 degrees. You could also use a professional grade steamer and steam some items including the books also put your clothing in the  dryer. Make sure and read the labels.

 cleaner, only don't pack it because you want it to cycle and move the air around.

[00:14:47] Think of a convection. You know what I mean? Where you got the air flow. Yeah, but when you say dry, cleaner only, what do you mean by that? Put it into your, then I say dry, clean my bed. You could [00:15:00] dry it. Just throw it in the dryer 

[00:15:02] you don't always pay attention to the label of the item that you're trying to clean the garment. Yeah. Or even the book, some books tell you how to clean them. Okay. And then here's another good one. We're walking around the infested area, which shoes on mean that the shoes are now infested. Keep walking.

[00:15:20] My opinion. They're not going to get in while  the shoes are moving. However you take those shoes off is a chance they will. I have found them in these. The little bunny slippers, they got the bunny head there and they were under the Bunny's headed.

[00:15:36] Someone would actually in the bunny Zs, but they weren't inside. They were outside with his bunny head was so would they go inside? Yeah, probably. But in this particular case, I'm talking about they were outside. Cause this was a nice fluffy pair of slippers with a beautiful little bunny. And I felt sorry for the money.

[00:15:55] But anyway, right? You got shoes on your feet. You're walking. I doubt they're going to [00:16:00] get in there, if you walk through the unit and you have a steamer or anything of that nature, you could just deem the bottom of issues or you could brush them off with a heavy-duty brush, very similar to the brushes use to clean cleats.

[00:16:12]They have em at a lot of golf courses if you play golf, something of that nature , and just inspect and look, but keep in mind that. They're very difficult to spot, especially if they are that brownish red color, if the soul is a Brown color 

[00:16:25] For a pure play chemical treatment, which is probably the least expensive, dollar-wise not taking into consideration the cost of preparation at colony it's three mandatory treatments. There's different chemicals used each time for specific reasons. And it is a tough process because you have to be prepared the entire time.

[00:16:50] A lot of people will pack a bag for the duration at a time clean 90% of their clothes, except for, I guess let's say a week's worth of clothes and they'll keep washing them and [00:17:00] seal them in a tight bag. A lot of times they'll leave that in their home on the dining room table, but anyway just ask all those questions. How many treatments are there? Warranties  there's not a ton of guarantees in pest control, but there's usually warranties. Make sure you pay attention to the warranty. A lot of warranties will speak to as long as no new furniture is introduced.

[00:17:21]And things of that nature. And that's a good thing for all the PNPs listening. If you have these warranties built in, make sure you are telling your service team to take pictures of the apartment during treatment. And we had this happen probably 10 or 10 or so years ago, we did an entire building.

[00:17:39] There were bedbugs in 14 and a 16 apartments. We did the whole building, including the two that didn't have live activity and because we did the whole building. We gave a six month guarantee back then warranty, if you will. And four months later they had bedbugs. We went in the dog alerted.

[00:17:59] We found [00:18:00] bugs. The handler took a picture of where they found bugs and it was in a bright fire engine, red leather sofa. So we went to apartment XYZ pictures that we had logged, and we said to the management here are the pictures from four months ago here are the pictures from today, as you'll see this furniture was introduced, unfortunately, your warranty is voided for this unit.

[00:18:23] We  did give them a discount to retreat and they understood.

[00:18:29] All right. What's the next question? How do you know. If fits your imagination slash fear, or if you really have a pest problem, I see random black spots on wall Brown, sticky things. I saw  one time, a white thing on a door, but after careful checking, it looked more like a cloth or something.

[00:18:50] I don't know if I'm going crazy or  if I have a pest problem caused by my own self  I'm very afraid of bugs and I just moved to new apartment.

[00:18:59]. [00:19:00] One delusional parasitosis is a very thing disorder where people feel they have this persistent belief that they're infested with living or non-living pathogens like parasites, insects, bugs, when there's nothing really there.

[00:19:18] Now I'm not going to say this is the case, but it's a thing it plays to. The mystery bug, which we'll get into in a second, but let me just answer the questions. The person says they moved into an apartment and they're concerned about these things. Now , if it's a decent apartment that you moved into, the landlord probably has a pest management professional on their vendor staff, and it is perfectly within your rights to ask them to have an inspection.

[00:19:45] Now, if you only apartment in a required for yourself for peace of mind, you may want inspection. As well, just for peace of mind and hire a pest management professional. I cannot tell you how many times we get Ziploc bags [00:20:00] and tape and we S and P is out there. Make sure you charge for these inspections and these.

[00:20:05]Identifications. And because we spent, even if you just spend 45 minutes out there trying to identify it, or between your drive time, you have that time, but then you have the time spent looking at all these things under a microscope. And  your time is worth money.  For all the consumers out there, please understand that when somebody spends 30 minutes in your house and then send you this email and gives you the exact pest that they found  all of these things take time that people are getting paid for.

[00:20:37] So that's a huge thing. Can I talk, not only that you spent time going to school? Learning your craft become a lawyer. In this case, you talk to a lawyer for 20 minutes, a hundred bucks, really cheap lawyer. Now you were on the phone for, you would talk to him for 20 minutes, but they build it for half an hour.

[00:20:56] So maybe it's 125, whatever your time. And your [00:21:00] knowledge is worth money, your time. And your knowledge is worth more money than all the pesticide you're going to apply.

[00:21:07] Then the other thing that I mentioned is the mystery bug, the mystery is often there is nothing, but people do actually get marks that look like potential bug bites.

[00:21:22] And it is often from a potential static electricity, poor HVAC or even overuse of pesticide. So this happens often in  an office setting where they have chairs and  no mats for the chairs and you roll back and forth. And it creates that static electricity.

[00:21:43] Also, even if  you have a job where you don't move too much during the day, maybe you go back and forth two or three times a day all winter, and then they turn the HVAC on in May and the combination of whatever dust in the HVAC. [00:22:00] Plus your roll of back and forth can create this where it looks like you're getting bitten.

[00:22:06] So the key to this for the consumers and all pest management professionals is you aren't just spraying. Oh, I got bites. I'm spraying. You are monitoring. You're putting out traps. This is integrated pest management 101. Inspect, monitor. Identify if all you pick up over the course of a week or two weeks, there's dust, there's a good chance.

[00:22:31] The carpets may need to be cleaned. You may need to buy those plastic mats . There's a bunch of things. And again, this comes from speaking with a pest management that knows what they're doing.

[00:22:41] So let me just speak to the person at home who asked this question. If you think you have pests in your house and you don't have availability to a super or a PMP,  go to your local pest control store, buy some glue traps and put them out and see what you pick up.

[00:22:55] We've had large areas where they've been getting bit and they wanted us to just do a treatment. [00:23:00] And we said, no, We need to monitor. And the last time we did this on a 30,000 square foot floor. And we put out 487 and I remember that number very specifically glueboards.

[00:23:13] It took two guys all day, and they wanted them checked twice a week and we did it and we charged accordingly.  After two weeks of being able to charge our hourly rate, For eight hours a day, plus the two guys. So 16 hours a day, all we found was dirt and dust. We had 487 Gould boards and we said, do you want to see them?

[00:23:37] The property manager? We had a great relationship with said, no. They said, we believe you. And we told them just clean the carpets we charged for all of that labor correctly and properly. No pesticides were applied, which is true. IPM. They cleaned the carpets. And the problem was solved.

[00:23:56]There you go. 

[00:23:58] So I'd be remiss if I didn't [00:24:00] mention our friend Deanie Milla from Virginia tech she's been talking about the effects of COVID on bed bugs and that In the elderly community, nursing homes, assisted living and things of that nature that have been somewhat cut off from a lot of the world and people don't, they're not making a fuss about stuff.

[00:24:18]She is expecting an explosion of bedbugs  in these types of facilities as we come out of COVID.

[00:24:28] You want me to comment on it? Happy days are here again. So it's funny that you do that because it does mean more business, but I think the thing I think, and this is always the economy. Is hurting. These people are certainly hurting these, the people that own these communities and facilities.

[00:24:53] So it is going to be an economic hardship on everyone. You will give them a COVID discount, give them a COVID discount. [00:25:00] Just another very funny story during COVID in the very beginning of the first two months, one of the nursing homes that we do, the technician sent us pictures on every floor.

[00:25:10] In every corner, there were onions, raw onions, whole raw onions. And somebody in the facility was told that helps keep COVID away. 

[00:25:21] Oh, they do work. They only keep werewolves away and they work well, wherever I put them, there was no way of wool, but it was funny because like we had to send this email saying, Hey, we have no idea if this actually works for COVID, but this is definitely not good for ants, which are about to come.

[00:25:39] And cause it was like March, April, and roaches and whatnot. This is not a good thing. It was so like basically we put gel and stuff around all of the onions, just in case they attracted to roaches, but just the things with COVID that COVID effects. But it's going to be interesting to see that everybody out there just pay attention to the elderly loved ones.

[00:25:58] If there are any of these [00:26:00] particular types of places, because they've been on such a strict lockdown.   There's going to be a really bad smell in that room because when those roaches and stock to eat the onions, what onions do.

[00:26:10] So those roaches and ants are going to be farting like you can't believe. Oh, listen, all seriousness. This is something that was brought over from the old country, wherever it was. I'm going to, I'm going to guess Eastern Europe , it could be anywhere and maybe it worked there or whatever. So it was passed down from generation to generation.

[00:26:33] And there you go.  All so I. Let's sign off. was having such a good time. This I listen. Mr. And Mrs. America, Ali ships at sea it's Shane for colony confidential. I'm going out now to help my daughter, Jamie dig out her car and I'll probably do the rest of it because she's on lunch break now from colony.

[00:26:55] So she's going to have to come back to work. I will finish out the call. [00:27:00] Okay. So Mr or Mrs. Margolis ships at sea. Stay safe. Be well, have fun in the snow. Pretend you're a kid. If you can be a kid, have some fun in the snow, just don't eat none of that yellow snow. Okay. All right. All we need again. God bless you.

[00:27:19] Appreciate it, everybody. This is Joey bonds. As ed said earlier, I am the brains. I just want to remind you, send us your questions to Colonyconfidential@gmail.com  we're getting some more consumer questions. But also we have our HR human resource series coming up, send this questions in about your team, a team engagement company, culture leadership.

[00:27:40]We're going to be touching on all of these things. Please make sure to send that to colony confidential@gmail.com or hit us up on social media. Colony confidential podcast at Instagram. I just want to thank you again for listening and stay tuned for the upcoming HR series.

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