What to have ready before a pest inspection

When you call about a pest problem, the first question is almost always the same: what are you seeing, and where? The more precise your answer, the less time anyone spends guessing. A little homework before the visit makes the inspection shorter and the answers better.

Take your own walk first

Go through the house with a flashlight and a notebook, or your phone's notes app. Start in the cellar, since that is where the foundation, plumbing, and utility lines meet the outdoors, and work upward. You are not trying to diagnose anything. You are collecting facts: what you saw, where, when, and how often.

• The cellar: the top of the foundation wall, around bulkhead stairs, and near any post or pipe that meets the floor
• The kitchen: under the sink, behind the refrigerator, and along the baseboards
• Bathrooms: around the tub, the toilet base, and where pipes come through the wall
• The attic or crawlspace: rafters, insulation, and the eaves
• The garage: door seals, stored boxes, and anything that has sat untouched for months
• The outside: the foundation line, window wells, firewood, mulch, and downspouts

Write down what you actually saw

Details beat impressions. "Bugs in the kitchen" is hard to work with. "About a dozen small brown ants along the windowsill over the sink, mornings only, for about two weeks" gives an inspector a place to start. Try to record the date you first noticed the problem, the time of day, and any pattern, such as after rain or after the heat comes on.

If you can safely take a clear photo, take one, and put a coin or a ruler beside the subject so size is obvious. A photo of droppings, a mud tube, a chewed edge, or a pile of sawdust can say more than a paragraph of description. If you catch an insect, a sealed jar or a piece of clear tape works well. Don't crush it flat.

Leave the evidence alone

It is tempting to clean up before anyone arrives, and that urge works against you. Droppings show where animals travel. A mud tube shows where termites climbed. Gnawed packaging shows what they wanted. Wiping everything down or spraying every corner removes the clues. Keep your normal housekeeping, but leave the spots you flagged untouched until they have been seen.

Make the spaces reachable

• Clear a path to the cellar stairs and the bulkhead
• Move stored items away from the walls in the places you are worried about
• Empty the cabinet under the kitchen and bathroom sinks
• Have a way into the attic or crawlspace, with the ladder or hatch cleared
• Make sure the lights work in the cellar and garage
• Plan for pets: a cat that bolts out an open door is a bigger headache than any bug

If someone has to spend the first fifteen minutes moving boxes, that is fifteen minutes not spent looking. Access is the cheapest thing you can improve.

Questions worth asking

An inspection is a conversation, not a delivery. You are allowed to ask questions, and a good answer to each of these will tell you a lot:

• What did you find, and where exactly can I see it?
• How do you think the pests are getting in?
• What can I fix on my end, such as moisture, gaps, or storage habits?
• What is the plan, and how will we know it worked?
• What do you recommend I do about the problem in the meantime, and what should I avoid?
• What will it cost, and is that explained clearly before any work starts?

Integrity Pest Control puts it in their own words: they will eradicate your pest issues without eradicating your bank account. It is a fair line for any homeowner to hold to. Ask for the plan and the cost in plain language, and make sure you understand both before you agree to anything.

Making the call

Integrity Pest Control has served Johnston and the surrounding areas as a family owned and run business for over 30 years, and the number is (401) 467-3344. When the family answers, have your notes in front of you, tell them what you saw and where, and ask about setting up an inspection. The list you made will do most of the work.