Snap Pest Control

Thanks guys. These pesky squirrels chewed through a midsection of my clients home like I've never seen before. I went in the attic,and on the roof, before I located this spot. Installed a 1 way door to ensure they were out. I will return in a month to close the opening with plywood and mesh over the area as insurance. I requested some matching paint to make it all look nice again. Joe

Thanks guys I simply had to let your landlord know exactly what he was up against. Rats are complicated because they tunnel into structures. I've had to gut whole basements in order to stop rat entry. Just this last summer two basements were opened with both showing open access. My competitors on this page have no idea how many of their dead and poisoned rats we pulled out along the way. One job was particularly interesting. Early last year I was called upon to investigate a rat issue which was downtown in Toronto. The discussion took place as I was going away for a weeks vacation. This client wanted somebody quickly and I recommended another company which could help. Six months later I received a call from this individual and he wanted me to help him since he was still having issues. The rats were out of control now and my referred company which had offered a 1 year warranty had already been there 11 times to simply bait and bait. This client felt sorry for the initial company because he still had many more months to lose even more money on this job based on his unlimited 1 year warranty.
Enter company number 2 which loves to bait and only bait and even says guys that close access points like myself are an embarrassment to the industry. This guy comes in, offers a 6 months warranty,strings his bait together with wire and negatively comments on the first companies work altogether. The second company also came back numerous times and baited and baited. The second company probably still feels that they were successful only because this client never called them back. Instead we took over the job and resolved the issue.
Dominick and I made several cuts to rule out normal entry point areas before it was decided that the only other course of action was to remove the entire interior wall in the basement leading up to the stairs. We could feel the air temperature difference and knew the insulation was compromised.
Imagine an opening in between two semi's that spanned the entire length of a homes mutual ( or so we thought ) foundation wall. The houses had two separate ( looked like a semi ) foundations with a gap in between. These rats tunneled up the open gap between both houses at will and simply chewed through the hidden rim joists. The walls were removed, we filled in the entire 50 foot gap with large boulders,cement,wire mesh and shards of glass. This job took a week to complete and we have not heard of or seen one rat since which was 6 months ago. Nothing was going to stop them permanently from entering this clients house because the area has an established subterranean network of tunnels underneath it which they could access at will at any time.
In the end maybe my client should have waited for me to return from my vacation. Rat jobs are not cut and dry and simply throwing $300 towards at a rat problem doesn't always solve it. I hope this is helpful to anyone out there which is faced with rats. Rats should be taken seriously and I feel as if they are one of the worst possible pests to potentially encounter. Houses have been sold on this one issue alone. Next time you bid on a home take note that if there air fresheners in the basement going off, run!!

Thanks for your review. Cockroaches require a lot of work because they like to hide. In fact they will spend 95% of their lives hiding out and nesting. Looking for nests can be difficult without some good old fashioned detective skills. They can nest in stoves,microwaves,refrigerators,keyboards,calculators,lamps,outlets,smoke detectors,baseboards,walls,clocks,tiles,trim,baseboards,fans,toilets,vanities,sinks,dishwashers,knife blocks,etc....
One gravid female roach will produce 1 egg case (around 40 eggs per case) every 5o days. She is fertilized once and can then produce 5-6 egg cases ( 40 eggs per case ) during her lifespan. Therefore just one Ootheca ( egg case ) with a 50/ 50 mix of males and females under the correct conditions (20 x 40 eggs) could produce 800 roaches within a few months. Even if we assumed half this amount at 400 roaches that's still a nightmare to most people. These are the jobs which require the most intensive work and have become a joke within the industry because of the money which property managers are willing to pay for roach removal. Imagine with all those hiding places all the work involved to rid one unit of roaches properly. I average 3 hours to do 1 apartment and my competition may average 5-10 minutes if that. The approach is simple, guy walks in to the unit dabs roach bait in shelves hinges, and under sink then leaves. Roaches may or may not eat it then tenant comes home and the roaches are hiding. At night 1 or 2 come out and wallah nothing has changed whatsoever. Property manager is happy because they paid $20 to have the unit gelled. The pest control company is happy because they treated 50 units at $20 dollars each. The tenant still has roaches and is still not happy. Property manager calls me for advice I tell them the whole unit must be treated give them a cost they laugh go find even cheaper less effective solutions, the roaches are even more numerous and the tenant still has roaches.
I feel for people that are living in these conditions . For those of you out their living in apartments make the property management aware that you want your units treated by spraying cracks and crevices, waiting for roaches to emerge, mechanically removing roaches and then applying residual dust. Two weeks later returning to said apartment and re-treating for any recently emerged roaches. Roaches can be missed and egg cases will hatch. Another month later the place is treated again as insurance. Treatments should happen on a schedule and not be dependent upon whether one sees roaches or not because they hide and remember the sheer amount of devastation that 1 female roach can accomplish.

Thanks for your kind review. The issue came down to an open access point and heavy baiting in order to get this issue under proper control. Having seen this scenario once before on another job helped narrow things down. It is nice to hear that things are improving and I look forward to conducting another inspection in the spring. Joe

Thank you for your review. I hate rats the most simply because they are one of the toughest pests to track down and eliminate. The stories I have of them could fill many books. In fact there were times when I've had to gut whole basements in order to finally seal them out. Rat jobs are difficult to price for me simply because they dig into a home. Rats are known to have emerged from drains, open concrete basement slabs, crawlspaces,vents,toilets,poor foundations etc etc. They are a process and cannot be dealt with by setting a few traps and laying down poison. Not dealing with the root cause of a rat issue only leads to dead rats in walls, the smell of droppings and urine, chewed water lines ( pex pipes ), mites, fleas, or even house fires. I take rats seriously.

Thanks for your review. Termites are one of the toughest pests to manage and control. Considered to be a silent menace in a home termites can be seen all over Ontario. The pest itself poses many challenges and pricing and treatments vary from one job to another. Simply treating a home with chemical deterrents alone without dealing with underlying causes can result in disaster. Dominic worked with our client and was able to develop a strategy based on his extensive knowledge of construction. A 36 inch drill bit was used to
loosen any surrounding soil which enabled the rod to get as close to the footing as possible which gave us an excellent barrier saturation. At one point we even could see many dead termites oozing from the homes paved asphalt driveway.

Thanks for the review. Its has been almost 3 months with no activity at all in the home. This makes me happy. Mice issues can be tricky even though they are locked out. I will conduct 1 more follow visit in October as added insurance. The fact that there was no evidence at this time of the year though is reassuring.Joe

Thanks for your review. Two years and no mice, now that is what I like to hear. Only through a proper inspection and the closure of entry points can a mouse issue be be solved for good. This makes me very happy indeed. Joe

Thanks guys. I needed a change from wasps and mice and luckily this bat issue came across my lap. The farm had many bats and the inspection process involved getting an accurate reading on the sheer number of bats, along with their access and exit schedule. They had a routine and a good 46 of them were gone by 8:15 at night. Like clock work once the bats were out and accounted for I installed a bat cone in the dark. The cone was left in place for a solid month and I am happy to report that the bats have moved on.

Thanks guys. Good to know that this problem is solved.