Fix it yourself
Pest Control Technician repairs you can do yourself
8 pest control technician problems a careful person can handle at home — and the point where each one becomes a job for a pro.
- You can do
- 8
- Pro-only
- 0
- Typical time
- 20 min – 8 h
- 01Open
Ant Infestation in Kitchen
Follow the trail to find the entry point — a gap around a pipe, a window frame, or under a door — and note what they are eating.
easy 20–60 min· $8–25 for baits and caulk
- 02Open
Bed bugs in the mattress
Confirm: look for rust-coloured spots and shed skins on the mattress seams, box spring and bed frame with a flashlight; do not throw the mattress out — moving it spreads them.
hard 2–8 h· $40–120 for encasements and interceptors
- 03Open
Carpenter ant damage in wood framing
Find the frass: the fine sawdust piles with insect parts in them sit below the entry hole, and that hole marks the gallery — put tape on the wall there so you can find it at night.
moderate 1–2 h· $15–40 in filler, hardener and caulk
- 04Open
Carpenter ants in wood framing
Watch at night: carpenter ants forage after dark, so sit quietly with a dim light near the frass or the kitchen and follow the workers back — the trail ends at the nest entry.
moderate 1–3 h· $20–50 in baits and caulk
- 05Open
Mice or Rodents in Walls
Walk the outside of the house at dusk with a flashlight looking for openings the width of a pencil — around pipes, cables, vents, and where siding meets the foundation. Mice need only 6 mm.
moderate 1–3 h· $15–40 for traps and sealant
- 06Open
Mosquito Infestation
Walk the garden after rain and tip out every container holding water — plant saucers, buckets, toys, tarps, wheelbarrows; a bottle cap is enough for larvae.
easy 30–90 min· $10–30 for dunks and screen patches
- 07Open
Scratching or Scurrying Sounds in the Attic at Night
Time and describe the noise: light scurrying at dusk and dawn is squirrels or rats; heavy thumps and slow movement at night is a raccoon; fluttering and squeaks at dusk are bats.
moderate 1–3 h· $30–90 in mesh, flashing and a one-way door
- 08Open
Visible mud tubes running up the exterior foundation wall
Photograph every tube with something for scale, then break a 5 cm (2-inch) section out of one tube and check it in a few days: a repaired tube means the colony is active.
easy 30–60 min· $0 — inspection and housekeeping only
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