Crawling pests

Contact us if you need home treatment for black ants. We also offer advice on preparing for a treatment.

Identifying ants

Black garden ants are:

• dark brown or black with a segmented body
• 5mm long

Pharaoh ants are:

• yellow or light brown
• almost transparent
• less common and smaller than garden ants
• no more than 2mm long

Where are they found?

The nest is usually found outside a property but they can get inside buildings through the tiniest of gaps to forage for food scraps, this is why they are usually found in the kitchen. During the late summer the nest produces winged ants, often called flying ants.

Home treatments for black ants

An adult must be present throughout each visit. Treatments in your home involve:

• only treating internal infestations
• one visit
• an insecticidal spray treatment
• an advice sheet with information about the insecticide used
• measures to protect children and pets

Controlling a black ant infestation yourself

The most effective method of control is to find and destroy the nest. Look outside next to exterior walls on the south side of the house under paths or slabs.

Often ants will emerge in buildings from interior walls, giving the impression that the nest is inside the building. The ants often follow electrical wiring or plumbing along the length of the wall through the cavity or under the skirting boards.

If you cannot find the nest, use ant powder as a temporary solution to prevent them entering your property. Put the powder in any cracks:

• around door frames
• around airbricks
• around pipework
• around wiring
• behind kitchen units
• around waste pipes and drains

Lift the edge of carpets and apply powder along skirting boards.

We provide pest control treatment for bedbugs and have also produced advice if you think you may have an infestation or are preparing for a treatment.

Identifying bedbugs

Adult bedbugs are oval shaped, flattened and about 6mm long. When unfed they are pale brown in colour, but become reddish brown to mahogany when full of blood. Young bugs are nearly colourless, becoming brown as they mature.

Where are they found?

You can often find bedbugs:

• under carpets
• behind loose wallpaper
• behind wall pictures
• behind door frames
• around the arm joints of armchairs and settees
• in the seams of mattresses
• bedbugs can crawl vertically up wood, paper and plaster, but not smooth polished surfaces

Note. Their droppings look like black dots, which can also be a tell-tale sign. If you have no bites above the knee, the cause is more likely to be fleas.

Home treatments for bedbugs

An adult must be present throughout each visit. Treatments in your home involve:

• two visits, three weeks apart
• treating bedrooms and other affected rooms
• an advice sheet with information about the insecticide we used, where we placed it and any special precautions needed
• taking measures to protect children and pets

How to prepare your home for bedbug treatment

Before the treatment you should:

• remove pictures, posters, mirrors etc from walls
• move all beds, furniture and other items away from the walls
• remove head-boards from beds
• empty any bed storage compartments or drawers
• remove all items from under the bed
• remove bedding from mattress
• empty wardrobes, drawers, cupboards and beds of all linen and clothing and launder
• place any items which cannot be laundered in thick bin liners and seal tightly
• open and shake-out books, papers, CD/DVDs and videos
• lift all carpets around the edge of the room and leave them loose
• thoroughly clean and vacuum all rooms and empty the vacuum bag into the external bin immediately
• do not move anything out of the rooms to be treated, apart from rubbish and clothing that will need to be washed.

Before the first and second visit any clothes or bed linen must be either be:

• hot washed at a minimum of 60 degrees C or
• tumble dried at a minimum of 60 degrees C for at least 30 minutes or
• placed in a deep freezer for at least three days or
• dry-cleaned.

Other things to do before the treatment starts, include:

• unplug all non-essential electrical items
• turn off any aquarium pumps and cover the tank
• leave rooms to be treated and take all pets with you

After the treatment, you should:

• wait three hours before re-entering the rooms
• open the windows for an hour
• turn on aquarium pumps and other electrical items after the rooms have been aired
• do not vacuum, wipe or polish any treated rooms for at least two weeks
• sleep in your bed as normal - it helps to eradicate the bedbugs

If you wish to get a new bed, do not do so until the infestation is completely eradicated (which normally takes a minimum of two weeks and sometimes longer).

Contact us if you need your home treated for cockroaches. We also offer advice on preparing for a treatment.

Identifying cockroaches

Brent is commonly affected by Oriental or German cockroaches which are:

• 10-25 mm long
• light, dark brown or black.

Home treatments for cockroaches

An adult must be present throughout each visit. Treatments in your home typically involve:

• one visit
• placing gel bait under sink cabinets, around door hinges and other affected areas
• a spray for intensive infested areas
• an advice sheet with information about the bait used, where it was placed and any special precautions needed
• measures to protect children and pets

Preventing cockroach infestation

You can prevent cockroaches from entering you home by:

• filling any cracks
• reducing clutter
• cleaning pet droppings with detergents and disinfectant
• putting dead cockroaches in a plastic bag and in your wheelie-bin
• cleaning up all food debris from floors, tables, cupboards and drawers

Contact us if you need your home treated for fleas. We also offer advice on preparing for a treatment.

Identifying fleas

Fleas:

• are up to 7mm long
• are brown-black
• can jump but cannot fly
• frequently originate from cats and dogs or their bedding
• like carpet and central heating

Bites from fleas are usually restricted to below the knees, bites more evenly distributed on the human body are more frequently caused by bedbugs.

Home treatments for fleas

An adult must be present throughout each visit. Treatments in your home typically involve:

• one visit
• a spray treatment for carpets and soft furnishings
• an advice sheet with information about the insecticide used
• measures to protect children and pets

Preparing your home for a flea treatment

To prepare your home before we arrive:

• remove and get rid of all clutter
• machine-wash all clothing and bedding at 60 degrees
• vacuum carpets and soft furnishings
• get pets de-fleaed and use a flea collar and/or flea tablets/drops
• move furniture from edges of rooms

All treated areas should not be cleaned, polished or vacuumed for two weeks after the treatment.