Still need pest service in winter? (Madison: HOA, how much, new home)

[Charles]

Are insects less likely to be a nuisance from now through spring? Do we need to retain our home exterior pest service? Should we cancel and re-initiate in Spring? One thing that my neighbor mentioned is this is the time of year when mice and rats can be a problem. Our Cooks service would take care of them too.

[Huntsville82]

We are calling them out because we've found several mice lately. Ack...I've never ever had to deal with mice before, and I can't stomach it. I am just praying they didn't get into the ductwork in the crawlspace. I knew there was a reason I liked slab homes!!!

[Elizabeth_G]

I would leave your pest control contract year round. Hopefully you have a termite bond? Termites are a big problem here. They should give you a discount for having an annual contract

[Charles]

Originally Posted by isellhuntsville

I would leave your pest control contract year round. Hopefully you have a termite bond? Termites are a big problem here. They should give you a discount for having an annual contract

Yes. I have a full replacement bond with Cooks for termites. I don't think it lowers my pest control rates, also with Cooks. I think I am paying around $34/month for pest. I've never had any bugs though. Just wondering if the bugs are so dormant in the winter that it is a waste of money for pest control.

Of course, once I cancel it I'll have a dozen mice slam dancing in the attack.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Charles

Yes. I have a full replacement bond with Cooks for termites. I don't think it lowers my pest control rates, also with Cooks. I think I am paying around $34/month for pest. I've never had any bugs though. Just wondering if the bugs are so dormant in the winter that it is a waste of money for pest control.

Of course, once I cancel it I'll have a dozen mice slam dancing in the attack.

Re-igniting this thread.

Still considering canceling my pest control (but not my termite bond) starting in fall. I can spray the periphery of my home periodically myself with general purpose insecticide applied from concentrate using a pump sprayer.

One thing is, I haven't done my homework to see if there is a reinitialization charge to restart in the spring. There may be one to dissuade people like me who only want to pay for the buggy months.

So, can anyone provide a convincing argument why I should continue to pay a monthly fee for pest control during the winter months?

[Mawoods]

We had Cook's contract when we lived here before and I canceled. I think in my experience they must have watered down the stuff because I was calling them back too much.. I personally think that most services after they get your contract get lazy and and quit doing the stuff like spider wipes, etc. So many times they didn't think I was home and I saw what they did or didn't do. AND I have a very clean house and keep food up, etc. I was doing my part. I went to just doing the periphery of my house with granular and spray occasionally. Have no problems. We keep the termite of course. Can't let that go at all.
About mice. When we moved into our new home in 2004 in Madison, the mice had come in during construction. We called Cooks and all they did was use the mousetraps that you get 2/$1 and put a little peanut butter on them. We did learn you have to put the traps along the walls or runs. Caught them all. But was Cook's worth the money they charged for that? NO!!!! We have only had mice problems in AL. Why is that? My husband has sealed up our entire house while allowing for the air needed in the crawlspace so no posts about that please. Took a while but we have no problems now. I don't think any service would have done all he has done in our new home. It would be expensive and is really just a few hours time and elbow grease.

[Southlander]

The only thing ANY pest control service can do about mice is put out traps. When we had Cook's they put out glue traps. We finally had to catch them ourselves and, uh, dispose of them.
When you have neighborhoods built out among fields or near woods, you WILL have mice come inside when the weather turns cold. In Alabama or anywhere.
Your best bet is to have a mouse catcher. AKA a cat.

Charles, one word: silverfish. But you can spray, as you have done. My parents used to put out general bug repellent pellets around the perimeter of the house every fall. Seemed to work for them. They were on a crawlspace.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Had tons of mice in Virginia - nothing unique to AL.

I wonder if you can get a big discount if you can get the whole neighborhood together to buy one big pest control contract. Surely it would save them significant cost to come out once a (whenever) to a neighborhood and spend the whole day in that neighborhood as opposed to hopping around to specific houses.

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

Had tons of mice in Virginia - nothing unique to AL.

I wonder if you can get a big discount if you can get the whole neighborhood together to buy one big pest control contract. Surely it would save them significant cost to come out once a (whenever) to a neighborhood and spend the whole day in that neighborhood as opposed to hopping around to specific houses.

This is a good idea, but it will probably never happen. People forget to unlock their gates and garages; people have children home from school ill, or have seniors visiting; people have outdoor parties or landscaping in progress; people are on vacation or forget to put the guard dog inside. All of these extra service trips are costly to the pest control company, and play havoc with their schedule. The additional cost might cause one of the parties to void the contract.

In spite of all the negatives, I have tried this in several communities, but the most that I accomplished was to get an HOA contract for the common areas, the pools and parks, and the surrounding hillsides.

Charles, you will no doubt save a few dollars by cancelling your pest control service in the winter, but the savings could be erased by one or two service calls during that period, should a problem arise indoors. Plus, you will probably pay a start-up fee when you order service again.

Many indoor pest problems are covered in the contract as part of the regular service, while one-time service calls from non-customers would be charged at the going rate.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

Charles, you will no doubt save a few dollars by cancelling your pest control service in the winter, but the savings could be erased by one or two service calls during that period, should a problem arise indoors. Plus, you will probably pay a start-up fee when you order service again.

I understand what you are writing.

It seems a lot of people have not pest control at all, and they DIY all year including summer.

Also, how much risk is there of an insect problem in winter? I understand the mice/rodents problem probably increases in winter (we had none this past winter but my neighbors did two winters ago).