Getting an infestation of rats, cockroaches, or any kind of pest can be more than just a headache for your home or business. Pests carry disease, can cause serious damage to your belongings and property itself, and can cause no end of stress and harm to you and your family.
Getting expert pest control in to take care of the problem is the best and quickest way to rid yourself of this problem, but just how much will it set you back and how long will you have to wait to be pest-free?
Here we will take a look at the cost of pest control and try and help you sort out your pest problem once and for all.
How much does pest control cost on average?
The exact cost of pest control depends on the kind of infestation you have, how serious it is, and if it will take multiple treatments to get rid of it. Most pest control companies will charge you by the treatment, rather than by the hour, with a one-off treatment costing less than repeat visits.
On average, you can expect to pay between $150 and $700 for the more complex treatments including getting rid of bed bugs, which can take around 2 days, and for bigger homes and jobs.
While you can pay as little as $50 for quick and routine jobs, the worse your infestation, or the tougher the pests that you have, the more it will cost you to pay for expert help. While a payout of hundreds of dollars can seem like a large expense, it can be far more costly not to get treatment organised swiftly and effectively.
Pests can cost huge amounts in structural damage, to your interior and exterior walls, doors, and ceilings. They can also destroy furniture and furnishings, beloved possessions and so much more.
Beyond the simple financial impact of pests, they can cause harm to you and your loved ones, contaminating food, causing sickness and disease, and keeping you up all night with scurrying and scrabbling noises.
The cost of the harm that pests can cause to both people and property is almost without measure, and getting in a professional to rid you of them as soon as possible is essential no matter the initial expense.
Further, if you try a cheaper option like taking care of the infestation yourself, you may find that you can’t fully get rid of the pests and that you spend more on different products, and waste huge amounts of your time failing when an expert could have taken care of it quicker and more economically.
How long does a pest control job take?
Pest control can take as little as half an hour if the job is a straightforward one on a relatively small scale. For routine care, an annual spray or gel is to keep out common intruders like silverfish or cockroaches, usually, these measures are taken to prevent an infestation rather than remove one.
If you do have an infestation, this usually about triples the amount of time it will take. The pest control professional has to find the problem, decide and discuss options, and then carry out the treatment which can be much more extensive than the preventative measures.
For more complex and comprehensive treatments like digging a termite barrier, it can take 8-16 hours, depending on if it is one or more technicians doing the work and what is involved. Some infestations will require return visits to check that they are gone, top up any insecticide and so on.
Another component that can impact how long a pest control job takes is where the technician has to go. If the job involves taking apart cabinets, lifting up floorboards, and getting to places that are tough to reach, it can take longer than simply spraying the exterior or putting down some gel.
Once again, there is no hard and fast rule for how long pest control will take, an experienced company like Swat Pest Control Brisbane will come and assess your requirements, and make sure to meet them as quickly and thoroughly as they can.
Should I clean the house after pest control?
You absolutely can and should clean your home after pest control, but first, you should check with your pest control expert to see when you will be able to clean the area after a treatment has been administered. You need to let the chemicals dry, obey the guidelines set down by the professionals, and then you are free and ready to clean.
Cleaning up after pest control is a good idea for several reasons, not least of which is that some of the chemicals used can be harmful to certain animals, fish, and even to your skin and health. By cleaning up after yourself, you are minimising the chances of contamination across your home.
Another good reason is that a clean home helps discourage pests. You should always clean up any food after eating, try and keep your surfaces spotless and reduce the amount of mess on the floor. A properly cleaned home will be less welcoming to pests and also make it easier for you to see if they come back.
Depending on the kind of treatment you needed, and the pests that you had, you may need to clean one specific area or the entire house. Again, you should keep your whole home clean at all times anyway to prevent pests from entering or returning, but knowing where your treatments took place is important to prevent any contact with the wrong chemicals.
When cleaning, it is important to have the right tools, to regularly change out any dirty water, and to use a top-down, or one side to the other, approach, to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Conclusion
The exact cost of pest control, and how long it takes to finish a job, depends largely on the kind of treatments you need. If you are interested in primarily preventative measures or need routine or standard work done, it can cost you little and be done in no time.
Bigger and tougher jobs will take longer and be more expensive, but the ultimate price of not properly dealing with a serious infestation can be far more costly. If you are concerned about pests, make sure that you contact a professional pest control company today and let them put your mind at ease.
