Best Pest Control Services
Based on In-Depth Reviews

Step into the household aisle of any supermarket and you’ll see shelves full of products, such as Terminate pest control (read our Terminate pest control review to learn more), meant to help you eradicate anything from rodents to roaches, and usually at a fairly low price. So, why not handle those pesky critters yourself? 

For one, identifying bugs is harder than you might think. While we all know what roaches and ants look like, the fact is that within those species, there are different subspecies that behave uniquely, present different hazards, and are best targeted with approaches tailored specifically to them.

Take, for example, cockroaches (and we’re sorry to bring that image up). There are 69 types in the U.S. alone. If two or more types enter your home, each with different breeding patterns and preferred hiding spots, it would be very difficult for you to eliminate the problem completely. That is, unless you know exactly which types you’re dealing with.

A good pest management expert is trained to identify and target those specific bugs effectively. Additionally, they might have tools in their arsenal that you might not. Some companies, for example, have been known to train dogs to find bed bugs, which are notoriously hard to find. 

But there are other reasons to let a professional do the job. In addition to their expertise in handling toxic chemicals and dangerous animals, many pest control technicians are now being trained in research-based, comprehensive approaches that can help you not only get rid of pests now, but decrease the chances that they’ll come back in the future. 

If you're still struggling to find a pest expert for your home, several services, such as Blue Ribbon Local Exterminator, can help you compare costs and options. Read our Blue Ribbon pest control review to learn about how to get matched with a company that meets your needs.

What is pest control?

Pest control, or pest management, is the process of removing and preventing unwanted pests, such as termites, ants, mice, bees and more. These pests can cause damage to your home or property as well as health issues.

How does pest control work?

There are many different pest control solutions, depending on the type of pests, the level of infestation and the level of environmental-friendliness. 

Some pest control services and DIY solutions include setting baits and traps. These may include the use of food or other lure with glue traps, sticky paper or ribbons, bucket traps, or pheromone traps.

Pesticides are also an option for pest issues, but you need to be careful to use them correctly. Many chemical pesticides come with health and/or environmental warnings, so you should read the labels carefully to understand proper usage.

While some pest control options are great for DIY solutions, pest control services often have specific expertise about pests and the best way to deter them. In addition to eliminating pests, they can help you create plans to prevent re-infestation. To learn more about prevention, read our article is preventative pest control worth it?

What is Integrated Pest Management?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is now the standard within the industry, and is the method that many professionals call the “common sense” approach to eradicating pests. 

IPM takes into consideration the way animals behave and what they look for in their surroundings. Because animals are usually looking for food, hygiene plays a crucial role in whether insects or rodents are attracted to your home in the first place. Taking practical steps like putting food away, keeping the kitchen and pet areas clean, and disposing of trash quickly can reduce unwanted encounters drastically. 

Other measures include sealing off crevices and making sure your lawn is nice and cut, as to avoid giving pests a bridge to your windows and other openings. It also includes making sure your fountain, your pool—or whatever areas can flood around your home—are cleaned regularly and are covered from the rain. If not, these can serve as an easy source of water for pests, as well as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Having gutter guards can help a lot, since gutters are hard to consistently keep an eye on. 

This part of pest management you can and should handle yourself, but some IPM techniques are still better left to professionals. Many companies, such as Orkin and Terminix, provide additional services that go beyond catching or exterminating pests, such as: attic insulation, crawl space encapsulation, or lawn maintenance. They can also seal off parts of your home that are vulnerable to entry and help you develop a personalized plan to maintain these areas as best as you can. 

So, while you definitely want to give your home the upkeep it needs and clean those bread crumbs off your countertop, professional pest management services can complement the work you’re doing on your own.

In addition to these, there are other important reasons why you might want to call someone to at least get an inspection:

Some Pests are Dangerous

Attempting to grab a brown recluse spider or apply a chokehold to a coyote might be a bold, but unwise idea. Call a professional with the tools, the experience and, most of all, the knowledge to handle specific types of pests.

Sometimes DIY Simply isn’t Enough

While trapping a single mouse or eliminating a colony of ants in the yard is definitely a success, sometimes it just won’t be enough. Some insects—like the common German cockroach, for example—can breed almost faster than you can kill them. Whether it’s because they’re very well hidden, like bed bugs, or because they are simply hard to kill, pests stand less of a chance if you team up with your local professional.

Pesticides Can Be Toxic to Other Creatures As Well

Even though most over-the-counter products are relatively safe, without the proper training, many pest control methods can become more of a risk than a solution. Pesticides, one of the most used forms of pest control in America, are toxic substances that, if used inappropriately, can cause problems to your respiratory health or provoke allergic reactions. Also, when applied incorrectly, it could harm your pets or curious children. The same goes with other methods such as mouse traps, or far worse, rodenticides that could end up harming—or killing—other animals such as wolves, mountain lions, or lynxes.

It’s very important to educate yourself before using any of these methods, and preferably have a professional put them to use.

Professionals Can Take Care of Some Pests without Harming Them

You’ve probably heard this before, but some pests are our friends. Spiders, as long as they’re not venomous, can actually help catch more damaging pests like cockroaches, ants, flies, or mosquitoes without bringing you any harm. The same goes for centipedes, although they are slightly more nightmare-ish. 

Then there’s bees. Bees are our best friends. If you find a beehive in your backyard, you should not attempt to remove it 1) because they can sting you multiple times and 2) because you could harm them too and—we don’t know if you’ve heard—but we are NOT in a position to be losing bees.

Some animals are protected by the law, such as foxes or bobcats. Others you simply shouldn’t hurt because, why would you? Call a professional and get the job done in a humane way.

What About Natural Pesticides?

Natural pesticides have been around almost as long as there have been pests. Although non-organic substances such as sulphuric acid and copper sulphate were used in pest control up until the 1940's, plants and other animals were humans’ main tools. However, with the 20th century’s technological advances, synthetic pesticides became more popular. After World War II, synthetic pesticides started dominating the market as the go-to solution for eliminating vermin. 

Now, natural pesticides are making a comeback due to the growing concerns about synthetic pesticides’ impact on biodiversity, our food supply, and on the planet as a whole. While the use of synthetic compounds might help eliminate harmful pests, they are responsible for a variety of issues in the environment and global health, for example, a sharp decline in amphibian species and the increasing deaths of honeybees have been linked to pesticide exposure. A lot of chemicals have been regulated and even banned in the last 50 years because of the damage they’ve caused. . 

We talked with Dr. Murray Isman, an entomologist whose research is focused on botanical pesticides and antifeedants, who told us that it’s a  “good general principle to not use things any more than it’s necessary to do the job.” Pesticides should be a last option when trying to handle pests. Minimizing its use has been a goal for the last couple of decades, hence the growing popularity of IPM. 

When asked about the toxicity of pesticides in general, Dr. Isman noted that “toxicity is a characteristic inherent of the chemical”, and that what’s important to know is that “risk or hazard is the product of toxicity times the human exposure”, meaning that the true danger lies in how much people are exposed to chemicals rather than the toxicity of the chemical itself. In order to reduce injuries, illnesses or major incidents, the priority should be to use pesticides only when absolutely necessary. “That’s where we focus our efforts, rather than trying to just make chemicals that are inherently safer. It’s a combination of that, plus trying to do everything we can to minimize human exposure and environmental contamination,” emphasized Dr. Isman. One of the problems with off-the-shelf  pesticides highlighted by Dr. Isman, is not necessarily related to their chemical components, but to the fact that consumers apply the substances indiscriminately. According to Dr. Isman, most of these pesticides are heavily regulated and are safe when used as advised. However, people use so much of them, they do have the potential to become dangerous due to excessive exposure. 

Eco-friendly pesticides, although an option, should also be treated with care. Even if they are safer for humans and pets, almost all pesticides—including those that are called all-natural and are made from plant extracts, bacteria or fungi—can disrupt ecosystems and end up damaging gardens, large crops, or, in certain situations, a regular household. Almost all available pesticides target bugs in general, which means that beneficial insects, such as honeybees or natural enemies of pests, can also be affected. Shall we remind you that we are in no position to be losing bees? Only microbial pesticides tend to be specific enough as to not harm many other organisms, yet their effects aren’t entirely limited to the target pest. Again, as Dr. Isman said several times, pesticides should only be used when and where required.

Different types of pests affect you and your home in different ways

Material and Structural Damage

Many pests can actually damage your home and material possessions. Some insects damage wood, for example, termites, carpenter ants and wood-boring beetles. At the beginning, they might seem like a nuisance, maybe setting up camp in a distant part of your porch or backyard deck. However, if you let them enjoy themselves too much, they will start making their way to the main part of your house and do real damage to its foundation. They will not discriminate with that vintage Victorian furniture either. Others might not feed on wood or other surface materials, but they will definitely damage your stuff. Bed bugs, for example, can be very hard to eliminate completely, creating the need to replace cushioned furniture or even clothing; and bed bugs are not only itchy, but can be life-threatening for people who are allergic. Rodents, like rats or squirrels, can bite insulation material and electrical cables, while moles or armadillos can dig up your whole garden. 

Health Risks

Everybody knows that pests are nasty critters, and they are definitely dirty. Well, it’s not just that they’re ugly or give us goosebumps, they can actually hurt us either at the moment or by transmitting the different diseases they carry around. In other words, the “ick factor” is the least of your concerns. 

Take mosquitoes, for example. Known to be the deadliest animal on Earth, they can spread malaria, West Nile virus, dengue, among other life-threatening illnesses. Mice and rats harbor bacteria responsible for leptospirosis, which can spread quickly through food and water. Ticks spread lyme disease. Even birds, who can be perceived as harmless, can be an issue because even though they can’t infect you themselves they can serve as hosts for bacteria that is spread by pests like the aforementioned mosquitoes. 

Other than disease, some pests are just old-fashioned dangerous. Many bugs can bite or sting, like wasps, bees, spiders, ants, or centipedes. Most of the time, these stings or bites will simply hurt (a lot, mind you) and are no cause for concern, but you could have an allergic reaction and things can get worse. Bigger pests like raccoons or opossums can bite you or your pets, and their bites can cause infection, rabies or major injuries. Then there’s venomous animals, like the renowned black widow spider or rattlesnakes.

Psychological Effects

Goosebumps and fear are classic, well-known effects of confronting pests. What many people downplay, however, is how severe these effects can get with prolonged contact or with growing uncertainty. There’s phobias that can disable you from doing many things: from entering your bathroom in absolute fear of the spider you saw last week, to not being able to enjoy your garden thinking about the possibility of snakes. This is not a feeling anybody wants to experience in their own home.

Also, having certain types of pests in your home has been proven to increase anxiety and depression symptoms. Knowing you have mice or cockroaches scurrying around can be anxiety-provoking, to say the least. A horrible bed bug experience can even lead to PTSD. Taking quick action to rid your home of pests is very important for your own peace of mind and psychological well-being. 

How to prepare for pest control

Use these tips to prepare for a pest control visit:

• Increase access to tight spots. You might move furniture, storage containers or boxes that are creating dark corners for pests to hide in. Make sure that the specialist can move around easily and access all areas of your home.
• Make sure your kitchen is clean and tidy, food is stored away in the fridge or cabinets and small appliances are off the counter. You may also pull large appliances out and clean behind and underneath them to allow the company to inspect the areas.
• Move furniture to the middle of the room. Pull furniture away from walls to make it easier for technicians to get behind it. This step may not be necessary for smaller pest problems.
• Open doors, drawers and closets. Make it hard for pests to hide anywhere. 
• Confine or remove pets. Make sure they are safely removed from the area, either by sending them to a pet sitter, letting them outside or putting them in a kennel.