When you book pest control in Knoxville, the first step will be for a technician to visit your property to carry out a free pest assessment. Often, customers ask why this step is necessary and want to skip ahead to the extermination. While it is understandable that they may want to rid their space of pests as quickly as possible, an assessment plays a crucial role in ensuring the most effective pest control in Knoxville. It can help to ensure ongoing protection against future infestations. Let’s take a closer look at why pest assessments are so important.

What Are The Benefits of a Pest Assessment

Carrying out an assessment ahead of pest control in Knoxville is the best way to ensure your technicians have the whole picture, allowing them to make the best possible choices when it comes to devising your treatment plan. One of the key benefits is identifying exactly what kind of pest you are dealing with. While many of our customers have an idea of what kind of pest they think is hanging around, there are many that look pretty similar, and it may not be what you first thought. When a pest control technician thoroughly assesses your property, they will use their expert knowledge and keenly trained eye to look for evidence of pests to identify exactly what type has infiltrated your home or business. They will also be able to identify the severity of the infestation. Often, by the time you see visible evidence of pests, they will already have established a colony in unseen corners of your property. When armed with this knowledge about what type of pest is causing your problems and the severity of the situation, your technician can decide what the best treatment plan will be to rid your property of pests effectively. It will also allow your technician to identify any problem areas around your property that may attract pests.

What to Expect from a Pest Assessment

Now that you understand why a pest assessment is important when booking pest control in Knoxville, you might wonder what to expect from the inspection. The first step will be to discuss your concerns with the technician. If you have seen visible evidence of pests around your property, you will want to point these out so they can take a closer look. The technician will examine these areas and other hot spots such as crawl spaces, plumbing, and humid areas to find evidence of pests and confirm the species they need to exterminate. Moisture and humidity create an ideal breeding ground for many pests, so they will look for problem areas such as leaky pipes. After identifying and examining potential problem areas, the technician will also do an entry point inspection to find areas where pests are gaining entry to your property, such as windows, attics, crawlspaces, pipes, and other cracks or crevices. Finally, an exterior assessment will be conducted to look for problem areas that may attract pests, such as overgrown shrubbery, rotting wood, or standing water.

Developing a Treatment Plan

Once the assessment has been completed, the technician can report their findings and put together a treatment plan to move forward with pest control in Knoxville. At Otis Pest Control, we do not believe in quick fixes! Once we have evaluated your needs, we will recommend the most effective treatment to rid your home or business of pests. All of the products we use are EPA registered and approved by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Once we have treated your property to eliminate the current infestation, we will discuss with you how best to maintain a pest-free environment moving forward. We recommend scheduling regular pest control in Knoxville as a preventative measure once the initial infestation has been resolved. Your technician will be able to recommend how frequent these visits should be based on your individual situation.

Additional Steps to Prevent Pests

In addition to using professional pest control in Knoxville, there are also some steps that you can take yourself to help prevent future infestations. Certain things make your property more attractive to pests, so eliminating these reduces your risk of pests. Some of the tips you can follow include:

1. Keeping food secured in sealed packages and containers
2. Wiping up food and drink spills or crumbs
3. Reducing clutter around the home
4. Dealing with leaking pipes quickly to avoid moist environments where pests can breed
5. Eliminate standing water, including bird baths, blocked gutters, and ponds without bubblers
6. Keep firewood stacked at least 20 feet away from your home
7. Seal up cracks and crevices that may be serving as entry points

If you are in need of pest control in Knoxville, do not hesitate to contact Otis Pest Control for a free assessment today!

Otis Termite & Pest Control is a full-service pest control company with a focus on outstanding service. We have been serving the East Tennessee area for over 56 years and our reputation is built on prompt and effective service. We’re good at what we do and we’re fast. We do the job right the first time – and that’s an actual guarantee! 

Call 865.690.1662 or visit www.otispestcontrol.net.