When you get home at the end of the day to find a pest control company truck parked outside of your neighbor’s home, your first instinct might be to wonder if your home is next for pest problems, either because you are experiencing the same issue that your neighbor is or because their treatment will push past from their yard into yours.
This is a common concern in the various neighborhoods around Greater Sacramento. Depending on the type of pest, there are some concerns for your home and it is often worth contacting a pest control company for an inspection of your home as well. Your neighbor having pests is not a guarantee that you will, but there are some infestations that increase the likelihood that multiple homes in the area might be impacted.
What to Do If Your Neighbor is Getting Pest Control
If you are on good terms with your neighbor, inquiring about what pest control work they had done can be a helpful first step. There are a number of different reasons why a pest control company could be working at someone’s home and having a little more information about that reason can help you and your pest control company better identify your concerns.
For instance, seasonal pest control uses regular bi-monthly or quarterly visits to create a barrier around a home that will keep bugs outdoors. It does tend to kill any bugs that cross over the barriers but in general will simply prevent bugs from crossing the treatment barrier. Some pest control companies will say that spraying the home next to yours will increase pests at your own property as those displaced pests now come looking for additional food and shelter.
In truth, there could be a minimal increase in pests you are dealing with shortly after a neighbor’s treatment, but numbers should go back to normal before too long. The reason why ADAPT Pest recommends that most homeowners in the Rocklin and Roseville area receive seasonal pest prevention is simply because the normal numbers of pests in our region is so significant whether or not your neighbors have had pest control.
If the pest control company was there in response to a specific infestation, here are some concerns to keep in mind as you consider what best for your own home depending on the type of pest:
- Termites – If a neighbor is getting termite treatments and you do not regularly have inspections yourself, this is a good time to schedule a termite inspection in Placer County. Termites swarm every year to start new colonies and if your neighbor has had termites for several years, swarmers could have easily come to your home and started a colony there as well. Termite treatments at your neighbors’ home, however, including fumigation, do not risk termites moving from their home to your home as termite treatments are designed to kill every termite on the property
- Mice and Rodents – If your neighbor is having a rodent problem, it might be limited to their house or it might be a neighborhood-wide problem. Rodent populations grow quickly and are resourceful at finding food. For a high number of rats and mice in your area, the best way to prevent them is to call ADAPT Pest for rodent exclusion.
- Ants – Ants are another resourceful pest with large colonies. Depending on the species, some will travel several hundred feet from their nest to get to their food source. Outside of preventative pest control, you would only need to call a pest control company in Rocklin and Roseville if you have noticed ants.
- Bed Bugs – Bed bugs travel by hitchhiking, so unless you have unless your neighbors visited recently or you have been to their home, there is no need to worry if they have found bedbugs in their own home.
- Cockroaches – Roaches grow their numbers quickly and will often eventually occupy entire neighborhoods if the conditions are right. If your neighbor is receiving roach control, you may want to consider either preventative control or an inspection to get rid of roaches.
These concerns are largely for homeowners who own single family properties. For those in apartments, condos, and townhomes, the risks are a little different because you share walls and pipes and pests can easily move between units.
But if you have a bit of yard separating you from your next door neighbor, spotting a pest control truck does not guarantee that you will have pests yourself. Instead it is best to stay aware of the situation and sc
