1. Pest Control Cleanout:
Indoor treatment includes coverage of all closets, cabinets, garage, along baseboards and ceiling corners. Your attic will be inspected, and then treated with an insecticide dust or granular bait. Outdoors, a 6 to 10 foot “barrier of defense” will be sprayed around your home’s perimeter. All decking and patios will be treated, also.

2. Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly Maintenance:
Treatment is the same as the Pest Control Cleanout with the exception of treating the attic. Many homes get excellent pest protection from services performed 4 times a year (Quarterly), however, there are conditions that make more frequent treatments necessary. Sometimes new homes built on hillsides will experience scorpions and centipedes attempting to reclaim their home territory. Unusual weather conditions, age of homes in the neighborhood and foliage density can all allow for large populations of critters to inhabit areas around your home.

3. Total Yard Treatments:
Treatment consists of an application of a residual pesticide to all areas of the lawn and under shrubs and trees. Yard treatments extend the perimeter “barrier of defense” against crawling insects such as nuisance ants, scorpions and centipedes. Once the chemical spray has dried—within 1-3 hours— children and pets can safely return.

4. Flea & Tick Control:
An application of a long residual pesticide and insect growth hormone is applied to carpets, cracks & crevices, pet resting areas, etc. inside your home and on the yard. Treatment kills the adult biting fleas and prevents eggs and pupa from developing into adults. Our technicians will discuss the treatment plan-of-attack with you. Your cooperation and assistance is required in order to obtain successful eradication of these troublesome pests.

5. Fire Ant Control:
Fire ant stings can be more than just a short painful experience. Allergic reactions and secondary infection are all too common. Several years ago a new chemical, Fipronil, was introduced to the professional pest applicator. FAMILY has been using this product for 6 years. One application to your lawn & shrub beds kills and prevents new mounds from forming for one year. We offer a full one year warranty against their return.

6. Carpenter Ant Treatment:
Carpenter Ants, and their close relatives, Acrobat Ants, are wood destroying insects and they are more prevalent in San Antonio than are termites. They can invade any soft or rotten wood on your house, and frequently they build large nests in your attic, eaves or nearby trees. Fortunately, these destructive pests can be eradicated using a labeled termiticide, but at a cost far lower than for termite treatments. All wood eaves, window casings, bedding mulch and nearby trees are treated. This intensive coverage assures that enough pesticide will be carried by foraging worker ants back to the Queen and the nest. A full one year warranty is provided for regular service customers.

7. Termite Treatments:
San Antonio is in an area of high termite activity, primarily from the Eastern Subterranean species. Regardless of which variety of termite attacks your home, FAMILY has 100% effective treatments for the colony elimination and prevention of these costly insects. Termite treatment is a complex "process". FAMILY has 26 years experience in treating wood destroying insects, and we insist on educating all potential customers about their options. Because of their relatively high cost for treatment, the homeowner should beware of unscrupulous, inexperienced companies representing themselves as professionals. The old saying “You get what you pay for” really applies to Termite Treatments.

8. Scorpion Control:
The bark striped Scorpion is a common arachnid pest inhabiting most of San Antonio, but its presence is more dominant in the hills of north S.A. It’s sting is rarely lethal, except in children highly allergic to insect stings, and sometimes to small pets. Never-the-less, the sight of a scorpion crawling on a wall or ceiling, or discovering one in a shoe or under your bed covers, can send a chill up your spine. Scorpions rest for long periods of time after eating a meal. This makes it difficult to kill them with pesticides since they won’t be coming into contact with the chemical as frequently. The pesticide will need to be placed in selected areas where scorpions are known to inhabit (floor & ceiling corners, light fixtures, closets, heater/AC units, etc. The attic and crawl spaces need to be treated with residual dusts. Outside, the eaves, drainpipes and foundation mulch will need to be sprayed heavily with chemicals. Effective scorpion control also involves treating the whole yard surface to keep them from reaching the house and also to reduce their food source—insects. FAMILY has an extremely successful treatment plan for ridding your home of arachnid pests—and it is very affordable.

9. Rodent Exclusion, Baiting, Trapping:
Four-legged animals inhabiting your attic, chimney, crawl space or in between your walls can be a nightmare for homeowners. Besides being very noisy, they can be causing damage to the structure, insulation, water pipes or electrical wiring—causing potentially hazardous living conditions. The mold that grows on rodent and other animal feces accumulating in your home has been linked to severe allergy symptoms and asthma. Exclusion involves inspection of the structures to discover all the possible entrances the pests are using to enter your home. Strobe lights or other means are used to drive the animals out of the unwanted area. We then seal the area with caulking, wire mesh or expandable foam. Traps are then set to capture any remaining animals. Several follow-up visits are often required. While time consuming and more costly, exclusion of wildlife from the home is the best long term solution to protect your home and to give you peace of mind. FAMILY has highly trained and experienced animal control technicians on staff. We can bait, trap or exclude just about any pest invading your home.

10. Mosquito Control:
The Asian Tiger Mosquito has become one of the most prolific species of this potentially dangerous insect in central Texas. The Tiger is an aggressive seeker of human and pet blood, and while it is responsible for the spread of certain diseases, it fortunately is not a known carrier of West Nile Virus. Most biting mosquitoes roast on the underside of leaves during the night. The secret to successful mosquito control is to apply perithroid insecticides and insect growth hormones to that hidden surface. FAMILY uses an application method proven by the University of Kentucky, involving the use of a high velocity mist blower—similar to backpack leaf blowers. The air turbulence turns the leaves over and allows the insecticide mist to coat the under-surface, resulting in the death of any adult mosquito seeking shelter there. Using the mist application combined with sanitation practices, such as dumping all standing or trapped water from containers, etc., results in one month of reduced mosquito activity—95 to 75%. Unfortunately, the mosquito species that carries the West Nile Virus roasts high in the tree tops where it is not safe for an applicator to spray due to excessive insecticide drift into neighboring yards. Your best defense against being bitten by them is to spray DEET repellant onto exposed skin.

11. Lawn & Greenscape Protection:
Family Pest Control has gradually over the years been adding lawn, shrub and tree care to our line of pest control services. While individual treatments of fertilization, insect and disease problems have been available to our customers on an as-needed basis, our emphasis in the future will be on preventative maintenance & protection of your valuable lawn and landscape plants. Outdoor insect and mite populations can explode overnight when conditions permit. Responding to pest emergencies as they occur can be ineffective and costly. A far better approach to lawn & plantscape health can be achieved when monthly preventative treatment plans can be implemented. Our treatment methods include a combination of environmentally low impact chemicals and “organic” brews. High quality, slow release fertilizers and humic acid additions to the lawn and shrubs form the backbone of our disease prevention programs. Soil surfactant (wetting agent) is applied periodically to increase your soil’s water holding capacity—reducing wasted run-off. Whether you are seeking that gorgeous, weed-free lawn or healthy shrubs and trees, FAMILY has experts on hand to advice you, or to help remove some of those tasks from your already busy schedule.