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Hello and welcome to the Prevention Pest Control Podcast where we talk about pest issues that can affect the Northeast Ohio region throughout the year. I’m Dave Novak and on this episode, we are talking do it yourself versus hiring a pest control professional.
So, we were stopped in the field last week and I had a customer ask us what’s the difference between you guys spraying my house and if I just go to Lowe’s or Home Depot or Menards and buy an over-the-counter product and spray myself? Was a great question – We do get that asked quite a bit so let’s dive into that a little bit.
So, the first product that most people are familiar with when they go to a big box store is called Home Defense. And what I always tell people if they have a small pavement problem or something like that and they want to try to do it themselves I would recommend that product. Great product. It doesn’t last very long, and I think some of the advertising on the label is a little suspect, but you know for the $15.50 which is what it currently costs at Lowe’s a couple miles from my house, you’re not really not out of a lot of money if you try it and it doesn’t work. And if it does work well then you just save yourself some money from hiring a professional. But most of the time they will find that that doesn’t work, and they end up calling a professional in to get rid of the problem.
But let’s take a look at something like Home Defense and why it’s nowhere near comparable to what a professional is going to use when they come out to your house. So the first thing you’ll notice when you look at a bottle of Home Defense there’s a lot of them like this that do it and they say it lasts 12 months on the label. Now I’m here to tell you when you look inside the label and start doing a little deeper dive into it, that’s very suspect. If you look at the label it will tell you that it’s was performed in a non-porous area which basically means that the material has no pores and doesn’t allow for any liquids to be absorbed or passed through it. I have been told that a lot of those tests are done in a laboratory that has no sunlight, no wind, no outside effects. So, if you think about it, if it’s a controlled environment like that, sure it may last 12 months I still doubt it but they can go ahead and say what they want.
But think about applying that on the outside of your house. You’re going to get rain, you’re going to get sunlight beating on it, all the things that help break down chemicals. So, I will tell you if we’re going to compare the two the active ingredient in Home Defense is bifenthrin. It’s a great product. The problem is on Home Defense it’s at a 0.05% concentrate on that. Whereas if we use something comparable to what a professional pest control company uses, we use a product called Talstar, and the bifenthrin in that is 7.9%. So, when you’re comparing the active ingredient 0.05 to 7.9 you understand real quick why there’s a difference. Home defense for the most part, most people would agree you’re going to get 30 days out of that application. If you hire a professional, you normally would get a 90-day warranty on that and the bifenthrin at the 7.9 you’re going to get somewhere in that 60-to-90-day range on that product still working. So once again when you’re comparing apples to oranges the two products may have the same active ingredient, but they’re used completely different. The other thing I would add too especially with Talstar I had the privilege of having a dinner one night with one of their top people and the reason that those type of products are so much better is the other ingredients that they add to it. I know with that product people always talk about oh the rain is going to dilute your chemical. Once it dries after a 4- or 5-hour period it’s normally pretty good. It’s the direct sunlight that helps break that chemical down even quicker.
So, on a product like Talstar they actually add other materials to it to help bond to the siding or the brick or whatever the situation is and help fight off the rain and the sun and make it last a little longer. So those are all important things when you start deciding do I hire somebody, or do I do it myself? If you just do some quick math if you hire someone and they come out and use 10 to 15 gallons on the outside of your house and you’re going to go buy home defense and you say well, I can do that same thing and I’m going to buy 10 gallons. Now you’re over $150 of do it yourself and at the same time it’s going to probably wear out within 30 days versus the 90 days.
So, it’s always a better financial decision when you’re comparing apples to apples there to hire a pest company come out and treat your house. It will last longer; they would do a better job and it’s going to have a warranty. So, guess what? If 30 days later, you’re starting to see ants come back inside your house again all you do is call that company and they come right back out and treat it. So, another good question out in the field that we got once again you know DIY versus hiring a pest control company. Just a few thoughts from us as to why it’s always better to hire a professional to come out and treat your house.
Well that wraps up this episode of the Prevention Pest Control Podcast, we hope you enjoyed it. You can reach us anytime at prevention pest control.net, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or by calling us directly at 234-571-1203. Please like, share and subscribe to our podcast. Thanks for listening and remember an ounce of prevention is all it takes for a pest free home.
