St. Catharines has a lot of nice homes but a lot of them are susceptible to pest control issues for one very simple reason: they don’t have reinforced drip edge installed along their roof line.
What’s truly unfortunate for home owners who haven’t gone through a mice infestation in their attic, or had to fix damaged walls as a result of harbouring a family of squirrels or raccoons, is that they tend to see the importance of wildlife prevention after the fact; after an animal has broken in and caused all sorts of damage.
We like to use the analogy of the mechanic. As owners of cars, after a certain period of time has elapsed, as a rule of thumb we bring it in for a tune-up to ensure all is well. A home deserves the same treatment, if not more.
Every now and then it’s wise to have your home inspected so you can deal with any potential infestations and intrusion sites well in advance, and before a bigger problem happens.
When it comes to a home, those bigger problems that occur as a result of wildlife, tend to cost homeowners thousands of dollars more than they would have had to pay if they a. knew mice and pest infestations were extremely common and likely, and b. if they were aware of the necessity of having preventative measures applied throughout the exterior their home.
Even with all the evidence in the world presented to them, the majority of home owners for the most part don’t see drip edge as a viable solution to their pest problems until after the fact and that’s why we keep promoting it. We strongly promote it because we as a company much more prefer to give you a product that’s everlasting especially considering we know that in the end that’s what you expect from us – removal solutions that actually work years down the road.
No one wants to have to call their trusted pest control company out to their home year after year to fix last years problems when they should be able to get the problems addressed and fixed properly the first time.
The good news about drip edge used in conjunction with pest control
The good news is that we put together a video during a squirrel removal job in Oakville which shows what drip edge looks like and how it strongly helps prevent intrusions by wildlife and smaller rodents. You can check out the video on the page in the above link, and then watch the video below where I once again make the case for the installation of reinforced galvanized steel drip edge in conjunction with professionally planned pest control job.
But I’m frustrated that a small wildlife problem seemed to turn into a bigger one financially
Feeling frustration that applying full pest prevention to your home seems like going over the top of what you thought was going to be a small fix-up job – a simple catch and release – is understandable, but it’s a sacrifice that needs to be done.
Calamity; wear-and-tear on the home upsets us all but what’s more important is how we deal with the problems and not actually focusing on the problem itself. There’s always a silver lining to be found, and in the case of your home being intruded upon by a fury visitor, the silver lining is found in applying preventative measures that ensure animal intrusions won’t happen ever again.
You can also find peace of mind in knowing that with prevention, the value of your home is retained because yes, damage by pests and intrusion susceptibility in general can be used against you as a negotiating tactic when it comes to selling your home.
More and more people are opting in for wildlife and intrusion detection inspections before they purchase a home mainly because people don’t want the headache of dealing with previous home owner pest problems especially knowing they had a chance to deal with it themselves but choose not to. Many people go years before addressing wildlife problems and after enough time has passed, we’ve found that the damage only gets worse. Click the link above for more detailed information – you’ll be surprised at the statistics.
It understandably comes as a shock to have to fork out more than a few hundred dollars to get rid of a wildlife issue once it’s gone this far, but if you’ve come to this point and there’s no other option, you might as well take the advice and get the job done right. If installed right, and done by an accredited pest control company that offers a guarantee, you shouldn’t expect to deal with the same problem in the future.
Installing drip edge seems like a big job, am I ready for it?
As noted in the video above showing the large hole along the roof-line of the St. Catharines home we recently worked on, the application of drip edge is almost a must do especially if damage has already been found. All animals can sense the presence of other animals and to them, these odours signal that your roof is a potential nest site.
The problem at this point is that even though a hole has been sealed up and an animal has been removed, it does stand to chance that the animal in question will make further attempts to get back in.
We’ve seen re-entries thousands of times, but what we’ve noticed is, that once drip edge is installed, re-entries are usually reduced to zero and the animal is forced to find another place altogether to make another nest site.
Drip edge takes away the ability for the animal to bite down and start gnawing away, and it’s an extremely hard metal material.
Does every pest control company install drip edge?
No, not every pest control company in St. Catharines or Ontario for that matter, installs drip edge, and nor do most know how to. For instance our team includes many techs with extensive backgrounds in construction (we make sure of it) which is why we are able to offer these long term pest solutions like the installation of drip edge, repairs and full prevention.
Most other companies offer flat rates for the removal of wildlife and do offer prevention in the form of screening holes and installing one-way doors, but when it comes to full prevention you’ll definitely have to shop around until you find a company that can do it all and be able provide a guarantee on their services.
The company you choose may cost a bit more, but they probably won’t be coming back in the future for the same reason. If they do, 99% of the time it’s because of some unforeseen anomaly and the visit will probably be free of charge.
Which forms of wildlife does drip edge keep out?
We’ve gone over this in past articles, but once drip edge is installed across your roof line it’s going to quite easily keep out and deter the following species of wildlife from getting into your attic:
- mice and rats
- bats
- raccoons
- squirrels
- any other small rodents
Since most home are susceptible to intrusions regardless of their age, it should be quite obvious by this point that drip edge is the perfect solution to most pest control issues. We hope you’ve found this article compelling enough to consider opting in for full prevention especially considering the goal is to ensure that once wildlife are removed from your home, they won’t get in ever again.
You can read more about our pest control process here, and feel free to contact us with your questions.