Preparing Your Home for an Exterior Treatment
All Pest technicians often apply exterior treatments to structures to combat spiders, ants, and many other arthropod pests. Treatments may be preventative, or may be designed to be part of a treatment effort to eradicate an existing infestation. Applications should not be made when weather conditions are windy (which causes excessive drift) or when conditions are wet or rainy (causing dilution or washing away of the product). A treatment may be applied if conditions are damp or dewy but expected to dry within the next several hours.
Before your All Pest technician arrives, please perform the following tasks:
- Close all windows and exterior doors.
- Remove all personal items within twenty feet of the structure and place them further out in the yard or inside. This include items such as clothing, toys, tools, food, furniture cushions, etc. Gas or charcoal grills may remain in place if they are covered and utensils are put away.
- You may want to walk your dog(s) before the treatment commences. Pets and people will not be allowed in the treatment area until it has dried.
- Let your All Pest technician know if there are any edible, fruit-bearing or vegetable-bearing plants in the vicinity. The type of product he will be applying is not appropriate for crop use. If necessary you may cover plants with a tarp. We recommend that edible plants be moved away from the structure to accommodate future applications.
- Bird houses, baths, or feeders should be temporarily removed from the treatment area.
- Deck or patio furniture may remain in place. However, it is helpful to your technician, and he can do a more thorough application, if the furniture is placed in the middle of the deck/patio. That way, he is able to treat the exterior walls of the structure as well as deck railings.
You do not have to leave your home during the application, but you must stay either inside your home or outside, well away from the treatment area. Once your technician has completed his work, you and your pets must still stay out of the treatment area until the application has dried. The drying time depends on the weather conditions at the time, and can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. Consult with your technician if you are unsure when you may resume normal outdoor activities. After the application we recommend cleaning all surfaces within the treatment area where food will be prepared or served (tables, grill shelves, etc.)
The product that we apply is formulated with a special polymer resin that stabilizes the application. As long as the application has had a chance to dry, a subsequent rain will not significantly affect its performance.