Integrated Pest Management

Most pests are experts at staying out of sight. That is why you often have a full-blown infestation by the time you start to see the signs. It is also why solutions that only remove what you can see are often not solutions at all.

When tackling the issue of pest control, you want to do more than simply eliminate what’s visible. The best approach to dealing with pests is to monitor, prevent, and eliminate the unwanted invaders, rather than react to them. An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system takes this approach, tackling the causes behind your infestation, and this is ideal for both homeowners and strata property managers.

Integrated Pest Management is a process involving common sense, technical knowledge and professional experience resulting in sound solutions for treating and controlling pests. These solutions incorporate four basic steps:

1. Inspection
2. Identification
3. Develop treatment plan
4. Implement ongoing treatment

After a detailed inspection inside and outside your home, you and your pest professional can plan and implement an IPM program throughout your property.

Inspection

The inspection allows pest control professionals to gather information about the type and number of pests invading your home. It involves examining both the interior and exterior to reveal existing and potential problem spots, such as loose weather stripping, gaps around cables and pipes, and damaged or missing window screens.

Some other problem locations include rooflines, foundations, and around windows and doors. Any of these could have holes, cracks, or even soft spots that allow rodents and insects access to your home.

Identification

Having examined your home or property, the specialist will use the revealed clues to identify the sort of pests involved. Each pest leaves a sign of its passing, whether that be damage to the structure of your home, droppings, shed skins and body parts, or other remains. Identifying the invading pest is crucial to creating an effective, long-term approach to proper elimination.

Identification is not only limited to the pest themselves, but also the identification of potential future issues.

Development of a Treatment Plan

Armed with information about the type and extent of the infestation, as well as where the pests were likely to have gained access to your home, your pest control expert can now put together a comprehensive plan for dealing with the situation. Treatment might include solutions other than pesticides. Our new heat treatment for bed bugs is pesticide-free and is an excellent example of modern, safer methods of extermination.

Removing a pest is not as simple as it may first appear. Several factors need to be taken into account, including the safety of you, your family, pets, and employees. Decisions will be made based on potential harm to your home, its inhabitants, beneficial organisms, and the environment.

Implementation of Ongoing Treatment

When the time comes to implement treatment, it’s far more than “one and done.” Integrated Pest Management is more than a quick fix, which may be undone in short order. IPM is an ongoing mode of treatment that does more than just remove the pests you can see, ensuring they are not only out of sight, but out of your home and never coming back. You and your pest control professional work together to keep your home or property free from further infestation.

The Benefits of Integrated Pest Management

IPM is an all-encompassing approach to dealing with an infestation. Nobody wants to invest in a “solution” that only does half of the job. IPM identifies the pests in your home and removes them for good. The IPM treatment plan can include physical removal of protected species, pesticide treatments if necessary, and other considerations such as sealing holes and cracks and repairing the damage done by rodents, insects, and other pests.

IPM, as a partnership between homeowner and pest control professional, can help protect your family against pest-associated health, property and quality of life threats.

IPM is a great tool for business owners who need to ensure any pests in the area will not be a problem. See our blog posts on How Integrated Pest Management Can Benefit Your Business.