First Choice Termite and Pest Control

Foundation vents/vent wells Before and After

Cameron — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:45:00 +0000

When selling or buying a home, you should have a local pest control company performed a termite letter (often called CL-100) on the home before it is purchased. When our firm is inspecting a home before completing the CL-100 report, we check for signs of active termites, prior termite treatment, termite damage and wood moisture levels. If the wood moisture level is elevated, we look for signs and causes behind the elevated reading. Often times, the culprit behind the elevated moisture reading has something to do with the lack of cross air ventilation in the crawl space. Sometimes the lack of cross air ventilation can be corrected by adding foundation vent wells. Some of our customers are not familiar with vent wells so we wanted to give an example.

Picture to the left is an area around a foundation vent where leaves, mulch and yard debris have covered all the space around the foundation vent preventing air flow. Air cannot flow through the vent, therefore, air cannot flow in the crawl space. The picture was taken BEFORE the foundation vent well was installed.

Pictured to the left is after a foundation vent well has been installed. As you can see, the foundation vent area is completely opened up to allow air to flow to and from the crawl space. If you have several foundation vents around your home that are obstructed from yard debris, that can really affect the air flow in your crawl space.

This home is located in Lyman, SC and did not have foundation vents. Our company knocked out block/brick to install 6 foundation vents and well as installed 6 vent well to keep debris from blocking air flow around foundation vents. If your home has foundation vents or vent well, be sure to keep the area around the vents/vent wells clean.

Termites found in Duncan, SC

Cameron — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:17:23 +0000

Living in a home, built on a concrete slab . . . this is what termites can do to your home! Sometimes, when you you live in a home with a slab foundation, termites can “pop-up” in the middle of your house with no warning. Even if your home was pretreated with a Termiticide to help prevent termites, you can still have a problem. Slab foundations can have holes and cracks in the concrete, usually around plumbing and expansion joints, which provide an entry way for termites through the slab from underneath. Termites can squeeze through VERY small cracks and begin feeding on the cellulose debris in your home. If you haven’t had your home inspected for termites, if you haven’t had your home treated for termites . . . give a professional a call.

The termites pictured above were found in Duncan, SC, a small town between Greenville and Spartanburg. The home is built on a slab foundation.

Fleas . . . little nuisances for pets and people

Cameron — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:21:32 +0000

Fall is here, rain has begun to fall often. Weather is cool to warm, warm to hot. Weather fluctuates as often as do the temperatures this time of year. Customers call with problems with fleas. Getting rid of those frustrating little pest that can be a nuisance to you and your family requires you to take steps to ensure success. Unfortunately, there is no magic solution for fleas. Ridding your home, pets and family from these pesky fleas will take work on your part. You should first understand the life cycle of a flea. For every adult flea you see, there are literally thousands of immature stages of the flea’s life cycle in your carpet, furniture, and possibly on your pets. Many do-it your self flea-control products concentrate on killing the adult flea and have no effect on the many other life stages. If you only concentrate your flea-control on killing the adults, you will NEVER get rid of fleas.

Flea infested areas should be treated and cared for in the following ways: 1) Indoor, 2) Outdoor, 3) Pet and 4) Prevention.

Indoor-Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. The battle begins with a very thorough vacuuming. Vacuum to remove pet hair that accumulates under furniture, on furniture, in corners, etc. Immediately throw the vacuum bag away, empty Central Vac System, or wash vacuum filter. Do NOT put the vacuum outside, eggs can hatch and will infest your yard.

Treat outdoor-mow the lawn. Fleas and ticks love tall grass.

Treat your pet-There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of products designed specifically to bathe, dip, powder, spray, comb and brush fleas away. Some work better than others. Take care of the fleas on your pet so that you are not wasting your time.

Prevention-Continue to care for your pet and keep them flea and tick free.

First Choice Termite and Pest Control wishes you success in ridding your home of these pesky, nuisances. If your schedule is soo busy that you need help, if your efforts have gotten you no-where, or you just want help from a professional, give us a call. We can help control fleas in your home and yard.

Macaroni, Maggots . . .how about some Roaches!

Cameron — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:50:40 +0000

Look closely! Not, just kidding! If you look closely you may be grossed out. Look closely anyway and you will see that this is a bowl of macaroni in a roach infested home! Found in a home on Thursday! If you have this many roaches in your home, PLEASE pick up the phone and call a Professional. The homeowner had been treating his home with do-it-yourself pest control products. Make the right choice call FIRST CHOICE, today! 486-0951

Vent-well, moisture in crawl space

Cameron — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:40:21 +0000

Vent wells are used to keep debris (leaves, grass, etc) away from the foundation vent. This vent well (pictured to the left) has not been installed but instead just sitting, waiting to be installed. It is imperative that your crawl space be well ventilated and that you keep a check on the moisture conditions in your crawl space. There are many negative consequences that are affected by a high moisture reading in your crawl space. The biggest and most damaging affect of high moisture is the possibility of termites. Other consequences could be wood rot and active and non-active fungi. Most of these conquences don’t become a huge problem until you are ready to sell your house.

Foundation Vent Wells-Clean of Debris

Cameron — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 01:48:32 +0000

Beware . . . if you are selling your house and have a termite inspection (also known as termite letter or CL-100) be sure that your vent wells (like the one seen in the photo) are clean and free of debris. If the vents are filled with debris, the air flow will be restricted in the crawl space and could possibly raise the moisture content which may delay your closing date.

Foundation vent wells are the metal around the vents that may be at soil level. Foundation vents are placed to help air flow in the crawl space of your home. The vent well is placed around vents to keep the area free of debris (leaves, dirt, etc.) and to help prevent water runoffs from faulty gutters, downspouts, drains and heavy rainfall.

Moisture in crawl space, mud, water stained foundation

Cameron — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:14:00 +0000

Looked inside your crawl space lately? If you are buying a house or selling a house you may want to take a look in the crawl space. When buying and/or selling a home, you should always have a CL-100 (also known as termite letter) done on the house BEFORE you purchase it. The picture you see to the left is a crawl space in Spartanburg, SC. You can clearly see standing water, mud and mud stained plastic. First off, termites love damp and dark places. Second off, elevated moisture readings and standing water can cause problems with your foundation and even lead to mold and fungi. It doesn’t take a Professional Pest Control technician to see standing water, water stained foundation or mud. Take the time to glance in the crawl space of a home that you are potentially interested in purchasing. If you see any of the above described problems and you are still interested in the home, then call a professional for an inspection.

Leafhopper-beautiful, green . . . they even like weeds and grass

Cameron — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:03:02 +0000

Leafhopper-green insect that minute feeds on leafs of plants. There are over 20,000 different species. They come in a variety of different shapes, sizes and colors. This lovely creature was found during a termite inspection on a house in Greer, SC. Greer is a small town between Spartanburg and Greenville. They feed on leaves of a wide variety of plants including many types of grasses, flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, shrubs, deciduous trees, palms and yes, even weeds.

Beautiful, green, whatchamacallit

Cameron — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:51:16 +0000

Insect found in crawl space of home during a termite inspection. I have no idea what this is . . . but it is beautiful! Once the technician gets back to the office, he will identify it. Until then . . . we will call it the beautiful, green, whatchamacallit!

Bedbugs in SC-Upstate-Greenville/Spartanburg

Cameron — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:08:11 +0000

Be careful about whose bed you get into! Bedbugs found in Greenville, South Carolina! That’s right, bedbugs found right here in the Upstate of South Carolina! We were called out to a home for fleas. The caller described bite marks and requested a flea treatment inside her home. We get out to the home and discover what you see to the left. . . bedbugs! What’s amazing is that these are really big, for bedbugs. What you are looking at is bedbugs that are stuck on a glue board (usually used to catch mice). The caller held the glue board to one section of her mattress for a maximum of 10 seconds. If this was 10 seconds, can you imagine how many there are in the whole bed? The bedbugs I’ve seen have been small and what I would compare to the size of a flea. These are HUGE! So, next time you rent a house, stay in a motel room, or decide to crawl into someone’s bed, think about this picture!