Modern life is busy, and financial and family pressures tend to chip away at whatever little free time we have. It’s tough enough to steal a moment for yourself when dealing with life’s ordinary obligations. But throw in a sudden infestation of ants or cockroaches or some such pest, and your stress levels can spike. Just how long will it take to deal with those unwanted creepy crawlies? Will you need to leave your property during a treatment? And how quickly can an application eliminate your pest problem once and for all?
Preventative treatments are generally shorter, taking about 15 to 30 minutes, while removals and exterminations can last the better part of a day. Exterminations can vary greatly due to the extent of the infestation. Continue reading to learn which is appropriate for your situation.
How Long Does It Take to Spray for Pests?
Smithereen technicians always try to work with your schedule and complete your pest treatment in as prompt a manner as possible. However, just how long it takes to spray for pests depends on what kind of critters we’re dealing with and the extent of an infestation. Some treatments take longer just by their very nature, but routine preventative measures? We can complete those relatively quickly.
As a rough rule of thumb, your Smithereen technician can complete the following services in these approximate time periods:
- Preventative treatment for ants, cockroaches, and other common pests: 15 to 30 minutes
- Removal of active ant or cockroach infestations: 90 to 120 minutes or more depending on the extent of the infestation
- Heat treatment for termites: 4 or more hours
- Rodent removal: Up to 15 hours, although this can vary depending on the extent of the infestation and usually stretches over multiple days
What Factors Influence How Long Pest Control Takes
“How long does pest control take?” The biggest factor that determines the length of a treatment is the precise nature of the treatment: Is this a preventative treatment or one designed to eliminate existing pest populations? The former requires little time investment, and when clients ask, “How long after pest control can I go inside?”, we’re pleased to answer, “Pretty quickly!” The schedule for these sorts of treatments typically gets measured in minutes.
Removing pods of existing pests usually proves more problematic. Once rodents, bedbugs, ants, or cockroaches have gained a foothold in or around your building, we must undertake a multi-step process to remove them. This involves:
- Identifying the pests involved (there may be multiple species, which can complicate treatment)
- Finding their harborage points
- Discovering and remediating the conditions that led to the current pest problem (e.g., water, food, structural issues such as crack or crevasses)
- Exterminating the existing pest populations
Because dealing with long-running issues with insects, mammals, or wildlife can become complicated, we recommend allocating significant amounts of time to the treatment process. Sometimes, effectively dealing with a situation may require multiple trips to a property. Different situations may require up to six weeks or more to become fully effective.
What To Do Once Pest Control Is Complete?
Simply having a pest control professional apply a treatment to your building isn’t necessarily enough to eradicate a tenacious colony of pests. Clients should also take certain steps once the treatment is over. The first action you should take is actually inaction. Technicians will recommend that you stay out of a property for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of 24, depending on the treatment. (If you’re wondering, “How long does it take for pest control to dry?”, know that two hours is the minimum, although other factors may increase the amount of time you need to remain away from the site.)
One natural step that many property owners and managers take is to immediately begin deep cleaning after a treatment occurs. However, this hurts the effectiveness of the treatment. Part of effective pest management involves both eradicating existing pests and creating a barrier so that they don’t take hold again.
Finally, one action that you should definitely perform is to tidy up any extraneous trash and sources of nourishment. Most everyone knows that messiness contributes to pest issues, but were you aware that a stack of recyclable material can become a home for insects that’s every bit as cozy as old pizza boxes or overflowing trash cans? Similarly, make wiping down counters and swiftly removing food waste from the premises a priority. And fix any leaks you encounter since these offer the hydration that pests require.
How Long do you Have to Stay Out of your House After Pest Control?
Smithereen Pest Management Services prides itself on being Green Shield Certified, meaning that we employ an organic pest-control approach that minimizes risks to you and the environment. For most routine treatments, you shouldn’t need to leave your home at all.
Some approaches, though, require that you stay away from a particular room for an extended period. For example, allow roughly a half hour to pass after treatment. This should be ample time for any sprays to dry. Do not enter a room that was heat or chemically treated for bedbugs until four hours after the treatment has been completed. And stay away from tick-treated areas for about three hours.
Only conduct light cleaning for the first three to five days after a treatment both for your own health and to prevent bugs from returning. You can clean more deeply after about a week to 10 days.
Factors That Can Delay or Postpone Treatments
A number of factors can delay or postpone pest control treatments, either in having them conducted in a timely manner or in an effective treatment, such as the following:
- Not being available for a scheduled treatment
- Failing to change habits that initially led to an infestation
- Not disclosing relevant information so that a technician can properly address the pest issue
- The discovery of additional active infestations
- The presence of hard-to-move appliances or furniture
- Extremely large properties or properties with complex layouts
How Long Does It Take for Extermination to Kill Pests?
Just as different kinds of treatments require different lengths of time, different sorts of pests don’t all die in the same amount of time after a visit from a technician. In general, pests perish within the following rough time frames:
- Ants: treatment begins to work within 48 hours, but ants may remain for several weeks to several months depending on your property and the extent of the infestation
- Cockroaches: two to eight weeks depending on your property and the extent of the infestation
- Bedbugs: heat treatments kill bedbugs in approximately four hours, although extensive clutter and unidentified nests may require repeat visits
- Rodents: varies widely based on the extent of the infestation, type of rodent, and type and placement of poison or bait
- However, take these estimates with the proverbial grain of salt. Some pests prove remarkably tenacious, and even pest control professionals might require multiple visits to fully eradicate them.
If you’re having problems with ants, cockroaches, bed bugs, or other unwanted wildlife, contact Smithereen Pest Management Services today. We have more than a century of experience in keeping homes and businesses pest free!