Read Our Reviews

How Much Does Pest Control Cost?

October 23, 2019 Vinx Pest Control Pest control
How Much Does Pest Control Cost?

Pest Control Costs

If you’re asking, “How much does pest control cost?” you’ve come to the right place. Pest control costs can vary depending on whether you need a commercial pest control job or home pest control job. However, if you’re planning on having regular pest control treatments throughout the year, you should plan on spending between $500-600 depending on the size of your home. With add-on treatments, you could spend more. Commercial properties vary depending on the services needed and size of the building. Click here to see our pricing for pest control. 

How Much Does Home Pest Control Cost?

Home pest control costs anywhere from $500-600 per year for basic quarterly pest control treatments. Home pest control costs depend on where you live, the size of your home, and how often you need or want pest control treatments. Pricing can also change depending on how many bugs you have. If you shirk pest control for some time and end up with an infestation, plan on paying more than someone who has regularly kept up their preventive pest control and is looking to switch companies. 

How Much Does Pest Control Cost for Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are itchy, scratchy, and just plain gross! If you’re on the lookout for pest control for bed bugs, prices depend on a few factors. Bed bugs can cost you anywhere from $400-$2,000 or $1.25-$1.50 per square foot, depending on the amount of them in your home. These bugs love soft surfaces, so you can plan on them being in your beds, pillows, couches, carpet, and even your office chairs. Because of this, it’s hard to give an accurate estimate, and a bed bug exterminator will most likely need to come to your home and offer an inspection to quote you a price.

How Much Does Pest Control Cost for Roaches?

For stubborn roaches, you can expect to pay around $199-$399 depending on the size of your home. Roaches happen more often than you think, especially in the southern states full of humidity! Some roaches are much harder to get rid of—like German roaches. Because of this, the price for roaches will vary. Some roaches, like American, may be included in your general pest treatment. 

How Can I Find the Most Affordable Pest Control Price?

Price isn’t everything when it comes to pest control, but if you want the most affordable pest control, follow these tips:

  • Look for highly reputable companies and compare their reviews and prices
  • Ask if they price match or offer discounts
  • Shop holiday specials or introductory offers
  • Sign up for multiple services and get a bundle discount
  • Look for a pest control company that guarantees their work

How Much Does it Cost for Dallas Pest Control?

Dallas pest control requires a lot of work thanks to the many bugs in the area. You need a company that knows what they’re doing, and for a reputable service with guaranteed work, you can expect to pay between $500-600 per year depending on the size of your home.

Vinx Pest Control is a locally owned and operated Dallas pest control company that guarantees their work. If you’re looking for affordable, high-quality pest control with friendly exterminators always willing to help, contact us today at 972-855-8469 or fill out our form for a free quote!

How to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees

October 16, 2019 Vinx Pest Control blog
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees

We get asked how to get rid of carpenter bees all the time, and it’s a common problem in the Dallas area. When it comes to getting rid of carpenter bees, you need to use an insecticide and cover up the holes that they used for nesting. There are some natural ways to get rid of carpenter bees as well, but these pests can be hard to get rid of, and most times, they require an insecticide. 

If you’re dealing with carpenter bees, don’t get too overwhelmed. The good news is that carpenter bees are generally harmless to you. The bad news is that they aren’t harmless to your wood. They can cause a lot of damage, so getting rid of carpenter bees as quickly as possible is important!

Carpenter Bee vs Bumble Bee

Bees buzz, and when we hear that telltale sign, we’re often swatting and running as quickly as possible. However, if you took a moment to see what kind of bee you’re dealing with, you may not have to try and challenge Usain Bolt’s world record. 

Bumblebees are hairy, and their abdomen has black and yellow on it. However, carpenter bees have a bare, shiny black abdomen. The problem with carpenter bees is that they can look a little scary. They like to fly in a diving or chasing pattern, and you may think that they are coming after you. Chances are, they’re just doing what carpenter bees do—fly! 

Here’s the definitive list to see what bee you’re dealing with:

Bumble bees:

  • Hairy, black, and yellow
  • Often nest with others
  • Fly in a straight, non-erratic style

Carpenter bees:

  • Shiny, black abdomen
  • Solitary bees and are often alone
  • Dive or chase flying pattern

Do carpenter bees sting?

The real question is, do carpenter bees sting? Well, the good news is that they don’t usually sting. In fact, most people have never heard of someone being stung by a carpenter bee. That being said, it’s not impossible. It’s very possible to be stung by a carpenter bee as females do possess a stinger. They will only sting when seriously provoked, so chances are you won’t be stung.

However, bumble bees do sting. They like to defend their nests because they are vulnerable. Since carpenter bees lay eggs inside of wood, their nest is not as vulnerable and they don’t worry about the nest being harmed.

What do carpenter bees do?

Carpenter bees like to nest inside of wood. You may hear a loud buzzing noise as they drill into the wood. They don’t eat the wood like termites do, but rather just drill into it so they can lay eggs there. 

Carpenter bees are also pollinators, so they are important to many plants. However, when you have wood surrounding your home, they use it as a way to nest. This can happen in your wood deck, a playset, or anything else you have in your yard that is wood. They can also burrow into your home’s wood siding or steps. This could cause the steps to snap or wood to warp.

How to protect wood from carpenter bees

Carpenter bees prefer to have untreated wood to nest in, like trees, decks, or playsets that are not stained. However, they do sometimes get into wood that is treated as well. That being said, you can protect wood from carpenter bees by using a stain.

While it’s not a foolproof method, it does help. Carpenter bees will often search out somewhere else that has untreated wood. However, if they do nest in your treated wood, paint can keep them out. Painting your deck or playset can ensure that they won’t dig into your wood.

You can also try a few DIY methods for getting rid of carpenter bees to protect your wood from carpenter bees. These methods include:

  • Citrus spray: Some people have found succeed spraying citrus oil onto wood. Citrus oil naturally repels bees, so they may go search for wood elsewhere.
  • Almond oil: You may also have luck protecting your wood by using almond oil. This is an oil that naturally repels bees, so put it around the nest and any visible bee holes.
  • Bee trap: A trap could help you get rid of carpenter bees. Make sure to get a carpenter bee trap that has wood to lure in the bees.
  • Relocate the bees: There are people who will come in and relocate your carpenter bees, so you could get them out and then use one of the other methods to ensure they don’t come back.

Professional carpenter bee treatment

Carpenter bees are notoriously hard to get rid of without professional-grade products. Because you will need insecticide dust and spray in a concentration that can only be provided by a professional, it’s best to call someone in the Dallas or Fort Worth areas to help you get rid of them. At Vinx, we work to prevent carpenter bees from coming, but we also handle infestations as well. If you’re in Dallas County or the surrounding cities, like Rockwall, Euless, and Coppell, Vinx Pest Control can get rid of carpenter bees.

Carpenter bee prevention

First, if you’re preventing carpenter bees, we will come out in the spring to spray any wood you have to prevent them from coming and boring holes into the wood. They don’t nest until late spring, so if this is done in March or April, your wood will be protected.

Treating infestation

If you have an infestation, we will come out and spray an insecticide in the holes that the carpenter bees are creating. This liquid treatment can get rid of active carpenter bees as well as the eggs. On top of that, we use a dust application inside of the holes. This is a great preventive treatment, and it also works on active bees. However, the dust application does not work on eggs.

Once the active bees are gone and have left the nest, we can plug the carpenter bee holes as well. If you plug these holes while active bees or eggs are still inside, the carpenter bees will drill new holes. We wait until they are gone and then use some caulking compound so that the carpenter bees do not come back to this spot again.

After your infestation is taken care of and the holes are plugged, you’re good to stain or paint over the putty-filled holes. Thankfully, carpenter bees usually only cause aesthetic damage if you catch them in time.

Conclusion: How to get rid of carpenter bees

When it comes to getting rid of carpenter bees, it’s a long process. They are extremely resilient, and the best way to get rid of them is to never have them! Prevention is key in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas. Whether you need carpenter bee prevention or treatment, our technicians are experienced in getting rid of carpenter bees. 

We’ll work with you to determine the best way to get rid of your carpenter bees. Since our technicians are specially trained, they’re some of the best exterminators in the business. Give us a call today at 972-855-8469 or fill out our form for a free quote. Stop the buzzing and prevent damage to your home by calling Vinx Pest Control today.

How Much Does An Exterminator Cost For Mice? | Everything You Need To Know

How Much Does An Exterminator Cost For Mice? | Everything You Need To Know

Everything You Need to Know About How Much A Mice Exterminator Costs

We get asked “how much does an exterminator cost for mice” all the time. In Dallas, there are plenty of mice, and depending on your situation, the cost will vary. Unless you have a severe infestation of mice, the problem can usually be fixed with your quarterly pest control treatment, which is around $500-600 a year. If you’re looking just for mice treatment, you can plan on paying less. You can see our mice extermination pricing here for more specifics.

Really, it depends on how bad the problem is. If it’s one or two mice, you can get treated quarterly and that should get rid of them. If you’re dealing with an infestation, pest control technicians will need to come out weekly until the mice are gone, which can be pretty costly. The longer you wait to get the infestation handled, the more expensive it will become.

Can exterminators get rid of mice?

Exterminators are trained to get rid of pests, and that definitely includes mice! With their annoying scurrying, chewing through walls and wires, and urinating in your insulation, they cause big problems. Mice exterminators at Vinx have special rodent training to know just what to do to get rid of the mice problem that you’re experiencing.

You should always go with a reputable pest control company that has trained rodent exterminators. At Vinx, all of our technicians are certified, and we even guarantee our service! We have over 190 reviews and a 4.9-star rating on Google. 

How do exterminators get rid of mice?

At Vinx, we often get asked how do our exterminators get rid of the mice in your home. The answer is clear. We use bait and traps. The bait we use is always used away from children and pets, and since most mice problems in Dallas and Fort Worth occur in the attic, there isn’t any worry about children and pets getting it. 

The bait that the mice eat makes them thirsty. They go outside of your home and look for a water source to satisfy their thirst. Once away from the home, they die and don’t come back inside. However, we also set traps inside the attic so that any mice that don’t get the bait can be handled. We use traps most often when there is an extreme infestation, and our service will include us coming back out to grab the traps for you a week later. You won’t have to deal with the mice at all!

Finally, we do a rodent exclusion service. This is where we go through and seal up any holes around your home that mice are using to get into the house. Since they can fit through a hole the size of a pencil, it’s important to seal them up!

How do exterminators get rid of mice in the walls?

Do you have mice in the walls? Our exterminators have experience with mice in the walls, and we have the perfect way to get them out. If there are mice in your walls, it requires a special trap. The trap will be filled with bait so that they want to get into it. The trap is a box that will be set against the wall, and we’ll drill a small hole where the mice can access the trap.

Once the mice are in the trap, they can’t get out. This gets mice out of the walls and ensures that no mice die within your walls, which would cause a pretty large problem. 

When to call an exterminator for mice

As soon as you hear mice in your home, it’s time to call an exterminator. The longer you wait to call an exterminator, the more expensive it will get. Here are a few signs you need to call an exterminator for mice:

  • Scratching noises late at night in the attic or the walls
  • Disturbed insulation that mice have used for nesting
  • Urine in your insulation
  • Mice droppings around your home or in your attic
  • Chewed wires or holes that you haven’t noticed before

Conclusion: How much does an exterminator cost for mice?

Depending on the size of your home and the number of mice you have, exterminator costs vary. However, the most important thing is knowing that you’re investing your time and money in a company that cares. At Vinx Pest Control, we specially train our technicians so they know how to get rid of mice the first time around. However, we also guarantee our work and will come back out until the problem is solved. Say goodbye to your pesky house guests by calling us today at 972-855-8469 or filling out our form to get a free quote. If you live anywhere near Fort Worth, McKinney, Plano, Frisco or anywhere in between, we’re the exterminators for you.