Other Services

Other Services Offered

Moisture Control

Powder Post Beetles

Carpenter Bees

Mosquito Control

Bed Bug Control

"Call today for your free inspection!"

Moisture Control

Moisture is the primary reason for deterioration in buildings and can also lead to wood destroying insect infestations such as termites. Often homes with low crawl spaces and/or poor ventilation experience problems with moisture. Moisture issues can be corrected in a number of ways such as installing a moisture barrier, dehumidifier, automatic vents, or even raising the level of soil in your crawl space. If you think that you may have a moisture problem please call us today for a free inspection. Left untreated, moisture can cause serious damages to your home.

Powder Post Beetles

We use the term "powderpost beetles" for several groups of small woodboring beetles. In North Carolina, our primary concern is with amoeboid ("an-oh-be-id") powderpost beetles, which attack the "softwoods", such as spruce, pine and fir, that are used to make floor joists, wall studs and other structural lumber. Lyctid ("lick-tid") powderpost beetles attack only hardwoods, such asoak, hickory, and maple.

They tend to be a problem with antique furniture, cabinets, wooden floors and some moldings in houses. The term "powderpost" refers to the type of damage caused by the beetles.Infested wood may look fine on the outside. Only months or years later do we discover the damage. We rarely find the actual beetles. Typically, the only indication of a powderpost beetle infestation are small round holes, about 1/32 - 1/16 inch in diameter, scattered over the wood surface. In some cases, only one or a few boards are infested. In other instances, several joists may show sign of powderpost beetle activity. At first sight, people often assume that these holes are made by insects boring into the wood. The holes are actually made by adult beetles exiting the wood after they complete their life cycle. As it emerges from the hole, the beetle pushes out light-colored flour-like "frass" (yellow arrows) that will be found streaming from these holes or on the ground beneath the infested boards. The frass of the lyctid beetles looks and feels like talcum powder. The frass of anobiids is powdery, but has a gritty texture. Frass that is yellow and caked is "old" and may indicate an infestation that is no longer active. You may find exit holes and frass almost any time of the year, particularly in heated buildings or in crawlspaces. However, the peak time to watch for emerging beetles occurs in May through August.

Carpenter Bees

Frequently seen late in the spring and early summer, they resemble bumble bees and can damage wood around homes. Adult carpenter bees are inch-long, black insects with yellowish hairs mostly on the thorax. Their abdomens are shiny black with no hairs on top which distinguish them from bumble bees which are similar in size and coloration but have yellowish hairs on top of their abdomens.

Carpenter bees burrow into the exposed dry wood of buildings, telephone poles, and fence posts, causing an unsightly appearance and structural weakness. They usually choose wood that is soft and easy to work. They seem to prefer California redwood, cypress, cedar, white pine, and southern yellow pine. Other woods, even seasoned hardwoods and treated lumber, may be attacked.

Carpenter bees prefer bare wood but will attack wood with a stain or light coat of paint or which is lightly pressure treated. They usually avoid well-painted wood or wood with bark on it.

In late spring and early summer, adult carpenter bees emerge from protected overwintering sites such as old nest galleries. Fertilized females use their jaws to bore half-inch round holes into susceptible wood. They build about one inch of gallery every six days. The galleries run 4-12 inches with the grain of the wood.

Mosquito Control

In the United States, there are about 200 species of mosquitoes, all of which feed on many different types of animals, have unique behaviors and live in specific habitats. Hosts are found not by sight, but by the use of antennae. Mosquitoes are attracted by moisture, warmth and carbon dioxide. Excellent fliers, some mosquitoes can travel 18-110 miles but most will stay within a three mile range and can fly between five and fiffty feet off the ground.

Mosquito biles can cause skin irration through an allergic reaction to the mosquitos slavia, causing red bumps and itching.

Call us today and ask what we can do to help reduce mosquitos

Bed Bug Control

Bed bugs are small, flat, parasitic insects that feed solely on the blood of people and animals while they sleep. Bed bugs are reddish-brown in color, wingless, and range in size from 1mm to 7mm. Bed bug infestations usually occur near areas where people sleep. They hide during the day in cracks and crevices in places such as bed frames, seams of mattresses, box springs, tables, behind wallpaper, or any other objects around a bed. Although bed bugs usually live within 6-8 feet of where people sleep, they can travel as far as 100 feet.

Signs and symptoms of bed bugs include bite marks on your body, live bed bugs or exoskeletons, blood spots due to blood-filled fecal material on the mattress, bedding or nearby furniture.

Our treatment includes heat and product application to your home or business. This combination treatment provides an immediate effect as well as provides ongoing control.