Snap Pest Control

Thanks guys glad things have worked out. Joe

Thank you for your review. I get this call about rats in the basement kitchen. This situation corresponded to some degree with the other rat job with my long response from a few reviews down the list. The difference here was the kitchen was attached to an exterior wall and the plastic plumbing stack was closed off with some mesh. There was a cabinet door covering the stack which gave me just enough room to slide into it . Inside I looked at it and turning my head to the right ever so slightly I could see the faintest outline of a half circle. I had only 3 inches to see it and half my body was squeezed into this area and yet sure enough I felt as if there was something there. In order to be certain the kick plate was removed in its entirety. I approximated the drain to be around 4 feet from where I was initially. With my body on the floor and with my left arm extended out as far as it could reach I could feel the rusty cast iron. The issue was getting to it and closing it off. I had to make an opening into the to open and then seal up the wall. Once again nothing is easy and now I know why that contractor left that drain like that. I had to really contort myself in order to access this location. First things were baited then I came back and finished the whole thing off. Happily my streak is still on.

Thanks for your review. This job involved some very cramped spaces with a lot droppings. Once again exterior stations outside doing nothing from the previous pest companies. Once again frustrated clients that are desperate to get their homes back at the mercy of the industry. I take rat jobs very seriously and I know what can happen. It was an honor to have you as a client and I'm pleased that everything worked out so well. Nothing gives me more satisfaction then knowing I've been able to lock out rats from a home. Its the only way the issue is resolved for good and my streak is still on too.

Thanks for your review. I remember the job well and will recount my experience here as a general response so that anyone out there who may be experiencing this issue will have a little more grasp of this problem and how it can seriously affect a homeowner. I remember driving along on Bloor when I got the call. In my mind I was just driving and thinking about various jobs and I felt I needed to go East for some reason. When I got the call I'd been on a streak with rat jobs going into last year and have I've been many jobs in with no issues. There is a certain deal of anxiety that I get from a rat job which is hard to explain. Will it be complex or strait forward ( I've had to gut whole basements ) I never really know until I arrive on the scene. Is this the job that takes me off my streak for once? The challenge was on and so I went, headed right to the house in question like it was meant to be. Arriving at the home I noticed exterior rat bait stations were placed all over the backyard by the previous pest control companies. To me that was the first indication that there was a problem. Having exterior bait stations makes no difference in a rat incursion into a home. The Rats outside and rats inside are two distinct populations which typically never meet, so how is this effective. For 18 months those stations were outside and yet the population on the inside continued unchecked. If anybody comes to your home and recommends exterior stations they are just grasping at straws on your dime. My intention here is to assist the homeowner that is reading this, and save them stress of having to endure what my client went through for the past 18 months. Back to the rat job. On the inside of the home I believe there were 2 or 3 large wooden snap traps and nothing else. The idea that two separate companies would simply install exterior stations and leave behind a few wooden snap traps was to me the epitome of both a lack of caring and or sheer inexperience. This job takes a keen sense as well a general knowledge as to the the potential structure of a home in tandem with opening walls. The main issue was the rats were entering via the kitchen in the basement. They were chewing away at the kickplates which I found unusual with respect to my previous jobs. Having experience in rats over the course of 18 years means I can go back in time to find similarities or discrepancies which could help in solving a stubborn problem. On the other side of the kitchen was a storage room with a washer and dryer which I found interesting. The kick plate was accessible to rats via this one wall. Though there were plenty of other access sources that could lead one to the location but for some unknown reason my instinct told me to look there first. The wall was filled with storage and as I mentioned before a washer and dryer which was all placed upon a platform raised off the concrete floor by 4 inches. I sat on a chair and looked at it for a long time and kept asking myself why, why would somebody need to elevate their appliances off the ground in a basement. The possibility of my searching for an access point and finding it here seemed plausible but remember I was headed East on Bloor when I received the call and the prospect now of having to take on the scope of this job at 4 00 pm just didn't seem right because I wasn't prepared mentally or physically. What I did do however was bait the location under the kickplate heavily with a product that I know rats love to eat. The decision was made that we would schedule the job for the next couple of days just so they could eat the bait and die outside. On the way home I wondered if this was the job that was going to break my streak and I Tossed and turned all night thinking of that washer and dryer and that platform. Upon returning to the home a few days later I went right to it. All the bait was gone from my previous visit and so I knew they were all dead by now. The platform was almost the entire length of the wall with a divider partition separating the storage from the appliances. The client insisted upon having her storage in the upper right unscathed which meant I would have to keep the partition wall as it was the only thing holding the upper storage unit together. This small storage spot meant that I couldn't remove the platform which made this job more difficult because I would now have to work around it somehow which I will get to later. The storage items were removed with not to much effort which enabled me to finally see that portion of the wall on the right side. I drilled 3 or 4 small tiny holes at one foot intervals until I reached the far right corner. Once completed I inserted my snake scope to have a better look into the wall. Knowing that this was an interior wall was beneficial since I knew that I would not be dealing with insulation which could hinder my view. The second hole looked interesting to me and right away I had my hopes up thinking, this must be it !!!!. I see an old rusty cast Iron plumbing stack just loaded with rat droppings. I tried to get the camera to reach the back part of the stack with no luck. The prospect that I found this as a source was very real to me because I had encountered these rusty stacks so many times before. In order to make sure I simply had to open the wall there and see for myself so I went back to my truck pulled out an extension cord and a Dremel along with some eye wear, overalls, a mask, and a large flashlight ( torch for you British out there ). This section of the wall ( 2' x 2' ) showed the stack and so I'm feeling around it and I touch it only to see it fall right outta the open wall. I was startled to say the least when it dropped out and had a laugh once I realized that it wasn't connected to anything at all. Just a stack that some plumber left in that wall who knows how long ago. There was one benefit though, I was able to inspect the exterior wall a little better and saw that there were no droppings at all which meant I was still dealing with the area. After vacuuming up around a hundred dropping I decided I wanted to look under the platform with my camera. This is what I call the second phase of my adventure. I figured I could use my cordless drill and since it was already with me felt confident it would suffice without any issues. My cordless drill was having a hard time with this plywood and so I go back to my truck for the corded drill and some new bits. This platform had to be 4 inches thick in layers of dried out nasty looking plywood from hell. Eventually I was able to get make a few holes which showed me even more rat droppings were underneath it. The camera could only go vertical and I needed to see the whole section so I had to cut open the location. This seems easy enough so I first tried to cut from one drilled hole with my jigsaw to the other. After the first blade went I decided I needed my skilsaw. The skilsaw proved better and within a shorter period of time I was able to cut out another section which was also vacuumed up and proved to not be the source. Now at this point I was thinking my streak of rat jobs was coming to an end. Having looked at the area I was left with a washer and dryer which I knew was going to require some detailed work to remove simply because of the water sources etc...and besides the place was a mess, with dust and droppings and material everywhere. The location was cleaned up and my client called up a handy man to unhook the machines for the next day. Next day rolls around and I attempt to cut open the area on the left of the platform where the washer and drier were only to find negative results. Now at this stage there was a cut up platform with a partition wall holding up this small precious storage shelf. I pleaded with my client ( third stage )that we had to fully remove the platform entirely in order to rule it out. My client was heart broken the partition plywood support came down along with the tiny storage. I grab my crowbar and with one thrust the platform slides right off the floor. To my amazement there was a small section about the size of a tennis ball glaring straight up and me which had all the hallmarks of rat entry. Had I not insisted upon the removal of that wall which was supporting the storage location this problem would still be going on to this day. Hard work and cement is what it took to get this job done and not some exterior bait stations and a handful of snap traps. Just letting you guys out there know. OH by the way my client has even better storage now with way more space. Streak is still on. Joe

Thank you for your review. I saw the quote and was shocked at the amount of it. The quote was ridiculous and complicated for what needed to be done. These quotes are so confusing that you are made to feel as if you're being intellectually challenged by them. Most people probably just accept these quotes out of the frustration of having to understand them. An example: The wildlife issue was quoted at $ 425.00. The one way door was quoted as 375.00. What does this mean? So combined the wildlife issue and the one way door are $ 800.00. $ 800 for a 1 way door is outrageous. The techs are encouraged to upsell to the point that they are made to believe that their jobs are on the line. I know that having wildlife problems can be stressful but wait an extra day there's really no need to fell pressured. Remember this particular client was being charged 3 times my quote. Waiting for me she saved a substantial amount of money.

Thank you for your review. The job was interesting to say the least and quite a challenge. Having arrived at the home I was quickly sent into the direction of the suspected access area whereby these squirrels had chewed their way in. The location was at the side of a home in the Danforth area just above the porch. This area had just received a new cladding piece of plywood and the squirrel's went through it like a hot knife through a block of butter. The location of the home presented some challenges which were a factor in how the job could be executed. The issue was that to access this area my ladder would need to be placed in the neighboring adjacent park. This therefore necessitated that I had to now bring all my tools, materials, and equipment into the park in order to do this properly. Having done so my ladder became very unsteady because of the terrain and where it rested on the fence. The fence was wobbling and so was I, which made things entertaining to all the laughing children in the park. As I was working to control all of this two squirrels' decided that it would be fun to cling to my boots which was the icing on the cake for me. Imagine a grown man on an uneven ladder attached to a wobbly fence trying to install mesh to plywood cladding with two squirrels clinging to his boots while a park filled with laughing kids are watching my every move. At one point I had to get off the ladder completely to rescue one black squirrel that decided it would be fun to take a nap right on the street. The mother showed up around the same time and gave me a look of approval which made me feel better. Later on I installed a new piece of wood to the chewed out section and spray painted the whole thing black. The job looked even better than it was which also made me happy. Joe

Thank you for your review. Personal note : I will say it's been a tough year so far with mice. Toronto in particular, (with a special emphasis on semi detached homes) seems to be hit hard for some unexplainable reason. I've personally never seen semi detached homes have such an uptick in rodents. Rats and mice seem to be out of control no matter where you go, be it city or suburb or country. Mice in particular seem to be evolving strategically all over southern Ontario. Rodents that have adapted to not eating bait or get caught in traps were so abundant in homes this year that I'm certain there must be some explanation. My theory is that this phenomena is likely a result of climatic changes whereby the winters we've been having were milder than normal and as a result I feel that the mice were able to forage for food over a wider period of time and restock their reserves. This ability to access resources no doubt kept the mice at higher than normal reproductive ( in a home ) rates producing an extra generation within a dwelling. To me that extra generation fueled by an abundance of food has likely enabled overwintering rodents the ability to better grasp the homeowners' pest control efforts. I expect that this trend will only get worse as these smarter evolved mice pass on these avoiding behaviors' to their offspring. My advice is to focus on exclusion efforts and find the right exterminator because there is only one chance to remedy a mouse problem. Once those mice learn to avoid your baits and devices it spells certain doom for us exterminators to quickly resolve a rodent issue. These modern day mice are better equipped, smarter, and more determined than ever to stay alive. Back to the review. The home was tight all around but I had a suspicion in one particular area and so I worked the job backwards. My theory was that the mice had access via the West wall. Having excluded all other possible scenarios' I checked the basement ceiling tiles as they corresponded to this location accordingly. Removing the tiles one by one I could see that the droppings seemed more pronounced as I reached the theoretical point that I was looking for. I proceeded back outside and decided to look higher up at a suspicious location. The bricks in this area were a mixture of browns that did not lend themselves well to the existence of rodent rub marks. With the proper angle and a flashlight I could see a faint pathway of evidence which was almost invisible to the naked eye. The job itself consisted of ladder work, removal of roofing material, mesh installation, stainless steel wool, and silicone plus baiting and traps. The job, with all my time at deduction took 3 hours to complete. I really feel like I've made a difference in my clients lives and this makes it all worth while for me. Joe

Thank you for your review. The issue here was that my client was feeling nervous about mice that had been entering his home in the fall months. He had a couple of companies out and just wasn't satisfied with the basic inspections and installation of bait stations. Speaking to him on the phone he told me that he didn't see actual evidence but was suspicious that there was still an issue. Being a person who trusts their instincts I have the upmost respect for individuals that are also like minded. In the end I booked the job for the same day as I was off and needed to get outta the house so it was perfect. Arriving at my clients home and gathering some details over the phone earlier I had already derived at a few possible scenarios. From the moment I entered the driveway I suspected one clear location which I'd seen before and made a mental note to inspect. I checked the entire house with emphasis on the garage. The garage bait stations were untouched with a bait that I would never use for mice. Rats yes they love this particular bait but mice not so much. In total I counted approximately 5 bait stations which hadn't been touched at all that were insufficient in number. Which means that the mice within the home couldn't possibly have succumbed to the rodenticide. Red flag number 1. No follow up to determine results. Suffice it to say the garage itself wielded a wealth of evidence once I moved things around and eliminated other possibilities. Knowing were to look in a garage is vitally important however my suspicion doesn't prevent me from still checking other areas as I've learned over the years that mice could have multiple access points. In fact there was one exactly were I suspected when I drove up the driveway in tandem with the garage. This location from the basements insulation proved to be the real access spot and now it all made sense. Red flag number two, this particular area was never seen nor sealed which means that the mice could and would continue to seek refuge in my clients home. The issue was never resolved and my client finally had the answers he needed. I took pictures for closure, sealed up the locations applied the correct bait for mice and will follow up in 6 to 8 weeks to make sure that we are on the correct path to a mouse free home. The job took 2 and a half hours to complete. Joe

Thank you for your review. The location of the exhaust vent was tricky which made this issue complex. In the end with some determination and hard work everything turned out perfectly. Installed a new vent plate and fabricated a cover with mesh so that the issue never happens again. I like permanent solutions, especially in hard to reach places.Joe

Thanks guys for your review I know that this raccoon caused your family a lot of grief but it's finally out for good. The job wasn't easy because of that glass overhang but things worked out well in the end. Joe

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