A Bed Bug Free Holiday Season

It's officially November which means that it's officially the holiday season! As you already know, this is the time where travel becomes a lot more frequent and you may find yourself staying in hotels or even guest bedrooms as you visit friends and family for the holidays.

A good rule of thumb when settling in to wherever you are staying it that bed bugs can essentially hide anywhere. Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs are not limited to just beds. Meaning, they can hide in couches, luggage, behind picture frames, in closets, in purses, or even coat racks. Wherever people are, bed bugs can hitch a ride and find a new victim to feed on, which makes hotels a perfect place for this. *Cue look of disgust*

Bed bugs are parasitic insects that feed on blood. The Cimex Lectularius, which is the most common among bed bugs, prefers to feed on the blood of humans. (Kinda like vampires...gross!) You can always tell you have a bed bug problem from the tell tale signs:

1. Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by bed bugs being crushed.
2. Dark spots (about this size: • ...)
3. Eggs and eggshells, which are tiny (about 1mm) and pale yellow skins that nymphs shed as they grow larger.
4. Live bed bugs.

If you are unfamiliar with what live bed bugs may look like, they are flat, reddish-brown, oval insects up to 4 to 5 mm long or the size of an apple seed. After a meal, they typically swell up and become more of a reddish color.

Bed bugs are tenacious little buggers (pun intended) because they are constantly moving from one victim to another and are pros at hiding. One way that we can eradicate a bed bug problem is using the thermal heat treating method to kill off the mature adults but also the eggs that they've laid, preventing them from spreading. 

Our advise to have a bed bug free holiday season?

1. Always do a thorough inspection of the bed by pulling back the sheets and observing the mattress seams. 
2. Do a brief inspection of the baseboards, outlets and picture frames remembering to inspect the curtains or drapes. 
3. After traveling, never place your luggage on your bed. Always unpack your luggage in the garage or laundry room and do laundry right away to avoid any bed bugs from spreading, preferably with the hottest water setting possible. 
4 . Call Black Knight for a free bed bug pest inspection so we can prevent an infestation from spreading. 

Happy Holidaying!

Effective Ways to Pest-Proof your Home

You can expect cozy flannels, delicious Maple Pecan lattes and messy pumpkin carving this season, but what you won't expect is the influx in pests in and around your home!

Pests often will seek shelter during the Fall and Winter months, particularly rodents, if you aren't adequately prepared. There are many effective ways to pest-proof your house without doing too much. Aside from maintaining your regularly scheduled pest control visits, some of these preventative measures can be as easy as general maintenance. Here's our advice: 

1.) Remove excess clutter, boxes or trash on the outside your home. Ensuring the lids on outdoor trash bins are closed at all times is also helpful. 

2.) Rake up leaves or excessive foliage that may have gathered around planter boxes and bushes overtime.

3.) Cut or trim back overgrown bushes and trees to help alleviate nesting from happening. Branches that lay on the roof are ideal for rodents to crawl onto your home! 

4.) Close up doggy doors, patch holes and/or fix loose piping that all serve as access points for critters. 

5.) Properly store dog food or cat food, preferably in metal bids with a lid that can't be chewed through such as plastic or cardboard. Rodents love nothing more than automatic feeders that are left outside!

All of these are effective methods to deter critters that are looking to escape from the cold and raise their families. If you find that you are hearing scurrying in the ceilings, there is a possibility that rodents are simply running across the roof of your home from the outside. However, if the scurrying persists or you simply would like to know for sure, give Black Knight a call and we can come out to perform a free inspection of your attic or areas of concern. Simply, Black Knight is here to help no matter what your pest problem is! Stay cozy, our friends.

Termite Inspection

Wood Destroying Pests and Organisms Inspection Report

Need a Termite Inspection scheduled for your property?

Whether your are selling your home or just a concerned home owner Black Knight Termite and Pest Control can help. All you need to do is pick up the phone and call Black Knight Termite and Pest Control to set up your appointment. A Termite Inspection usually averages to take about an hour unless it is a bigger size of home then it will take a little longer. You have the option of getting a Complete Report or a Limited. A Complete Report would be an inspection of the entire home while a Limited Report would be limited to an area instructed by the home owner or agent for the Professional Inspector to inspect. Black Knight will email, fax or mail your copy of the inspection to you with a typical turn around time of 2-3 days depending on the day the inspection was preformed and the amount of findings that are listed.

Many home owners are required to have a Termite Inspection done on their property if they are in the process of selling their home. In this situation this is usually required to not only have a Complete Inspection done but to also provide the Clearance for the property. Stating that the property is now Free of evidence of active infestation or infection in the visible and accessible areas.

What if you have Termites or Dryrot?

Black Knight Termite can help with that too. At Black Knight we have a fully licensed crew of reliable workers that take pride in their work. Once your Termite Inspection is complete and you would like to go forward with the work that is needed give Black Knight Termite a call to schedule and we will work with the time frame you are requesting.

How much does it cost to have an inspection done on my home?

If you are requesting that a complete report be done for your home that is for sale the report is $75.00 if you pay the day of the inspection or you also have the option of billing to escrow which would cost $85.00. If you are a concerned home owner and your home is NOT for sale then your inspection is FREE. A limited report is also FREE of cost. In some cases you may have already had an inspection done on your home by another company but would like a second opinion, if that is the case we will do our own inspection for FREE, we just ask that you provide a copy of the report done by the other firm. If there is work that needs to be done on your property and you hire Black Knight Termite to do the work for you then we will wave the inspection fee.

Are you in the process of a Refinance / VA Refinance?

Black Knight Termite will do an inspection for your property as well as any added guest rooms or sheds that may be required. Just let us know when you are scheduling your appointment.

How do I make an appointment?

There are a few different ways that you can go about scheduling an appointment. You can fill out the form on our website, comment to us on Facebook or yelp, or call us directly at 951.694.8100. No matter what way your choose to schedule we just ask that you provide as much information as possible such as; the property address, any gate access, who will be meeting the inspector at the property, the best point of contact with a phone number and an email address of where we can send the report to once it is complete. If you are a the owner of the home and need it sent to your agent please provide any information on them as well as any escrow information that you may have.

What cities do you service?

At Black Knight Termite and Pests Control we service most of Riverside Country. We service Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Hemet, Menifee, San Jacinto, Falbrook, Poway, Escondido, Canyon Lake, Anza, Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside and the list goes on.

More Questions?

No problem. Call Black Knight Termite and we can answer any of them for you.

951.694.8100

Subterranean Termites

Mud Tubes, a Termite Highway to your Home.

Subterranean Termites build their nests under ground and feed on buried Cellulose Material, making your home appetizing to these six legged Pests.  Once their underground food supply has ran out they will build "Mud Tubes" or Shelter Tubes that extend out from the soil to reach more of a needed food source.  Mud Tubes are also to protect them in their quest for more food to bring back to the Colony.  The Tubes are made of saliva, water particles, fecal matter and soil, therefor are brown in color and look to be made of dirt. 

In this picture you can get an idea of just how aggressive Subterranean Termites can be in building their Mud Tubes out from underground in search for food. Pala, California

Subterranean Termites can build their Colonies in the ground underneath your home, then can move on to the actual wood structure leading to what can be extremely costly repairs.  There are several preventative measures that can be done both inside and outside your home to help keep Subterranean Termites from attacking your home as a food source.  One way is to avoid water accumulation around your home by properly installing rain gutters to direct water away from home.  Inside your home you can reduce the humidity with proper ventilation which will help keep the Colonies out. 

If you come across what you think could possibly be Subterranean Tubes in or around your home you will want to schedule a Termite Inspection as soon as possible to avoid any further damage that may have already taken place.  A Home Termite Inspection done by a Professional would be the best way to get a better understanding of damage Termites have started in and around your Home.