Pest Control Sydney

Sydney city

Pest Control in Sydney is big business! With it’s year round warm weather and high rainfall, Sydney is a pest hotspot! Regular pest treatments are the key to keep your home or business pest free. Here’s all you need to know about pest control and the key pests in Sydney.

 

Pest Control Services in Sydney

A general pest treatment – the “pest spray” – once a year is generally good to keep spiders and most insect pests at bay for at least 6 months in Sydney. If you time the treatment at the start of spring, it will probably last the whole of the pest season.

The main part of the treatment is a pest spray around the perimeter of the building – after all we want to stop the pests coming in! The pest manager is likely to blow dust into the roof void, vents and sub-floor to target pests hiding in those area. They won’t always spray inside the house, it depend on your particular pest concerns.

For pest control in Sydney, it is often a good idea to combine a pest treatment with your annual termite inspection as you can often get a good discount.

 

Annual termite inspections in Sydney are a must. Not only will the pest professional detect whether termites are active on your property (or worse still in your house), they will also spot termite damage and most importantly give you a list of actions you can take to make your home less attractive to termites.

Some termite inspectors will also use thermal imaging cameras or other termite detection devices. These can be very useful bits of equipment, but the skills of an experience termite professional are more important.

It’s also important to make sure that the inspector does a thorough inspection job. Typically a termite inspection should take 1.5 -2 hrs for a standard house, but it can take a lot longer for larger houses, especially if they have a sub-floor.

If you don’t have a termite protection system in place, the pest professional should also make a recommendation for a termite treatment to protect your home.

Termite treatments in Sydney are vital to provide long lasting termite protection to residential homes.

Although all new buildings should have termite protection incorporated into the construction during the build, this is often insufficient to completely prevent a termite attack. That is why it is industry best practice for all buildings to have either a soil treatment or termite baiting system around the perimeter of the building (and underneath if there is a sub-floor).

The type of termite treatments will depend on the situation at the property and the construction of the building. Certainly in the inner city areas of Sydney where the house are terraces or close together the treatment options are more limited.

 

Find a Pest Control Company in Sydney

Not surprisingly there are a large number of pest control companies in Sydney. Whether you want your local pest professional or want a larger company to help you out, there are lots of options to choose from.

It is important to choose an experienced pest professional you can trust. Always check to make sure they are licensed and insured to carry out the work being requested.

If you’re looking for a pest control company near you, click on our pest control company locator below to find pest companies providing the services you are looking for in your area.

Key Pests in Sydney

Ants are one of the main urban pests in Sydney. “Black ants” are common home invaders and are generally one of two species – black house ants or white-footed house ants.

Outdoors coastal brown ants (also called big headed ants) can cause a problem in pavers (and occasionally invade homes). In the lawn, green-head ants and funnel ants can cause a problem – green head ants from their painful bites and funnels ants from the damage they cause.

Professional pest managers will generally use a combination of products to eliminate ant problems, typically a combination of sprays (to stop the ants coming inside) and baits (to actually kill the nest).  Indoor ant problems can generally be completely eliminated. However, outdoor ant problems can often only be controlled for a limited period of time, as even if ants are eliminated from the yard, eventually new ants will re-invade from surrounding areas. 

Birds nesting in and around homes and businesses can cause a nuisance – not only do their droppings make a mess and damage buildings, but they carry diseases and parasites… and can make a lot of noise!

The main pest birds in Sydney are pigeons and the Indian myna (not to be confused with the noisy minor, an Australian native). For homeowners, the damage birds can cause to solar panels and decrease in output that occurs (through the droppings blocking the sun) can be significant and is an increasing problem. Bird proofing homes, especially solar panels, by a pest professional is a worthwhile investment.

Cockroaches are perhaps the most common pest in Sydney, especially in the inner city areas – there is a reason NSW residents have the nickname, the “cockroaches”! Both homes and businesses suffer from cockroach infestations. Cockroaches are so numerous due to the ideal climate, plentiful food and high density housing.

There are two types of cockroach species, large cockroaches (such as the American and Australian cockroaches) which generally live outside, under houses, in drains and rubbish; and small cockroach species, such as the German cockroach which only lives inside, most commonly in kitchens.

The type of treatment a professional pest manager will use depends on the species of cockroach present. For large cockroach species, spraying the outside of the building (to prevent them entering) and spraying or dusting other hotspots are the key activities. Occasionally cockroach baits may be used as well. For German cockroaches, which are smaller and a lot more difficult to control, the main treatment involves the use of cockroach baits. When using baits it may take several days to reduce the population and with German cockroach treatments, more than one visit may be necessary to eliminate the problem.

With cockroach problems, ensuring good housekeeping / hygiene is essential for eliminating and prevent cockroach infestations.

Fleas generally aren’t a problem if pet flea treatments are kept up to date. However, we all know how easy it is to forget, so it’s always possible to suffer from a flea infestation. In addition, sometimes the infestation may be due to rat fleas due to a rodent infestation.

Fleas are generally only a problem in the summer months as the thrive in the warm, humid weather conditions. Even though “flea bombs” are available in supermarkets, it is generally the best option to get a pest professional to carry out any flea treatments. This is because to completely eradicate the infestation, both indoor and outdoor areas need to be treated, as the flea eggs, larvae and adults will be present in all your pet’s resting places.

There are two types of flies that cause problems for homeowners and businesses in Sydney – the common housefly and the drain fly.

Housefly problems occurs if there is garbage, pet faeces or manure around for them to lay their eggs on – the maggot love any organic matter! So good hygiene around your property is key to eliminating any fly breeding spots and a pest spray from your local pest professional will leave a treatment on the surfaces where they land.

Drain flies are the small flies that you can find in bathrooms, laundries and kitchens. They typically feed on rotting fruit or vegetables or in the slime in drains. If you have a problem with these annoying flies try and find any rotting food and clean out the drains before calling your pest professional.

The house mouse is a common indoor pest in Sydney. They will live outside in burrows but tend to come inside looking for shelter when the weather gets cooler. They carry diseases and parasites, which can be transferred when they urinate on surfaces and food.

Although it is tempting to use baits from supermarkets, they are very toxic to humans, pets and non-target wildlife like possums. As such, it is always best to pay a pest professional to carry out the treatment to ensure the baits are placed in the best locations to deliver results and prevent accidental ingestion. Pest Professionals will use lockable bait stations in most areas.

Mosquito problems in Sydney tend to be concentrated in areas near rivers and lakes, although after periods of rain, mosquito numbers tend to explode.

Key to keeping numbers down at your property is to eliminate mosquito breeding sites – areas of resting water – plants pots, drains, gutters, etc. However, if you have a persistent mosquito problem, pest professionals can fog your outdoor areas to treat surfaces where mosquitoes land and rest. Although no treatment can deliver 100% control of mosquitoes, these fogging treatments can reduce the mosquito number significantly to allow you to enjoy your outdoor areas for up to 3 months.

There are two pest rats in Sydney, the most common, but smaller, roof rat and the larger sewer rat. Rats typically live outdoors coming inside to find food, although roof rats in particular will take up residence inside homes. They carry diseases and parasites, which can be transferred when they urinate on surfaces and food.

Although it is tempting to use baits from supermarkets, they are very toxic to humans, pets and non-target wildlife like possums. As such, it is always best to pay a pest professional to carry out the treatment to ensure the baits are placed in the best locations to deliver results and prevent accidental ingestion. Pest Professionals will use lockable bait stations in most areas.

Rats can also be difficult to control due to their intelligence and their neophobic behaviour – they are frightened of new things. To eliminate a rat problem quickly, using a rodent expert will get the fastest results.

The key spiders in Sydney are the black house spider, redback spider, white tail spider and Sydney funnel-web spider.

Whereas spiders do help eliminate insect pests, the bites from these spiders are health threat to your family and pets. Black house spiders create dense funnel shaped webs around windows and door frames and under eaves. Redbacks make messy fish net-like webs, often containing leaves, in dry cracks and crevices, and even in downlights.

Treatments for black house spiders and redbacks involve a “spider spray”, where the outside of the building, obvious webs and spider hiding places are sprayed. Sometimes insecticide dust may be blown into cracks and crevices. These treatments can be quite long lasting, typically 6 months or longer in protected areas.

Treatment for white tail and funnel-web spiders is a little more problematic. White tail spiders generally only come inside to escape hot or wet weather or when looking for food. As they walk on the tips of their legs, they don’t always pick up a lethal dose of insecticide off any treated surface before entering the building. However, if you have a standard spider treatment which targets redbacks and black house spiders, this will also eliminate other insect pests, making your home far less attractive to white tails as there will be no food for them to eat. Sometimes, if you have a white-tail spider “infestation” (rather than the occasional white-tail entering your home), there may be a specific problem which the pest professional will need to investigate, identify and treat.

Funnel-web spiders are generally found in moist, cool areas, under rocks and logs. Homeowners normally only come into contact with male spiders during Autumn when they leave their burrows looking for a mate or in periods of heavy rain. A comprehensive perimeter spider treatment can help, although as it is a large spider it will often still be able to walk across any treated zone, taking a couple of hours before they die.

 

Termites are major concern for homeowners in Sydney causing millions of dollars of damage each year. There are several termite species in Sydney and a couple are capable of causing significant damage in as little as 6 months.

Although making your home less attractive to termites is something all homeowners should do, termite inspections and termite treatments are jobs for trained, experienced, licensed and insured termite professionals.

In Sydney, homeowners should book a professional termite inspections at least once a year and it is highly recommended that a termite protection system be installed around the perimeter of the home.

Weather in Sydney and what it means for pests...

Sydney has great weather for pests, generally warm all year round and plenty of rainfall. This allows pests to breed quickly and so numbers can get quickly out of control.

Termites are active all year round, although they may slow down a bit in the cooler western suburbs in winter. They tend to have their mating flight on warm humid nights in spring and early summer.

The rainfall is higher on the coastal areas which means mosquitoes tend to be more of a problem in these areas.

As the night time temperatures in the western suburbs can drop to freezing during winter, indoor rodents problems can be more of a problem during winter in the west.

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