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The Bug That Can Blow Your House In: Are You Protected from Termites?

September 11, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Special thanks to Arrow Exterminators for partnering with me to make this post possible. All thoughts, opinions, and formerly live termite colonies are my own.

Here’s a fun statistic for all the homeowners out there: termites cause over $5 billion in structural damage every year. This is more than the damage caused by fires and storms combined. Oh, and another fun fact: most termite damage is not covered by homeowner’s insurance.

That’s awesome! And by awesome, I mean TERRIBLE!!!!!

Let me tell you, friends, when we first became homeowners, we made MANY mistakes (for example: becoming homeowners…but I digress…). But one thing we did right from the start was to get an annual termite contract. It is a bill that I honestly don’t mind paying every year because I know my biggest investment (also my worst investment, but again, I digress..) is truly protected from termites. If termites somehow make their way to my home and cause damage, my termite company is liable because of our contract. That’s a huge chunk of relief for me!

When we moved into our home in Chattanooga, we reached out to Arrow almost immediately to get a free inspection and a quote for termite services. We were also waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency to totally re-do our yard, as our neighborhood had been declared a superfund site due to unsafe levels of lead in the ground (Yay, urban living!). Can I just tell you how impressed I was with the Arrow Exterminators representative once I shared that information with him? He actually advised me to NOT get a termite contract started just yet, because the ground being treated was about to go away, and fresh, clean, bug-free dirt would be coming in. This man could have made a sale on the spot, but he demonstrated that he was looking out for the customer’s best interest.

I knew it would be Arrow I would work with again when the time was right.

Ok, so fast forward a year and change. We had a beautiful new lawn, and frankly, termites fell off my radar. It was actually thanks to my annual bill coming in for my termite contract on our house in Memphis that my memory was triggered. But our grass and dirt was still only a year old, so I was pretty sure no problems would be found.

Probably nobody is going to be surprised to hear that when we received our free inspection from Arrow, a live colony WAS found. It had really just gotten started and hadn’t yet reached the wood, so no damage was done…YET.

Oh, and just because I thought this was cool…I was shown pictures from under my house (pictures that I could identify as really and truly being under my house) to show me exactly what was discovered. So this wasn’t a situation where I had to just blindly believe that there was an issue. I really liked that about the inspection process. I saw those termites with my own two eyes!

This time around, we opted to get a different type of termite service than the one we originally planned on doing. We decided to have Sentricon stations placed around the perimeter of our home. And just to give you a glimpse at how effective this method is, here’s a fact: The White House is protected by Sentricon stations. BAM!

So here’s what happens when you get this system: a professional from Arrow will come out and drill very small holes in your property (and they will connect with power and gas companies beforehand to ensure safe drilling, FYI). The holes don’t go down very far, but better safe than sorry! The stations will be about 3 feet from your exterior walls, all around your house.

Because our soil was soft, and because our house is small, the drilling and the inserting of each station into the ground took about 15 minutes. That’s it!

I was then told that while the stations are designed to be flush with the ground, should they ever get in any way dislodged, to just contact Arrow, and they would come out and get it placed back in the ground correctly, with no charge. I was glad to hear of this service, and I was also very nervous, thinking, “Oh great! These things are probably going to pop out of the ground every time we mow the grass!”

So, I made the decision to wait a good long while before doing this write up, just to see if my suspicion was correct. It’s been a month since we’ve had these placed, and we haven’t had even the slightest issue. We’ve had our kids walk and run over them, and we’ve mowed over them, and we’ve had pouring rain and scorching heat and all that jazz. They are staying put just fine!

Ok, so how do these stations work, and are they safe around pets and children? The stations have a bait technology inside of them that helps keep your home protected any time, and all the time. It smells and tastes AMAZING to termites, and termites, incidentally, are the only critters that are drawn to it. I thought that was a pretty cool feature. They get inside the station and begin feeding on the bait. The workers carry it back to the colony to be shared with others. And it doesn’t kill them immediately, but it does cause them to be unable to shed their skin. They must shed their skin to grow. And that, my friends, is how they die.

Another feature of your service is that Arrow reps will come out once a year to check the traps and note signs of activity, and once a year for a full inspection. They will be able to let you know if you have headed off a potential termite infestation, and they will refill the traps. They will also check annually for any signs of live termite colonies, though in their experience, the instances of finding live termite colonies in homes with Sentricon systems are almost non-existent. Hooray!!!!

The Sentricon System gets very high marks from the EPA. I’m not really interested in re-polluting the soil that just got cleaned up! I’m also glad to know that the chemicals around my house are toxic, but only if you are termite. There are no concerns for me, my family members, or our pets.

Finally, I just have to say again how very impressed I am with Arrow’s top-notch customer service. I have yet to interact with a professional there who wasn’t highly skilled, highly knowledgeable, and genuinely excited about his work. That says a great deal to me about this company, and it is a chief reason why I will remain one of their customers.

So, if you don’t have a termite contract on your home, or if you are less-than-thrilled with the company you currently have working for you, give Arrow a call. Inspections and evaluations are totally free, and the products they offer are worth every penny! 1-888-462-7769.

On Mean Girls, Mosquitoes, and Reclaiming the Backyard (Giveaway!)

May 31, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 18 Comments

Special thanks to Arrow Exterminators for providing a complimentary pest control session for my review, as well as for a giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So last week my favorite pest control company on the planet rolled up to my front door to help me handle a little problem I was having with the neighborhood mean girls. You know the ones…

I’m talking about mosquitoes. And not any and all mosquitoes, my friends. Just the girls!!! The service professional that Arrow sent out was a certified entomologist (that’s a fancy way of saying “bug genius”) and he told me that not all mosquitoes bite, and that the ones that do bite are always the females. The males are actually pollinators, just like bees! Say what?! In fact, when Arrow comes out to treat a property, they will not spray flowering plants as that is where the boy mosquitoes like to hang out. As for the girls? They aren’t interested in nectar. They are on an all-blood diet. And they REALLY REALLY REALLY like my blood. That makes them officially uninvited to my backyard.

Arrow Exterminators offers a service where they will treat your property once a month during mosquito season, and the session is super quick. My yard (which is on the small side) was completely treated with 3 gallons of chemicals that are ONLY harmful to mosquitoes in 15 minutes flat. I noticed that they sprayed in some interesting spots, including along the siding of the house (evidently a place where the “mean girls” really love to hang out) and on lower-lying branches. The treatment was quick, but also quite thorough!

Last summer I wrote a helpful post all about how to get rid of mosquitoes. Definitely go back and give that a good read. I just did and it reminded me to make a few changes in the backyard right away (I’m looking at you, weird, overgrown plant by our back deck). But for immediate relief, definitely get in touch with your nearest Arrow Exterminators location and schedule a treatment. Remember to cut your grass just before your appointment, and schedule it for a day that will be dry and ideally not very windy. Those are the ideal conditions for optimal application! 🙂 You also need to let the product dry for 4 hours before getting back out there to play. The product lasts for approximately a month before its effects have worn off and a new application is needed.

Since we had our yard treated, we have been outside to play and even to eat a few meals on the back deck. Not one time have I been bitten, and trust me when I say if there is a mosquito within a 1000 foot radius of me, she will find me and bite me. But there’s a force field around my house keeping all those mean girls out for the next 4 weeks. Thank you, Arrow Exterminators for helping me reclaim my yard! 🙂

Win it! One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader who lives in an Arrow Exterminators service area (found in Alabama, Arizona, Flordia, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) will win a complimentary mosquito treatment service!

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Be sure to enter my other current giveaways found on the sidebar of my page.

3 Tips to Get Rid of Mosquitoes in Your Yard (Mosquito Treatment Giveaway!!!)

May 19, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 24 Comments

Here in eastern Tennessee, the mosquitoes are already out, and man are they hungry! I seem to be in the most fortunate category of people who are extremely delicious to mosquitoes. I’m sure you are jealous! Last summer, every day I would get bitten by at least one mosquito in the time it took me to go from my back door to the car (9 seconds…I’ve timed it).

Darah and Layah both really love to play outside, and I want them to get to enjoy the beautiful weather and get to play in the yard, with their splash table, and with the kiddie pool. And I want this all to happen without them being bit by mosquitoes like crazy. Also, I’d like to avoid that fate, myself!

I recently connected with Arrow Exterminators, a pest control company with offices in 9 different states (Alabama, Arizona, Flordia, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas). They came out and provided a mosquito treatment to our property, and they also taught me quite a bit about their services and what strategic steps I can take to help reduce the mosquito population around my house. I highly recommend this company, but even if you don’t live in their service area, you can still learn some great tips from them, so keep reading!

I have never had my yard sprayed for mosquitoes out of concern that very toxic chemicals would be used. I was really relieved to hear that Arrow uses products that are registered with the EPA and that is designed to bond to foliage, and not to people! Once the area that has been sprayed is dry, it is completely safe to walk around on (even barefoot!). In my experience, it takes about 4 hours for the product to dry. I also thought the fact that the person spraying our lawn wasn’t wearing special clothing or a special mask was very telling. If he trusts the chemicals enough not to be “suited up” and he sprays them all day, every day, then there’s little to worry about!

I was also concerned about the cost of the treatment. For a yard my size (which is admittedly small) and for the Chattanooga area, the montly cost of a mosquito treatment would be $55. Honestly, that’s not a price I would have paid before having kids, as I personally don’t like to spend a lot of time outside, but it is something I’m strongly considering now. Because my kids like to do this. A lot.

The exact cost for your property to be serviced is likely not going to be the same as mine, but Arrow can provide you with a free estimate.

I asked Arrow for some tips on helping me make the very most of my monthly treatment, as well as some good general tips for keeping the mosquitoes at bay. Here’s what I learned.

Tip #1. Eliminate as much standing water on your property as possible. For example, if you have empty pots on your deck that just collect rain water, turn them upside-down. If you have larger water containers like a kiddie pool or a splash table, it isn’t necessary to empty them daily, but they should be emptied once a week. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, which is why it needs to go! If you have something like a pond in your backyard, Arrow has specific chemicals it can use that targe mosquito larvae and that won’t harm the pond plant life.

Tip #2. Do you have any areas of your back yard that are overgrown? Mosquitoes rest on foliage, and LOVE to congregate on bushes, trees, or better yet, clusters of such things. We actually got rid of a lot of overgrowth this past winter, and I think that is going to help us significantly. If you ever needed a good reason to do some cleaning up in your yard, now you have it!

Tip #3. Mow your grass BEFORE you have it treated for mosquitoes. The product adheres to the blades, so if you cut your grass right after your treatment, your results will not be as optimal. Unfortunately, we were due for a grass cutting when our exterminator came over, but we let the grass continue to grow for about 5 more days so that we could get as much as possible out of that treatment. It has been 2 weeks now, and even though we have cut the grass, I am still not noticing nearly as many mosquitoes in our yard, so I’d say our treatment was successful!

If you live in an Arrow Exterminators service area, please do get in touch with them to get an estimate on servicing your yard. Your body will thank you for the lack of mosquito bites it will have to endure this summer!

I received a complimentary treatment for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.