faq

frequently asked questions

1. what does the technician do during each service?

There are 4 different types of services on our Pest Free Guarantee™ plan. What your technician will do during your service depends on which pest(s) are being treated for, and which type of service is being performed.

Initial Service

The purpose of this service is to identify the best treatment strategy for your pest issue(s) and implement the strategy’s first phase.

• For pests like insects and rodents, the first phase is to get them out of your home so the following treatments can focus on keeping them out.
• For stinging pests like wasps or hornets, the first phase is to eliminate any active nests in your home or property.

During the initial service your technician will:

1. Assess the pest situation and identify the pest treatment strategy. As part of this initial assessment:

• Sweep away cobwebs and nests around the exterior and inside the garage (if access is available).
• Inspect exterior and interior (if accessible) for pest activity, proper sealing around doors, windows, garage doors, and exterior piping and wiring where they enter the home.
• Perform a customized crack/crevice treatment and yard spot treatment as necessary.

2. For insects and other bugs, apply a product to push the pests out of your home and/or eliminate the nest(s) for social bugs like ants.

3. For stinging insects like wasps or hornets, directly treat the nest with a product that will kill the entire colony and possibly remove it if necessary.

4. For rodents, lay down a series of professional bait stations based on the existing rodent activity.

Routine Service

The purpose of our routine service is to maintain your home’s protection year-round.

During each service, your technician will:

1. Power spray your home’s foundation with a synthetic treatment. (During colder months, technicians may opt for dry products/dust to increase the effectiveness of the products and ensure that the products do not freeze.)
2. Sweep any cobwebs and nests around the exterior and inside the garage (if access is available).
3. Inspect exterior and interior (if accessible) for insect activity, proper sealing around doors, windows, garage doors, and exterior piping and wiring where they enter the home.
4. Perform a customized crack/crevice treatment and yard spot treatment as necessary.
5. Apply a botanically-derived treatment to your home’s interior (or synthetic for extreme pest situations).
6. Treat as otherwise required based on pest activity, specific needs, and customer requests.

Free Re-services Year-Round if You See Pest Activity Between Scheduled Services

If you see pests between your regular scheduled services on our Pest Free Guarantee™, just give our friendly customer service team a call and we’ll send out a technician within 1 or 2 business days (in most cases) for free!

This is especially helpful in the late summer and fall when stinging pests like wasps and hornets or home-invasive pests like stink bugs and boxelder bugs can strike at any time.

During a free re-service your technician will:

1. Assess the pest activity you’re seeing and directly treat it.
2. For insects and bugs, this will generally involve applying a product to the area(s) with activity.
3. For rodents, this may involve re-positioning existing bait stations, setting up new ones, or laying down a series of traps to identify the precise area(s) of activity so they can be treated on a following treatment.

2. why doesn’t the technician spray the entire yard?

The primary goal of our service is to keep pests out of your home. The most effective way to do that is to create and maintain a barrier against pests directly on the outside of the home itself. This is why we spray the foundation instead of the entire yard.

Also, because we want to be as responsible as possible when applying products, a broadcast spray of the entire yard is not advisable in most cases.

• This is especially true if pets or children use the yard.
• If there are specific issues in the yard, we are happy to do a spot treatment free of charge.

For stinging pests like wasps and hornets, we can treat any nest(s) on your home or property up to approximately 30 feet high.

• If you see a nest at any time while on our Pest Free Guarantee™ service, you don’t need to wait for the next scheduled service.
• Simply give our friendly customer service team a call right away and we’ll send out a technician in 1-2 business days (in most cases) to take care of it for you!

3. why don’t you service inside every time?

In general, outside treatment can keep pests out of your home without interior treatment. The sprayed solution (or winter dust treatment) applied to the outside of your home creates and maintains a barrier that pests don’t want to cross.

We are happy to also provide interior service at any time (and at no cost to you!) if you’re seeing some activity you’d like us to treat:

• We can either do this as part of your next scheduled service if it’s not a time-sensitive issue,
• or we can come out right away and treat the interior alone as a free re-service.

To set up a free interior service, simply call or email customer service that you are seeing activity inside and we can schedule your interior treatment with you.

4. does the synthetic solution work better than the organic solution?

Yes. In general, the synthetic solution provides faster, more effective results. In many cases, we can use the synthetic solution to get rid of any existing pests you’re seeing, then switch to the botanically-derived solution for ongoing maintenance to keep new pests out of your home.

There is no extra charge for the organic solution.

5. how soon can i expect results?

Several days – several weeks, in most cases. The exact amount of time to see results varies based on a number of factors such as the pest(s) being treated, the level of infestation, and the time of year.

To effectively treat the pest issue(s), we need to get ahead of the pests’ reproductive rate.

Since most pests reproduce rapidly, it generally takes at least a few days for the treatment to take effect and decrease the pest population enough so it can’t replenish faster than the treatment is working.

All our services include a follow-up treatment after the initial treatment to make sure any remaining pests are eliminated.

Finally, all our services include a 100% guarantee:

• For services like our Pest Free Guarantee™, this guarantee lasts year-round.
• For 1-time services like our Bed Bug Control service or Roach Control service, this guarantee lasts for 30 days after the second treatment.
• If you see any pest activity during the guarantee period, just give our friendly customer service team a call and we’ll send out a technician at no charge to take care of it!

6. how is this different from what i buy at home depot?

There are 2 reasons our services are very different from what you can buy off-the-shelf:

1. The products themselves: we use professional-grade products regulated by the EPA that require a license to apply. These products are much more effective than those you can buy at a hardware store. Many off-the-shelf products will kill some pests to make you think they’re working, but then end up causing the rest of the pest population to spread out and get even more difficult to completely eradicate!
2. The technicians applying the products: our technicians have years of experience treating the local pests in your area. They are very familiar with the individual pest(s) you’re dealing with and the most effective way(s) to treat them.

7. is this safe for my family and/or pets?

A: The products we use are the same ones used in schools, nursing homes, and hospitals.

As an alternative to our standard synthetic solution for treating insects and other bugs, we are one of the few companies in our service areas to also offer an organic solution:

• If you’re new to proof., ask your pest specialist about our organic solution when you call to sign up and they will tell you all about it.
• If you’re an existing proof. customer, simply call or email customer service that you’d like the organic solution.

There is no extra charge for our botanically-derived solution.

8. how do we treat the attic and/or crawlspace if we don’t go in there to look around and apply treatment?

In general, the treatment strategies we use don’t require us to know the exact location of the pest(s). We can put down the products in strategic locations or in close proximity and the products will do the rest.

If necessary, we can directly treat attics and/or crawlspaces in most cases:

• There are potential safety and legal issues with treating these spaces, so they are handled on a case-by-case basis.
• We may need to first set up an inspection to assess the situation before applying treatment.

9. how can the product take 14 days to take full effect?

For insects and other pests, it can take up to a few weeks to see full results because we need to get ahead of the pests’ reproductive rate. It can take 1-2 weeks for enough of the pests to come in contact with the product before the pest population is unable to replenish itself faster than the treatment is working.

This is particularly true for ants, because the product works when ants walk over it and then take it back to their nest, spreading it around to other ants in the nest. In order to kill the nest, enough ants have to bring the product back that it spreads all the way to the queen.

10. why doesn’t the technician leave a paper statement to let us know that he has been there?

As part of our commitment to environmental responsibility, proof. is a paperless company:

• We will notify you by text, automated call, or email before each scheduled service. If you’d like to change your notification method, just call or email customer service and let them know what method works best for you.
• After each service, a service report will be available in your customer account that goes over the service details. To log in to your account, simply click the Customer Login link on the www.proofpest.com main menu.

11. why do i need service year-round?

Even though the products we use are professional-grade and stronger than what you can buy at the local hardware store, they are only allowed to last up to approximately 90 days. After this point, they lose effectiveness. In order to maintain an effective barrier against pests around your home, we need to re-apply the product(s) every 90 days.

While there are obviously fewer bugs in the winter, they don’t go away entirely:

• Some bugs such as bed bugs, roaches, fleas, and spiders are active year-round.
• Other pests like wasps, stinkbugs, and boxelder bugs look for warm places to shelter in over the winter. If the barrier around your home is left to expire, then these bugs will make their way into your home in large numbers during the fall and winter, and you’ll have a huge number of pest problems in the spring when the weather warms up.
• Our technicians use a combination of sprayed solution and dust treatment over the winter to maintain an effective barrier against pests regardless of snow or other winter weather conditions.

Rodents are also active year-round, and they will aggressively try to move indoors over the winter seeking shelter from the cold:

• Once inside, rodents like mice can rapidly reproduce in your home and quickly turn into a full-blown infestation.
• In fact, 1 female mouse can have 100+ babies per year, so a small rodent issue can turn into a large one fast!
• Small rodents like mice are included in our Pest Free Guarantee™ service. This service helps us quickly identify and treat any rodent issues, so we stay ahead of their reproductive rate and never let them turn into an infestation.

12. what can i do to partner with proof. to make this service work effectively?

Great question! There are several things you can do to help make our service as effective as possible.

Outside your home:

• Seal any cracks and crevices.
• Replace any loose or missing weather stripping around doors.
• Clean out all gutters or drains.
• Store any firewood at least 10-20 feet away from your home.
• Keep shrubbery and foliage trimmed back so that they do not come in contact with your home or deck.
• Store items in plastic or metal containers, never cardboard, and off the floor if possible.

Inside your home:

• Reduce the amount of clutter.
• Repair any leaky pipes.
• Inspect any holiday decorations that you bring inside from outdoors or in storage.
• Reduce the amount of moisture in a home.
• Traveling for the holidays? Make sure to let us know if you see any signs of bed bug activity when you return home.
• Inspect and clean areas around the home that are not commonly used, such as attics, basements, storage areas, and closets.

13. how do i know when my scheduled services are?

We can notify you by text, automated call or email before each scheduled service, whichever you prefer. If you’d like to change your notification method, just call or email customer service and let them know what method works best for you.

14. can the technician call me when they are on the way to my home?

Yes! If you’d like to receive a call from your technician when they’re on the way, simply call or email customer service and let them know.