Our new home has the TAEXX in-wall tube system by Hometeam Pest Defense. They are pretty aggressive with their marketing and a little pricey, IMO.

Is professional pest control worth it and if so, is it worth paying more to have this in-wall system used?

If it keeps the rib happy and eliminates nagging and/or an argument for me, then yes, it is worth it.

We use Barrett Pest Control. I don't remember how much we pay though.

Disclaimer: my dad owns a pest control company

Unfortunately there is a huge range in quality in the pest control industry.

To many small local companies are absolutely no better than what you could do yourself with 30 minutes google research and a trip to the local lowes.

Most large national companies have a fair to decent system in place that are good if they meet your needs, but the technicians have neither the ability, inclination, or permission. To deviat from the prescribed routine. Also many are high pressure sales jobs.

Well, from watching the TAEXX video, it looks like if you just fill up a compressor with an attachment to spray a liquid from a canister and a small nozzle, you could theoretically service the system your self. I'm sure what they send through the system is close to what you can buy at lowes.

And you could have the guy come out only when your home, observe him and his equipment (like the pressure rating on the tank, etc) then go reverse engineer your own servicing equipment. Then start a servicing company for that system and $$$$

[This message has been edited by Corps_Ag12 (edited 7/18/2013 12:42p).]

It keeps my wife happy, ergo it keeps me from having to do it myself = I am happy. I have the wall tube setup and same company you are talking about

Not in our experience. We used ABC in Houston.

What was more effective was treating the yard with Triazicide, the perimeter with Ortho Home Defense, and behind baseboards, under cabinets, and in INACESSIBLE areas of the attic with diatomaceous earth. After applied, you don't want to disturb the diatomaceous earth so that you don't inhale the dust.

Why not use barrier treatment with Termidor and pay one time and be done with it? I don't understand the necessity for regular 'treatment' through whatever system that is.

We pay a company here in Houston to spray once per year (they really hammer the place inside and out). In the 2.5 years we've lived here, I've seen very few bugs in the house.

To me it is well worth it. I'm roach phobic, and in 2.5 years, we've seen only one inside the home and it was dying. Can't ever remember seeing one outside, either.

I've used Berrett for the past couple of years. They come out quarterly...it costs $100 a visit. They do the whole house (2500 sq ft) and the yard. They also do a yearly inspection for termites. I've been pleased with their service.

Do it yourself with Demon WP from Tractor Supply every 3 months or so.

I clicked this post to mention exactly what chosin said! Demon WP is some deadly stuff! We just moved into a new house on a few acres in Georgetown. We have numerous critters out here....huge red headed centipedes (those of you that know me on FB saw my last centipede adventure vs my sons Red Ryder) and scorpions were my biggest concern. A trip to Tractor Supply and $12 later, my house was treated. Within 24 hours, I had dead stuff everywhere. Spiders, Scorpions, 1 centipede and 12,000,000 pill/doodle bugs.

Check out the 522 reviews on this site if you want further proof of how effective Cypermethrin is:

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/demon-wp-insecticide-p-74.html

There is a generic version of this stuff called Cyber WP (maybe Cyber XP) that is almost half the price. 1 lb of it is only ~$30 and will mix 24-48 gallons of spray. That is years worth....

edit...double post

[This message has been edited by RRAggie99 (edited 7/18/2013 11:16p).]

1. Used ABC here in Houston for 1 1/2 years and experienced terrible customer service repeatedly.

2. Convinced the rib to fire them and let me go at it with Demon WP.

3. ????

4. Profit

Be a man and spray yourself once a month or whenever.

And tell your woman to fix you a turkey pot pie when your done! Sheesh.

Demon WP is good stuff

I am not so sure that ABC is still aggie owned. I think Tom Delay started it.

I pay for termite control so that I have the protection against damage if/when termites attack the house. Everyone else, I spray a perimeter, keep the yard clean, and put bait out for roaches and ants.

Very lucky, use professional (Bugmobiles)and have had the same guy for 10-15 years. Good service and a really nice guy. They come quarterly for a fee and whenever you have bugs for free. Have had to call them back only a couple of times over the years.
Also watch for termites, I think a lot of the termite people and treatments are bait & switch or scare tactics, but you DO NOT want them, so watch closely and get a pro every couple of years just to make sure. We had them but were able to catch them early and get rid of them. Still watch closely but have not had again so far!!
I do yard for fleas ticks and ants but have a large yard and easy to do with tractor and sprayer.

true story.

I had flea infestation.

I started out small with some Wal-Mart do it yourself stuff. Did not work, got worse.

I ordered a can of Ultracide from DIY pest control. Maybe a day after spraying, the fleas had absolutely taken over and I decided to call Terminex.

Guy showed up and sprayed the outside first.

He knocked on my garage door to come in and spray the inside. In his hands were 2 cans of Ultracide. Within a week the fleas in the house were gone.

I guess I did not wait long enough for the Ultracide to work the first time.

So, if you ever have an issue with fleas, do it yourself with Ultracide.


But in general, I do everything but termites myself. Ortho makes some stuff, can't remember the name right now, but it is 100% effective against ants and roaches. I spray the inside around the baseboards and never have an issue.

What's the name of the company
Is it still affective

Invest in a B&G sprayer and Demon Max or Demon WP. Takes 15 minutes to do a perimeter spray at a cost of about $2 per application. I spray every 3 months so you're talking all of 1hr of labor/year

How much are y'all paying for standard treatments (inside and outside)?

I just learned a hard lesson. Don't spray Demon WP if you may already have ants in your house.

Wife and I saw a few sugar ants coming through a gap in the door and we had acrobat ants on our patio. I went the self application rout with Demon WP around the perimeter of the house at ground level and in most of the weep holes. I was also "fortunate" enough to notice Carpenter ants going in and out of a tiny hole in the mortar of one of our front columns. Flooded that hole with spray and it was a mass exodus of dying ants fleeing the column.

The next day or so, we noticed a couple of Carpenter ants in the bedroom. No problem, the Demon will get them, right? We are still seeing them now.

Sunday evening we noticed winged ants in our daughter's room and decided to get ABC out today in case they were actually termites (they weren't termites, actually they were winged acrobat ants).

The ABC rep (nice older lady) told me
What I did with the Demon was actually create a barrier that the ants won't go past. Thus, they are going through the house looking for a way around the Demon. We've never had a problem with ants before and the only variable that changed was me mucking around with the Demon.

Long story short, my experience is that it's probably better to pay for a year of extermination service and then DIY, rather than make the same mistake I did.

I just started with ABC; about $150 for initial treatment, including 3 different granules and bait to treat the yard, Termidor around the perimeter, filling of weep holes, spot treatment inside, and baiting the attic. Additionally, it's about $80 every two months for maintenance.

I live in Cedar Park.

We just bought a 3 year old home with the Taexx tube system. I called to cancel our old pest service to go with HomeTeam and they told me these Taexx tube systems tend to clog and not be effective over time or with change in consistency of the liquid injected. Any on here have issues with Taexx system over the years? Taexx service seems to be comparable in price to our old service.