Flea Control Service
Flea Control Service Guide
Please download the guide to review all general information and the section related to your specific pest.
Flea Control Service Plan
Interior Flea Control Service Plan
- 60-day warranty, dependent on following the preparation guidelines.
- Includes two visits 10-14 days apart.
Interior One-Time Flea Control Visit
- Used for vacant houses or homes that have not correctly followed the preparation guidelines.
- Call as needed for follow-up visits.
Add-On Services For Flea Control
- Exterior Treatment- 100$ plus tax per treatment. (up to 3000 Square Feet)
- Vacuuming is billed at 100$ plus tax per half hour- with a 100$ minimum.
- Additional Units- 100$ per additional living unit within the same location.
- Out of Service Area- 100$ extra for the 2-visit plan, 50$ for a single visit.
Treating Vacant Homes For Fleas
There is no warranty on vacant homes for fleas. We only schedule one-time visits. Follow-ups are performed upon customer request. To hasten the control process, we recommend frequent vacuuming, playing a boom box, and setting flea traps.
The Flea Lifecycle and Timeline for Control
Fleas undergo a complete metamorphosis, meaning they have eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults. It is essential to take steps to target each life stage. Vacuuming carpets and rugs before treatment opens the carpet fibers so the pesticide can better reach the eggs. Vacuuming also helps to remove the eggs and larvae. Our spray mix uses insect growth regulators to target the larvae stage. The pupae will be immune to any pesticide application. The main benefit of vacuuming post-treatment is that it helps transition the pupae into adults, speeding up the control process.
- It is expected to see fleas emerging from pupal cocoons for 7 to 28 days post-treatment, depending on environmental conditions.
- A second treatment is recommended for pupae that emerge into adults after the initial service.
The Flea Control Process
1. Confirmation of flea infestation:
The first step is confirming that fleas are inside the home or on pets. We ask for evidence from flea traps, flea combs used on animals, or confirmation from a pet groomer or veterinarian. You can pull up white socks or wear a Tyvek suit or pants and walk around to pick some up. If they are in the home, they should jump onto your legs. Fleas should also be visible in pet resting areas with a strong flashlight.
Without evidence, the technicians can suspend the service until proof is provided. We cannot treat based on bites alone. Flea bites usually occur on the feet, legs, and ankles.
2. Confirmation that the flea preparation guidelines have been completed:
Have the pets been professionally groomed or veterinary-treated? Have the carpets and rugs been recently vacuumed to open the fibers for better pesticide penetration? Have all the hard surfaces been cleaned? This includes the basement floors. Has pet bedding been washed or disposed of? Is it clean under the couch cushions?
If the preparation guidelines are not adequately followed, we can only provide the “One-Time Service Option.”
3. An inspection to help locate the source of the fleas:
The source could be from a visiting pet, leftover from a recently deceased pet, or a previous tenant.
In other cases, another infested animal is on the property. Flea hosts are dogs, cats, rats, rabbits, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, opossums, foxes, and chickens.
Consider stray animals. Is anyone feeding feral cats or wildlife? Skunks, groundhogs, or opossums could live under decks, sheds, or porches. Raccoons could live in the chimney. Missing chimney caps and dug-out areas around structures indicate that alternative hosts could reside on the premises. Feeding any animals outside could draw flea-infested wildlife onto the property.
Fleas can also be carried on shoes, pants, and blankets from infested areas. No animals need to be present.
If flea-infested feral animals or wildlife are on the property, they must be treated or removed in conjunction with the service, or the warranty will become void.
4. Interior Flea Treatment:
The home must be vacated until the spray dries, approximately 3-4 hours.
- Products: Alpine Flea and Bed Bug Aerosol, 10 grams per gallon of Alpine WSG tank mixed with 1 ounce per gallon of Tekko Trio. We often rotate to 0.5- 1 Ounce per Gallon of Onslaught tank mixed with Tekko Trio, especially in basements/ crawlspaces. (*Other products may be utilized.)
- Treatment Areas: Infested areas or potentially infested areas, including rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, pet beds, pet resting areas, room edges/ under baseboards, cracks in floorboards, floors, elevated areas frequented by cats, and around and under beds and other furniture or other stored items.
1. Exterior Flea Treatment: (Additional Cost)
Do not enter until the spray has dried. Lawn posting signs will be placed at entry points. They must remain in place for 24 hours following lawn application.
- Products: We use granular insecticides or Onslaught mixed with an IGR.
- Treatment Locations: Yards, porches, patios, or other habitation areas for fleas, especially areas that pets frequent. We pay particular attention to shaded areas with low protective covering, such as under bushes, decks, lawn furniture, lawn ornaments, and other landscape materials. We apply products to pet entry areas such as steps, stoops, and other areas where pets rest or sit for extended periods. Other treatment areas include shaded areas, under porches and decks, dog runs/ fence lines, kennels, dog houses, shelters, garages, and areas that could house other mammals (wildlife).
2. Removal of Flea Infested Animals: (Not Included)
An inspection will be performed, and recommendations will be provided to remove potential flea hosts from your property.
For example, if feral cats are a source and they frequent a garage, the customer may keep the garage closed as a method of exclusion. Other examples are removing skunks under the porch or a groundhog under the shed. You may require a mouse treatment for your basement. Bird feeders could be attracting chipmunks or rats. Some people put peanuts out for squirrels or corn for deer. Look out for raccoons or other animals living in your chimney. All these situations should be addressed in conjunction with the flea service.
3. Flea Post-Treatment Instructions:
- The key to success is to vacuum every other day for 10 days after the initial treatment and before the second service. This stimulates the pupae to emerge into adults and helps move inactive adults through our pesticide application.
- You will want to be active in the infested areas and not vacate them between services.
- Flea traps are recommended to help collect fleas and monitor areas of activity. These can be relocated periodically to help detect problem areas, allowing for a more targeted approach during the follow-up visit.
- We recommend limiting pet access to certain areas. For example, keep them out of unnecessary areas like the basement and bedrooms. Have them rest on a pet bed rather than the couch or other places of their choosing.
4. Follow-Up Flea Treatments:
A retreatment should be performed based on the flea’s lifecycle. This should be scheduled during the initial service. Ideally, it should take place 10-20 days following. We shoot for a two-week follow-up. Follow the preparation guidelines for any follow-up visit.
If more than two treatments are requested, there must be current proof of flea activity.
Flea Preparation Guidelines
We’ve provided a flea treatment preparation checklist to help maximize your treatment’s effectiveness. These items must be carried out to receive a warranty.
- Clear all carpeted floors, including closets (if possible), of boxes, clothing, and any other items that will prevent the application of our products.
- Wash (in hot water) or destroy all pet bedding.
- Mop wood, tile, and vinyl floors. We suggest cleaning and mopping with a Murphy’s oil soap-type product. It is beneficial to finish hardwood floors with floor wax. This coats the seams to cover eggs, larvae, and pupae.
- If the basement floor is being treated, it must be cleaned. This includes vacuuming and mopping. A dehumidifier should be running in the affected area.
- Thoroughly vacuum all carpeting and rugs as close to the treatment time as possible. This opens the carpet fibers for the spray to penetrate.
- Carefully vacuum pet resting areas- including windowsills, appliance tops, under furniture, and draperies. Concentrate your efforts in areas where pets sit and rest.
- Clean underneath the couch and chair cushions.
- Immediately after vacuuming, empty the vacuum cleaner’s contents into a sealed plastic bag. Then, dispose of this container in an exterior trash receptacle.
- If an exterior treatment is provided, remove loose items from the yard and cut the grass before the treatment.
- Before exterior treatments, water the treatment area (if dry) to bring flea larvae to the surface. Keep in mind that we only treat shaded areas of the yard.
- Remove pets from the home (before application).
- Before our arrival, store or cover all pet food containers and bowls.
- Also, cover fish tanks with a damp towel. Unplug aquarium filters and aerators before arrival.
- Arrange to have dogs, cats, and other flea-infested pets professionally treated by your veterinarian or groomer before or during the time of service.
- Be prepared to vacate the dwelling during service and for about 4 hours following service. This will give the necessary time for the products to dry.
- After the treatment, please continue to vacuum all recommended areas every other day for 10 days after the service.
- If there are known wildlife issues on the property, we ask that they are properly dealt with before controlling fleas.
- Remove bird feeders/ stop feeding animals outside.
Written recommendations will be provided on your invoice. Please follow these so that we can warranty the service.
Tips and Tricks
- Try restricting pets’ access into infested areas outdoors.
- In addition, humans can wear repellents to prevent fleas from grabbing hold when visiting areas with high flea populations.
- Before bringing pets indoors, use flea combs to remove any fleas. Flea combs can remove 10% – 60% of fleas on a host animal.
- By regularly washing or disposing of pet bedding, you can disrupt the flea life cycle.
- In addition to laundering bedding, make an effort to vacuum up eggs and flea dirt where ever pets stop or rest. This must occur every other day to be effective.
- Bathing pets removes the flea dirt and dander that provides food for flea larvae.
- Gather adults with light traps as they emerge from their cocoons.
- Cut the lawn and remove weeds to reduce harborage outdoors.
- Clean and sweep porches, patios and decks.
- Screen vents and chimneys to exclude potentially flea-infested wildlife from nesting inside your home.
- Finally, use air conditioning inside the living space and dehumidifiers in basements to create an unfavorable indoor environment for fleas.
Service Area
Our service area is inside the purple line. We service homes outside of the purple line. However, a “trip charge” will be incurred to account for longer drive times.
Out of Area “Trip Charge”
For locations outside the purple line- up to forty minutes from the office, a “trip charge” of $50 per visit applies for single services and non-warrantied follow-up visits. Add $100 for multi-visit service plans. We do not service homes over 40 minutes away. During the busy April-October season, we might be unable to service homes outside the purple line. We are likelier to take jobs to the West than jobs further away to the South or East.
For multi-family homes (duplexes and apartment buildings), extra units can be added for $50 for single services or $100 for multi-visit service plans (per additional unit).
Customers can purchase multiple services to be performed during the same visit. When bundled, receive 20% off the lesser service. An example of this is mouse control coupled with an ant treatment.
Allow an arrival window of a half-hour before and after your scheduled appointment time.
Depending on your service, you should receive an email/ text reminder 3 days or 1 day before your scheduled service. However, our software sometimes fails to send these reminders. You are responsible for keeping track of any appointments that you plan.
- For initial/ single services, if we arrive at the job site and cannot gain access to the property (if required), there will be an $80 missed appointment fee. This must be paid before scheduling any future service.
- If access is required but not provided for any follow-up visit, the warranty becomes void and counts as one of the follow-up visits. In this case, extra visits can be purchased within the 60 or 90-day service period for 1/3 of the original cost.
- Follow-up visits must be scheduled within the service period (60 or 90 days). It is the customer’s responsibility to make sure all visits are scheduled.
- As with all appointments, allow an arrival time of half an hour before and after the scheduled appointment time. We wait for unavailable customers for 15 minutes before counting the visit as a missed appointment.
Most pest control services have a warranty or come with half-price follow-up services within 60 days. Except for rats and wildlife, please allow two weeks for control before requesting follow-up service (one week for ants).
- Most pesticides have a residual, which means they keep working after they dry. The average lifespan of a residual pesticide application is 20 days. Most of our pesticides cannot be reapplied for 2-4 weeks.
- Pests also have a lifecycle, which means it can take time to see results. For example, sprays don’t kill newly laid bed bug eggs. Likewise, flea pupae are immune to most pesticides. It can take two weeks for ant and yellowjacket colonies to collapse.
- If ants go away after the treatment, but return within the warranty period, please allow 3-5 days before requesting a follow-up. The new ants often encounter the previously applied product and dissipate a few days later. If we have left you with a bait station, please place this device where you see the activity.
Different pests are active during certain times of the year, and pesticide applications only last so long. This is why we offer maintenance plans to manage your pests year-round.
We will inform the customer during the initial service if sanitation or other factors compromise the warranty.
- For any pesticide application, keep children and pets out of the treatment area until the treatment has dried/ settled out of the air. Depending on the application, this can take 45 minutes to 4 hours.
- Please secure dogs so they cannot physically contact our technicians.
- It is the customer’s responsibility to provide all responsible parties (tenants) with the preparation guidelines. They are also responsible for providing access and ensuring occupants are ready to vacate the premises if needed.
- Please follow all customer preparation guidelines and instructions. For more details, see the section related to your service.
Suppose a customer or other structure(s) occupants believe they are or may be sensitive to pesticides/termiticides or their odors. In that case, the customer must notify Lakewood Exterminating LLC in writing before service, including whether the customer or other occupants have consulted with a medical doctor or other healthcare provider regarding such sensitivity. Upon receipt of such notification, Lakewood Exterminating LLC reserves the right to deny or terminate service. Failure to provide notification represents the customer’s assumption of risk and waiving of claims against Lakewood Exterminating LLC in connection with such sensitivity.
- After completing the service, we will return to our vehicle to write up your invoice. Here, you will find information such as our time on site, weather conditions for exterior pesticide application, inspection findings, materials we used for control and their locations, completed repairs, documented notes, and recommendations. This will be sent to the phone number and email address on file.
- We ask that you pay at the time of service. We accept checks, cash, or credit cards. We require a signed invoice and credit card on file if you cannot pay at the time of service. If you are a landlord or responsible party but will not be present for the appointment, please put a card on file during the scheduling process. Payments will be run after the initial service is complete. Receipts are sent via email. If you have used our services with a history of timely payments, you may be invoiced/ pay online. If we invoice you, payment is due in 2 weeks.
- For large commercial properties and apartments with more than six units, the cost per service starts at $200 per hour of labor- plus materials costing over $30.
- Small offices and stores are generally priced the same as homes.
- Restaurants and similar establishments require an on-site visit to provide an estimate. There is usually an initial service fee plus a monthly maintenance fee, which starts at $100.
- If you are receiving a pesticide application, remember that employees, customers, and other occupants must stay out of the treatment area for a few hours until the spray dries. Our available times for treatments are generally 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
- For rentals, the customer is responsible for coordinating with the tenants, providing access upon arrival, giving tenants the preparation guidelines, and ensuring they properly prepare and vacate.
- Tenants cannot schedule service without the landlord’s permission. The only exception is if the lease states that pest control is the tenant’s responsibility.
- For any rodent or wildlife issue, the customer must be the landlord.
- We require a credit card on file if the landlord is absent for the appointment.
Exterior Pesticide Treatments are performed from March through November, weather permitting. At all other times, an interior treatment will be applied for most common household pests.
Many pest problems can be diagnosed over the phone or by email for free. If you are unclear about which service your problem falls under, please email pictures to support@lakewoodexterminating.com. Our owner also provides phone consultations upon request. Please reach out through the contact form on our website to speak with our Owner.
If you require a site visit to diagnose a pest issue, there is a $99 plus tax fee. This includes an inspection/ consultation. A price quote will be provided to remedy problems as needed.
Treat the Pets. Clean the Floors.
Have us treat the house and the yard twice, two weeks apart.
Be free from blood-sucking parasites.
Cuddle With Your Pet Again
Call us at (216)-466-2486
Flea Control in Cleveland, OH
While flea infestations are common, finding and treating the source of the problem is often very complex. Chronic flea issues occur when fleas latch onto you and your pets — that part is easy enough to understand. The problem, however, is misinformation about pet flea treatments.
Most pet owners rely on their pets’ monthly flea treatments to prevent fleas. However, these flea treatments don’t attack all possible angles of infestation. New fleas that developed away from the pet jump onboard and cause the issue to reoccur. In other words, if there’s a separate source of fleas other than your pet, you will always face the risk of re-infestation. The most likely cause of your fleas is raccoons or feral cats around the home.
Cat Flea
In Ohio, the Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides felis, is our primary pest species. Cat fleas are unique due to the fact that the adult remains on their host, rather than hopping off after a feed. Their laterally-compressed bodies are adapted to weave in and out of fur. Cat fleas are also highly adapted in several other ways, and can survive repetitive scratching and other grooming actions. They have numerous hairs and spiked protrusions that can latch onto fur and clothing. A scaly exoskeleton shell protects them from injury. They also have a great resistance to being squished. Want proof? If you manage to find and catch a flea, squeeze it as hard as you can between your fingers. Then watch it jump away. They are powerful jumpers and can propel their bodies to a height of around 7 inches. In fact, they can reach their host from slightly over 12 inches away. Common hosts in urban areas include cats, dogs, rats, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, opossums, skunks, rabbits, birds, and even humans.
Life Cycle
Fleas go through a life cycle similar to that of a butterfly. Their complete metamorphosis includes egg, larvae, pupae and adult life stages. The entire cycle can take 30-75 days to complete, and the process speeds up in hot and humid weather. As a result, flea season in Cleveland, OH runs from July through October.
Adult cat fleas live for 4-25 days. In order to lay eggs, a blood meal is required. When a female flea is properly fed, eggs can be laid at a rate of up to 1 egg per hour. The female loosely adheres her eggs to their host. The eggs will then fall off where the host animal sits and rests. Within 2 weeks, the eggs hatch into tiny worm-like larvae. They feed on skin flakes and dried blood during a development period that can last up to several months. These larvae thrive in hot and humid areas that are protected from rain and sunlight.
In order to mature into adults, the larvae require their own blood meal. In order to provide this, the adult feeds on more blood than they personally require. The adult then excretes this undigested blood — this is what’s known as flea dirt. As the flea dirt dries, the fecal matter falls from the host. The larvae will feed on the flea dirt until they’re mature enough to spin a protective cocoon in which to pupate. Carpet fibers, dust, hair, and other debris adhere to the silk of the cocoon. This adds camouflage and an additional protective layer to the pupal case. Because newly-emerged adults require a blood meal within a week in order to survive, they will wait to pick up a signal that a host is nearby before breaking out of their cocoons.
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Cleveland Pest Control Services
Child And Pet-Friendly Treatments From Trusted Exterminators
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Lakewood Exterminating, 13443 Detroit Ave., #8, Lakewood, OH 44107
Cleveland Pest Control Services
Child And Pet-Friendly Treatments From Trusted Exterminators
Lakewood Exterminating, 13443 Detroit Ave., #8, Lakewood, OH 44107