Posted July 6, 2022 by Sarah Malone
Category: Advice, Spiders

Does the weather and rain affect your pest control treatment? Here’s everything you need to know.

Lately the weather is so unpredictable and even the weather man is struggling to get it right but that doesn’t mean that we should all put our normal day-to-day tasks on hold.

It is very common for us at Pest Alert to get calls from customers who are not sure if they need to change because of the chance of rain or concern as they can see the clouds that have just washed over. When you’re spending a couple of hundred dollars to have your house treated the last thing you want is the weather to ruin the protection and have it washed away.

Some of the most common questions we get are:

• Will the rain ruin the treatment?
• Should we reschedule our booking?
• Can you still spray if it’s raining?

Will the rain ruin the treatment?

You have just had the outside of your house treatment and it starts to rain not long after the job has been done but did you know that in most cases it won’t affect your treatment at all for 2 reasons:

1. A house has eaves and guttering which hang out over the wall edges. This means that unless we have crazy wind and rain blowing directly against the exterior wall it wont affect where the chemical has been applied.
2. When a treatment is being carried out, Pest Alert ensure that the area in which we are treating is dry. This allows the chemical to ‘bind’ to the area in which it is being applied. If it has been raining heavily before the treatment, we will change the booking to another day when that area is dry again.

For the treatment to work it needs to bind to the target areas.

Should we reschedule our booking?

Although our technicians won’t enjoy being out in the rain as much as the frogs and birds do, most of the time a little rain wont ruin effectiveness of the treatment itself and depending on what you’re having carried will determine if you need to change your booking.

Termite work can be done in rain, hail or shine and can go ahead no matter what is happening outside. Also same goes if you’re only having the inside of your property treated.

When treating the outside of a house as long as the rain is not hitting the walls of the building the rain should not affect the treatment. Once the chemical has dried even if it does rain later the chemical has had time to ‘bind’ it won’t affect the earlier treatment.

We won’t carry out a treatment if we feel that its wont work as that would be a waste of your money and our time and would rather pick another day so you get the most from your treatment.

Can you still treat if it’s raining?

When it rains a lot of insects will look for somewhere dry to hide until the rain has passed and if you’re treating your home at this time they will come into direct contact with the treatment as its being done as well as creating a barrier to control all future insects. You can also use this time to help identify what insects are around your home to get the most out of your treatment as lots of bugs like to hide during the day and it is always hard for the pest controller to know exactly what is around your property and any potential nesting sites. This allows the pest controller to do a more targeted treatment.

However please keep in mind that flooding, excess rain through out the year and high-pressure cleaning around your home will weaken the barrier over time and unfortunately, we have no control in the long-term weather patterns. This will just mean that your treatment will need to be topped up sooner if this happens.

So, in summary the type of treatment you are having carried out will then determine if you need to change your booking. In most cases the treatment is fine to go ahead and we won’t do the treatment if we have any doubt on its effectiveness.

For more information, please contact our office