What Is Commercial Pest Control? Keeping your business safe from pests
November 29, 2022
As a property manager, you work hard to provide your tenants with a great place to reside or a great place to work. However, a pest infestation can quickly undo all that hard work. Pests have the ability to damage your property significantly and hurt your business in a variety of ways. With this in mind, we have put together a list that highlights what is commercial pest control and how pests can impact your property.
Health and safety concerns
Pests can pose a variety of safety and health hazards. Health concerns tend to be more prominent as pests carry diseases and bacteria. Pests spread harmful pathogens by getting into food sources and through their droppings. Pests that bite are also able to spread pathogens to humans and other animals. Some pests don’t carry disease but can cause asthma flare-ups, rashes, and allergies. The health risks are significant but there are also some safety risks that come with a pest infestation. For example, bird droppings can cause slip-and-fall accidents while termites and other wood-damaging pests can compromise the structural integrity of an entire building.Property Damage Concerns
As touched on above, pests can cause significant and costly property damage. Many different areas of a building can be affected by pests and this can lower the value of your property by up to 9%. The extent of the damage depends on the pest and of course, how the infestation is treated. Rodents can chew through just about anything, including insulation pipes, walls and wires. They can also chew through support beams and floors, compromising the structural integrity of the building. If an insulation pipe is damaged, you will receive higher heating bills accompanied by leaks - which will cause further damage. The most hazardous risks are posed when rodents manage to chew through exposed wires. This can lead to sparks and ultimately, fires. In fact, 25% of unexplained house fires are a result of pest damage. Termites are some of the most hazardous of pests and can cause widespread damage to your entire building. In fact, termites affect about 600 000 US residential homes and cost property owners more than $5 billion per year. Let that sink in.Productivity Concerns
If you manage a property, you and your employees or tenants will have a lot of duties to attend to every day, many of which are time-consuming. Pest infestations will hamper this productivity and reduce time. Employee morale, as well as your own, will begin to sink as people will feel uncomfortable in the work environment, preventing them from completing tasks.Reputation Concerns
As a property manager, you work hard to maintain high standards. A pest infestation can quickly destroy all that hard work and end up damaging your reputation. With social media and rating websites such as Yelp, you have to make sure that you take care of your building and protect it from any possible pest infestation - even one small pest could destroy your reputation.Cost and Insurance Concerns
A pest infestation can lead to massive property which of course, comes at a cost. It's also important to remember that pests usually establish colonies and by the time you notice the signs of a pest, the infestation has probably spread throughout your building. Removing the infestation can take some time and can be quite costly. And with this in mind, many property managers try to use alternative methods to save on costs. DIY methods are not recommended as most people don’t have specialized training and knowledge when it comes to dealing with pests and pest infestation. DIY is also a short-form solution and will not eliminate the problem in its entirety. Yes, pest control treatments cost more than DIY solutions - but the damage infestations cause will be way more costly. Unfortunately, insurance companies don’t usually cover the cost to repair pet damage to a home because pests are common - and pest damage often falls under the dreaded “exclusion” clause. This means that the cost of the damage will mostly fall on the property owner.In Summary
With all of the above in mind, it’s important you take preventative measures when it comes to pest control. And if you find you are facing a pest infestation, it’s always best to call in the professionals. If you are interested in a protection plan for your property, or if you are experiencing pest problems, give Twin-Boro a call and we’ll send one of our experienced technicians your way.
