Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

After years and years of dealing with a humid & wet dirt-floor crawl space, this homeowner in Monmouth Junction, NJ decided it was time to change this and encapsulate his crawl space! After speaking with one of our sales reps and discussing various options, he decided on a plan and we went right to work!

First, we removed all the debris, leveled the ground for proper draining, and installed drainage matting. This material is a dimpled plastic mat that allows all excess moisture to work its way over to the new sump pump we installed. Next, we installed a vapor barrier, which is a heavy-duty, 20-mil 7-ply sandwich of high and low-density polyethylene with a polyester-cord reinforcement. It's extremely durable, treated with an antimicrobial to prevent mold, and is installed over the foundation walls and floor to create a continuous air and moisture barrier.

Afterward, we installed SilverGlo™ on the walls of the crawl space, which is a waterproof foam insulation that seals the walls from outside moisture and humidity. Lastly, we installed a Sani-Dry Sedona commercial-grade dehumidifier. The Sedona directs the extracted water pulled out of the air directly into the sump pump and will control the humidity levels in the crawl space.

This homeowner in Monmouth Junction, NJ had been dealing with bats inside her attic for quite some time. Finally, she decided that enough was enough and called Little Rascals for help. As we inspected the property, we discovered that the bats were getting inside the attic by squeezing through the ridge vents. 

The whole purpose of the ridge vents is to allow hot air to escape from the home. However, the material that ridge vents are made of can warp from age, heat, and sun exposure, leaving the area vulnerable for bats and other nuisance wildlife. Since the bats were entering the home through the ridge vents, we installed Ridge-Guard® to protect to them. Ridge-Guard® secures and reinforces the ridge vent shingles to prevent the bats from entering the home through that area. Now all the ridge vents are properly excluded from any future intrusions from bats as well as all nuisance wildlife!

As this elderly homeowner in South Bound Brook, NJ was walking around the exterior of his home, he discovered a HUGE bald-faced hornets nest in one the bushes! He ran inside and called Cowleys for help!

We arrived, equipped our protective bee suit, and within minutes located the bald-faced hornets nest (it was hard to miss)! When a hornets nest gets that big, it means there are hundreds of short-tempered insects inside waiting to sting anything that comes close to their nest! For treatment, we injected a knockdown aerosol application directly into the opening of the nest. A few moments later, we treated the nest with a knockdown liquid product. Both treatments rapidly exterminate the bald-faced hornets. Once they were eliminated we removed the nest and the branch it was attached to and disposed of them properly.  

We were sent out on a service call to a business owner in Warren, NJ who was suffering from a heavy fruit fly infestation in his kitchen. As we inspected, we noticed that the fruit flies were hovering near several floor drains. We took a closer look and discovered that the floor drains were full of dirty, discarded food and liquid residue. 

First, we treated the infestation areas with a fly bait to control the adult fruit flies. Next, we applied a liquid application in all the floor drains and then scrubbed them out with our heavy-duty scrubber. The liquid application removes the bad bacteria in the drain, which eliminates the fruit fly's breeding habitat. Lastly, we applied a bio-foam solution that removes the organic build-up, odors, and scum in the drain. Once we finished, we spoke to the owner and mentioned a few, simple sanitation protocols to prevent future fruit fly or other pest issues. 

A residential customer in East Windsor contacted Cowleys because of an on-going issue with skunks. We all know the major problem of skunks: the pungent smell of their spray. Here’s a free wildlife technician tip: If you or your pet are sprayed by a skunk, vinegar or tomato juice will mask the smell until it fades with time.  Another recommended home remedy is mixing a quart of hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup of baking soda, and 2 tablespoons of dish detergent. It’s best to discard your clothes — getting out the skunk smell out of your clothing is more trouble than what it’s worth, and you don’t want to go out on the town smelling like “Pepe Le Pew.” 

Besides their spray, skunks can also destroy lawns. Using their long front claws to dig in soil, they are expert insect hunters.  For homeowners, seeing chunks of grass peeled back is a disturbing sight. Lawns that have a heavy infestation of grubs (beetle larvae) often wind up with a skunk problem. Skunks will dig up lawns to go after the grubs. Fortunately, here, there was not any lawn damage. During the winter, while skunks don’t actually hibernate, the stay in their dens and become inactive, eating little and sleeping a lot. 

When I arrived at her home, the homeowner was quite upset, and rightfully so. She explained that she how has had a skunk problem for a while. Another nuisance wildlife company had come out there, but the technician failed to trap a single skunk. Based on her description, they set the wrong traps and used the wrong bait. Peanut butter is not the universal bait to trap any type of nuisance wildlife. For trapping wildlife, a good wildlife tech will try to bait traps with whatever the target animals are used to feeding on at that location. Wildlife is surprisingly smart and cautious, and are wary of new food sources in an area.

After listening to the homeowner’s frustrating saga that had gone on for far too long, I came up with the best solution. Just because skunks have sprayed does not mean that that they are hanging around. In fact, skunks hate that smell just as mush as we do. A skunk will never spray another skunk, especially a member of his own family. Rather than setting traps and waiting, I wanted to give this customer a faster solution, especially since the skunks were localized to a specific area under her deck. My plan was to exclude skunks and other wildlife from entering under her entire deck by installing heavy-gauge metal mesh behind a beautiful white lattice that would give the deck a better appearance. I would also installed a temporary one-way exclusion that would allow the animals to get out, but prevent them from returning. Once I knew there was no more wildlife under the deck, I’d then install the final piece of fencing. The homeowner was pleased that, with this critter control barrier in place, she would not have any more unwanted visitors under her deck again.