Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

Recently, I was sent to a home in Spring Lake, NJ, to resolve a mouse issue in the kitchen. This was an older home that had an old-fashioned bread drawer (breadbox) with a tin cover. For those of us who have been around awhile, they were once commonly found in kitchens. Now, with breads being made commercially with food preservatives and wrapped in plastic, we rarely see them installed in modern kitchens. 

According to the homeowner, the bread drawer cover had rusted away, giving mice easy access to the bread. There were holes chewed through the dread bag and mouse droppings in the drawer. Any time there is a mice infestation in the kitchen, there is a risk of food contamination from their waste, and it is important to resolve this health hazard quickly. I inspected the other parts of the kitchen cabinet, but mouse activity was limited to the bread drawer. Apparently, with a ready and accessible supply of food in that drawer, there was no need for them to forage elsewhere. 

Usually, rodents enter a home around the foundation.They find gaps and cracks, often around gas or water pipes entering the home where the sealant has deteriorated. Once inside the basement or crawl space, the wall run along the sill plate (the wood closest to the ground on the top of the foundation walls) until they find a way to gain access to the living spaces of the home up above. Here, I found a gap around the sink drain under the cover plate (escutcheon plate), the base plate disc around water pipe at the wall penetration. These plates are visible around faucets and tub or shower fixtures, but plumbers also use them around sink drains. I sealed the gap with a chew-proof copper mesh. I also found mouse droppings on a ceiling tile.

I set up mouse bait stations under the kitchen sink as well as several points on the basement sill plate where there were signs on rodent activity. I scheduled a two-week follow-up inspection in two weeks to re-inspect and determine additional treatments as needed to get this mouse problem resolved.

This homeowner from Spring Lake, NJ had starlings roosting in her dryer vent. Starlings are one of the more common nuisance birds that we regularly deal with, right up there with pigeons, sparrows, seagulls, and Canada geese. While all of these birds are a nuisance, sparrows are one of the most destructive. They can form exceptionally large flocks that can number in the thousands, ravishing crops and spreading disease with their toxic droppings containing many dangerous pathogens. They also compete for nesting cavities, ousting and killing our original native birds, and destroying their eggs and young.

For homeowners, it is quite common to find birds building nests inside dryer vents because of the heat. Unfortunately, with the nesting materials building up inside the vent, it is a serious fire hazard. Before these birds could get established in the spring, we wanted to nip the problem in the bud by excluding them and making sure that they would be sealed out for good.

We opted to go with The Defender vent cover for the dryer vent. Constructed of thick-gauge zinc-coated powder-coated steel, these USA-made covers are built to last. Also, its vertical bars are tailor-made for dryers because they minimize lint buildup (another major dryer fire hazard) while, at the same time, keeping out critters, especially birds and squirrels. From our experience, these dryer vents require cleaning far less often than with other vent covers that tend to accumulate lint because of their design. we also cleaned and sanitized the dryer duct before sealing.

When this job was completed, there was no indication that there once was a bird infestation. This homeowner was left with an aesthetically pleasing vent cover that's will last indefinitely, but is still a snap to remove for periodic vent cleaning.

A new customer in Spring Lake, NJ thought that the insulation in his attic had mold on it, so he called our office to inspect further. After a thorough inspection, we didn't find any signs of mold nor any conducive conditions that could potentially lead to mold growth (the insulation was just old and filthy). However, we did notice that the attic was severely under-insulated, which can lead to costly utility bills and fluctuating temperatures throughout the home. After bringing this to the owners' attention, he wanted us to insulate the attic. 

When it comes it attic insulation, blown-in cellulose is the best. Blown-in cellulose insulation is used to fill the attic to the recommended insulation levels and this blanket of insulation will create a thermal barrier and help keep the home more comfortable and efficient. Cellulose also has a higher R-value than other insulation and is treated with non-toxic borate, giving it the highest Class-1 fire safety rating and creating incredible resistance to mold and pests.

Once we arrived, we re-inspected the attic, removed the old insulation, and then added 10 inches of TruSoftblown-in cellulose insulation. The result will be a much more efficient and comfortable home!

Recently, we went out on a service call for a resident in Spring Lake, NJ who was having a problem with a raccoon in his attic. How'd he know it was a raccoon? As his son was cleaning the attic one evening he spotted the little fella running around!

As we inspected the rooftop we spotted raccoon hair and paw prints near an attic vent cover. This was how the raccoons were able to enter the attic.

We placed several baited traps near the main access point, installed an attic vent cover, and then attached a one-way to the attic vent cover. The vent cover prevents raccoon and other pesky, nuisance wildlife from entering your home through the roof vents. They are constructed out of heavy-duty 18 Gauge galvanized metal mesh that the wildlife are unable to chew through. 

The one-way is a device that allows the raccoons to safely leave the attic and prevents them from getting back in. By installing a vent cover over every single attic and static vent on the roof and placing a one-way over the main access point we are forcing the raccoon to exit through the one-way and into the baited traps. Once the raccoon is safely captured, we'll relocate it to a new, humane location and then sanitize the attic area.

After our Wildlife Division had safely removed and humanely relocated a family of raccoons in this homeowner's attic in Spring Lake, NJ, we were sent out to remove all the contaminated insulation and reinsulate the attic.

Unfortunately, the family of raccoons had been present in the attic for quite some time and the insulation was badly damaged and soiled with urine and raccoon feces. When it comes to wildlife in the attic, removal, and exclusion only fix half the problem. Damaged insulation can lead to health concerns, wasted money in higher heating/cooling costs, and hazardous conditions such as damaged ductwork and potential fire hazards.

After equipping our personal protective equipment we carefully removed all the contaminated insulation. Next, we disinfected the entire attic and added approximately 12 inches of blown-in TruSoft cellulose insulation. TruSoft cellulose insulation not only creates a thermal barrier and helps keep the home more comfortable and energy-efficient, but has a higher R-value than standard fiberglass batts and is treated with non-toxic borate, giving it the highest Class-1 fire safety rating and creating an incredible resistance to mold and pests.