Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

Homeowners in Old Bridge, NJ, recently converted their front porch to a year-round living space. There is a small crawl space underneath the newly converted area. As they started to use the area, they soon noticed a musty, earthy odor wafting up from the crawl space. Also, the floor was quite cold. They contacted Cowleys for some crawl space renovation that would buffer the cold air and remove the odors, and one of our crawl space encapsulation teams was sent over. 

To stop the cold air, we installed Silverglo insulation on the exterior walls. SliverGlo is a lightweight, rigid, and closed-cell insulation that is much more efficient than over-the-counter batt and foam insulations that just isn’t designed for crawl spaces. Its closed-cell structure provides minimal water absorption and low vapor permanence. Other types of insulation act like a sponge in damp crawl spaces and, once wet, loses its ability to effectively insulate. We then installed a CleanSpace liner (vapor barrier) to encapsulate the area.This heavy-duty 20-mil liner is much thicker and sturdier than the generic “contractor bag” liners. 

With the crawl space sealed from the outdoor elements, the homeowners will no longer have a “freezer box” underneath their flooring and the odors will be gone as well. Considering that there were odor problems during the winter month, once summer rolled around, the problem would have gotten even worse. With the encapsulation, there will be far less likelihood of mold formation and the crawl space will stay nice and dry — the homeowners can now even use this “dead” crawl space area for storage if needed.

As I was performing a routine service for a Home Protection Plan customer in Keyport, NJ I noticed a viable entry point in the foundation of a house. Believe it or not, this opening is the perfect size for not just pests, but mice to enter the home. In fact mice can squeeze through an opening the size of a dime!

First, I stuff the opening with copper mesh. Copper mesh is an excellent way to exclude rodents from crawling into tights spaces because they are unable to chew through it. Next, I used black caulk to seal the opening. Afterwards I finished treating the home for their regular service. 

One warm afternoon in Manahawkin, NJ, this homeowner and his teenage son were getting some much needed yard work done. As the teen was mowing the lawn, he was suddenly attacked and stung by several hornets! He quickly stopped what he was doing, told his Dad who then called Cowleys for help and we were sent out to investigate and treat. 

As we inspected the area where the teen was stung, we took a look at the large tree and spotted the hornets nest. Upon closer inspection, we were able to identify them as bald-faced hornets. Bald-faced hornets are social stinging insects that are a close relative to yellow jackets. The surface of their upper midsection almost looks triangular from the side, and they have white markings on their face. Aside from being short-tempered and extremely aggressive is they have smooth stingers, which means they can sting over and over again, can actually sense vibrations in the air, and remember their invader's face!

To eliminate them, we injected a knockdown dusting application directly into the opening of their nest. After several moments, we also injected a knockdown liquid application. These treatments will exterminate the bald-faced hornets almost immediately. A short while after neutralizing the bald-faced hornets, we removed the nest (and the branch it was attached to) and disposed of them.

A homeowner in Hazlet contacted Cowleys after finding a mouse infestation in his basement. Once temperatures drop, mice and other overwintering pests try to make their way into our homes to shelter themselves from the harsh winter elements. 

Mice are nocturnal creatures that do their foraging in the dead of night, so they tend to stay out of sight. More often than not, you’ll notice signs of mice activity well before actually seeing one of these scampering pests. If you do see a mouse during the day, it may be a sign of a heavy infestation. The most common sign that you have a mouse problem is their small and dark droppings that they leave behind, often inside cupboard tops or along skirting. While mice and the size of their droppings are small, the quantity of droppings is a whole different story — a single mouse can produce upwards of 70 droppings a day! Mice also leave behind hairs, rub marks along regularly traveled routes, and track footprints in dusty places. Besides their droppings, other signs are smells (the ammonia-like smell of urine and the stench of a dead rotting mouse carcass are particularly pungent), and scratching noises, which often heard at night when they are moving about.  In addition, you may find easy-to-shred nesting materials and track footprints in dusty places.

Whenever I am dispatched to resolve a mouse infestation, after talking to the homeowner to get an idea of where the creatures are nesting and harboring, I first perform a thorough inspection. During the inspection, I meticulously do an inch-by-inch inspection of the interior and exterior perimeter of the home in order to find possible access points. Mice entry points can be easily overlooked and are a challenge to locate — they only need an opening about the size of a dime to squeeze their way inside. My inspection includes checking all of the utility lines and pipes entering the home to ensure sealed tight and that their are no gaps. With this particular job, even after re-tracking my steps at least three times, I could not find a single possible entry point around the foundation. From my early pest control days, I knew that a common access point was the garage door area. I checked the garage and the weather strips and garage door jams were perfectly intact. Finally, I checked around the home’s siding. And bingo - I found a very obvious entry point that would lead the mice into the garage, and from the garage into the basement. 

I sealed the gap in the siding. In the basement’s interior, I placed RTU bait stations that automatically lock once a rodent enters, and placed LP (low profile) bait stations around the exterior of home along with a dozen snap traps. I was confident that this internal-external trapping arrangement would capture most of the mice, if they were still around. After a three day follow-up, I returned to the home. No mouse activity was found other than a deer mouse caught in a snap trap. 

Two weeks later, I followed up once again, and still there was no activity. At this point, there was no longer an active infestation and mice were not gaining access into the home. I told the homeowner to always be on the lookout for mice activity, and if there was a problem, we’d be back to handle it. Mice infestations are not a one visit and your done problem. You often need to set additional traps and re-inspect, so it may take a few visits by the pest control tech to make sure that these pests are out of your home for good.

I was recently dispatched to a home in Holmdel, NJ to treat the damage caused by woodpeckers following a carpenter bee infestation. Carpenter bees are large bees that will bore holes into wood in order to lay their eggs. This boring not only causes damage to the wood through unsightly holes, but also allows water to seep into the wood, causing wood rot. 

This homeowner had old wooden fascia boards near his roofline. Carpenter bees had laid eggs in the fascia. Woodpeckers then came along and tore up the facia in order to reach the larvae. Woodpeckers love carpenter bee larvae! It’s fairly common to see woodpecker damage following a carpenter bee infestation — and woodpeckers can do a lot more destruction to homes and other wooden structures in a much shorter time frame than insects can do. 

To deter the woodpeckers from causing any more damage, we installed aluminum fascia over the wood. These birds have no interest in trying to peck their way through aluminum.