Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

A homeowner in Eatontown, NJ decided it was time to upgrade his attic space and add some new insulation to it, so he called our Attic Systems department and we were sent out.

We inspected the attic and determined that the area was severely under-insulated. Under-insulated attics will cause problems such as uncomfortable rooms, uneven temperatures, and high heating and cooling bills. We removed all the fiberglass insulation, disinfected the entire attic area, and then added approximately 10-12 inches of TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation.

TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation has a higher R-value than standard fiberglass batts, is made primarily from recycled newspaper (perfect for environmentally conscious property owners), has the highest Class-1 fire safety rating, and is treated with non-toxic borate giving it an incredible resistance to mold and pests. Not to mention, because it fills the attic to the proper insulation levels, it will prevent heat transfer between the attic and the rooms below, allowing the homeowners heating and cooling systems to run less frequently and save him considerable amounts of money on his energy cost!

Homeowners in Oceanport, NJ, had an ongoing problem with rodents gaining entry into their crawl space. Usually, rodents will first gain entry inside a home by locating openings around the foundation. And, for mice, it doesn’t take much. These tiny animals that weigh less than an ounce can easily squeeze through gaps as small as a dime. Common rodent entry points are gaps around pipes and wires, garage doors that don’t fully close or are missing weatherstripping, and, the entry point with this home — an access door to the crawl space that no longer did its job. As you can see in the photo, this metal access door had seen better days. It was warped, rusted and had an opening that was an open invitation for rodents. Mice have a distinct knack for finding weaknesses around the foundation, and it was not surprising that they exploited this one. 

Cowleys has a contractor division that is staffed by an experienced, professional home repair and renovation crew that handles a variety of crawl space improvements, up to and including complete crawl space encapsulation for homeowners with chronic water, moisture, and humidity issues. We also happily handle smaller projects such as this one. Here, we removed the damaged crawl space door and replaced it with an air-tight Everlast door. 

Everlast covers help block outdoor air and moisture from entering the crawl space, which can trigger mold formation and cause wood rot and structural damage. However, these doors are also an effective barrier against rodents and other pests. They are made with a hard durable plastic that stands up to the harshest outdoor elements that we face in New Jersey. 

Everlast vent covers are a major improvement over wood or metal doors. These maintenance-free doors will not rot, warp, crack, or rust, and they never need to be painted. Also, they can be installed against either wood framing or masonry. Although these doors create a solid barrier preventing mice and any other pests using this common access point, for humans, they allow for easy crawl space access. These doors have four large easy-to-grip knobs that you or a repair person can twist off in seconds. Homeowners have commented that they wished opening up pickle jars were this easy! As you can see from the before and after photos, this Everlast crawl space door was far more than just a rodent barrier. It was a major aesthetic improvement for the home’s exterior perimeter.

This homeowner in Shrewsbury, NJ had a raccoon rip apart his weathered gable vent and make a new home in his attic! Previously, we safely retrieved the raccoon and relocated it to a new, humane environment. Afterward, we disinfected the entire attic and removed all the contaminated insulation. In regards to replacing his insulation, the homeowner wanted our Contracting team to come out and reinsulate the attic with new blown-in cellulose insulation. 

In order to prevent any future raccoons from reinfesting the home, we removed the old, broken gable vent and replaced it with a louvered vent guard. This material is made of heavy-duty Galvannealed steel (which means it won't rust) and is customized to accommodate vents of all shapes and sizes. Now the home is properly protected from raccoons, as well as all nuisance wildlife!

During a scheduled summer service for a Home Protection Plan customer in Shrewsbury, NJ, we found a large bald-faced hornets nest next to the downspout. 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.

For treatment, we grabbed our extendable pole, attached a knockdown liquid product to it, and then treated the nest with it. This application exterminates the bald-faced hornets almost immediately. Once the hornets were eliminated, we attached a scraper to the pole and removed the nest. We then disposed of the nest properly and treated the area with a residual application to exterminate any returning hornets as well as prevent them from rebuilding a nest. 

I was sent out by Cowleys to an apartment complex in Barnegat Light to remove an active hornets nest. The insects built their nest in a tree that was close to one of the buildings in the complex. Normally, a hornets nest does not pose a threat to people as long as the nest is not disturbed or approached. Unfortunately, every so often, these pests decide to build their nest in locations where people may inadvertently come too close to the nest. If they feel that their nest and territory is being threatened, a multiple stinging insect attack can easily result. This particular nest was built in a sensitive location. It was about five feet from the sidewalk entering the building and about seven feet off the ground. It was clearly a threat to any of the tenants forced to walk by the nest in order to enter and exit the building. It was an unacceptable situation, and I arrived to correct it.

To deal with this hornet problem, I first incapacitated the hornets that were inside the nest by treating it with a quick knock-down product. Once most of the hornets inside the nest were either dead or dying, I carefully cut the branch holding the nest out of the tree. Whenever you are doing a nest extraction, it is important to be mindful of any foraging hornets returning to the nest. They don’t take too kindly to seeing their nest being removed!

Once the nest and the supporting branch were separated from the tree, I
cut off excessive foliage to remove the treated nest, which I then bagged so that I could remove it from the property. The returning foraging hornets will swarm around the nest site for awhile, but they’ll soon move on when they realize that their nest is no more and there is not even any residue of the old nest to build on. 

Territorial stinging insects like wasps and hornets mean trouble when they decide to build a nest too close to a home or commercial structure. In these cases, the nest needs to be removed by a pest control professional, preferably before there is a serious wasp attack on an innocent person who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.