Tubes in the wall?
Six years ago, my husband and I built our first home. While choosing options, they presented us with a pest control system that sounded absolutely amazing to a bug fearing person like me, at the time. They said that as our home was being built, they would install rubber-like tubes within the walls before they hung the drywall and finished the walls. So these rubber tubes would be run, essentially at the height of the baseboards, within the walls, and would lead to a port on the outside of my home. This company would then come by my home on a quarterly basis, whether I was home or not, and inject pesticide into this port, which was then supposed to be transported through these tubes that are run within the walls of my home.
The convenience of not having to be home did not outweigh the overall success and satisfaction of my pest control service. In two years of service with this company, I only saw the face of the technician who injected pesticide into my walls on some of the extra service visits out to my home for additional treatments. Most times, I came home to a piece of paper with a bunch of chemical information I really didn’t understand and also a bill included. I began to get skeptical of the success of this type of pest control method and also got frustrated with lack of value I received with my pest control service.
Upon researching this topic and talking to certified pest control technicians, the evidence points to the fact that these tubes are not the best option for my needs. First, I could not find solid evidence about the durability of these tubes that have chemical pushed through them. Second, insects and bugs do not live in wall voids unless there’s a hole in it! Even tiny ants need some kind of opening to get access into the living area. Third, I took into consideration that in my home, there are two small children and three animals, which inevitably are being exposed to a treatment through a bunch of slits behind the sheetrock where I will never access unless by accident or remodeling, etc. Lastly, I did not feel as though I received a great value for my money. Like I previously said, I had hardly any contact with my technician. They are available via telephone; however, they are just sent once again during a time that was not actually scheduled and I would come home to another piece of paper hanging on my door knob.
In summary, being a person who is so afraid of bugs made me an easy sell on the tubes in the wall method of pest control service. However, I educated myself and found a greater value with conventional pest control service. I appreciate the Integrated Pest Management that is emphasized with conventional pest control service. I would much rather fine tune the pesticide to the pest to be controlled, with a face to face visit; rather than have a blend of chemical injected into my walls on any given day with no other evidence of service being done.
