[Graeme Smith]

Got a friend in oxford with a house leaping with fleas. she has had a pest control company in for 250 quid (and more for follow on visits) to eradicate flea problem which seems to have got worse after coming back from holiday. The treatments carried out have not worked and she is at the end of her tether. Anyone got a good contact for this kind of work in oxford? The area that is the worst is on the wood floors. I have done a bit of work on pest treatments but this seems to be quite severe. Any help would be appreciated.

[petermaybury]

can you find out from the pest report sheet what insecticide has been used?
Most firms will charge a nominal fee for a retreatment and if that does not work will look at why. The imsecticides take massive investment to get them from r&d to the market place there is no question about their effectiveness. Has your friend been mopping the surfaces after treatment and therefore taking away the insecticide. Have inferior or diy products such as smoke bombs been used?  You can expect an explosion of pupae if the house has been left unattended for a while, but this should be controlled as the insects come into contact with the insecticide that should still be active if not mopped off. There have been times when on floorboards and eggs have dropped into the gaps that early on in my carreer I had problems but experiience teaches you. If your friend wants to disscuss I am happy to advise Peter 07788621555. Or tell them to read the info  www.fleascardiff.co.uk

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Paul Moss]

It is a big problem at the moment right across the country. I treated a bungalw last week with a major infestation. I had to use two shock treatment ozone machines for two days and then fogged the place with a pesicide to get rid.
Hidden larve can still survive for many days and fleas will be present in small numbers. As long as a growth inhibiting chemical has also been used in the process along with the die chem then they will soon die off.

My local vet told me that this has been the worst year that he has ever known in 30 years of trading for fleas. We have also got a massive mosquito problem due to the amount of rain we have had this summer.

[Ian Gourlay]

Up until now I have always left this to local council , but service is now no longer.

Although Pest Control is a Big area  apparently you do not need a pest control certificate etc ,

I would like to know more about flea control

I was watching I think it was extreme cleaners or something and they apeared to light bombs etc to fog rooms anybody know anything about these.

 I think our Local Council used to charge £60 for fleas anybody know of a good charging structure

[james roffey]

Picked a rug up from a customers house last Friday, wondered why she brought the rug out soon realised when i got it home it was infested with the blighters now my home is crawling with them, sprayed the carpet with M Power as i thought this kills them, this morning i was walking on the carpet with bare feet and they were jimping onto me aahahahahahahhaaaaaaaaaaa bloody things feel like charging the customer to get rid of them.

[Jim_77]

Blimey Jim that's a bit off, for the customer to do that without any warning to you.  I would give her a call and very subtly try to work the conversation in to her admitting she knew about the fleas, then whack a load on the bill.

Although I agree with the theory that a colloidal product should kill small insects I await keenly for any solid evidence.  Yes, if you bathed them in it maybe it would be very effective, but spraying a very small amount on a carpet in hope they'll walk in it?  Remain to be convinced

Get yourself some Ficam-W, follow the instructions and it should sort them.

If that happened to me I'd be properly cheesed off, to put it politely.  I'd wrap the rug back up and go dump it on her doorstep, to hell with the job.

[james roffey]

Been down to petsmart this morning and got a can of something to spray seems to have done the trick feel like putting it on the customers bill though, i spoke to Nick at solutions and he confirmed that M Power does kill the, but takes 24 hours i just could not wait that long just the thought of these things hopping every where makes me itch 

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

If you want to kill fles you nmeed to use an insecticide.

Jim if your probleems persist I have a very effective one I got from Altec.

Cheers

Doug.

[petermaybury]

Any responsible supplier should not supply professional use products to unqualified people and rightly so. It is one thing having the tool to do a job and another knowing how to use them. Get trained ! and understand what you are exposing yourself to and what you are exposing yoiur customers to. These are potentially harmfull products do you not think that you should have an understanding of what they are?
As to Ians question about smoke bombs, smoke bombs are permethrin which is an insecticidal dust that is dispersed via a smoke generator they are sold to the diy market and proffessionals use them in voids and hard to reach areas the insecticed doe not have an active time long enought for fleas.
Dusts need to be used reponsibly and there is not enough time for me to instruct on their use. Fical is a dustthat is mixed with a water to disperse it, it then returns to dust again needs to be used responsibly.
Peter

www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Paul Moss]

Peters coments are true, you need to use the correct pesicide to control fleas and i mean control them, the only way to truely kill them is by gas and that is very specialised and costly. Coliods will not do it so dont take in suppliers verb of vibrating them to death as it is marketing BS :-)

[wynne jones]

Just thinking how lucky we are that customers see a flea on the sofa and call us.

If they saw it on the wallpaper they wouldn't ring a decorator.

[james roffey]

Hi Guys

If you want to kill fles you nmeed to use an insecticide.

Jim if your probleems persist I have a very effective one I got from Altec.

Cheers

Doug.


Cheers Doug, it seems to have done the trick although it said on the can it was "safe" to use in the home i still put my respirator on while spraying, only taking it off just before i went out for a couple of hours it still took my breath away though, severe infestations should i think be dealt with by the professionals 

[Craigp]

Actually fleas will go in their own as soon as the source is gone (the animal)

They live on them and drink their blood, they don't live humans so will die off without the animal. Though it may take months amittedly.

Regular vaccing helps, and don't leave piles of cloths on the floor.

I had some in my home that had must have come on my work cloths from other people's homes, (i have no pets) they died off after a few months never seen any since.

When our dog died years ago it took about 4 months then we never seen another flea again.

[Steve Chapman]

I always find ultra fresh from chemspec does the trick and cost effective too .

We've had three calls in last 7 days so must be the warm weather bringing them to life .

Steve

[Griffus]

Got a friend in oxford with a house leaping with fleas. she has had a pest control company in for 250 quid (and more for follow on visits) to eradicate flea problem which seems to have got worse after coming back from holiday. The treatments carried out have not worked and she is at the end of her tether. Anyone got a good contact for this kind of work in oxford? The area that is the worst is on the wood floors. I have done a bit of work on pest treatments but this seems to be quite severe. Any help would be appreciated.

I think that in all such cases you can contact your local authority and they'll send someone out without charge.

This may not be the case in all areas but worth a call.

We had a problems many years ago with flour mites and they sorted after several free visits.

They used 'Bayer Pro-Control - Crawling Insect Killer' which I did get to see in action, in a word awesome.

This is it: -

http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/acatalog/____Protector_Crawling_Insect_Killer_Aerosol_400ml.html

[peter maybury]

Paul
would you like to tell us about your understanding of growth inhibiting hormones in insecticides as I am sure that others on the forum would be interested.

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Paul Moss]

No, look it up yourself, lazy git  :

[Craigp]

Hahaha, excellent come back Paul!
 

[petermaybury]

Do not need to look it up, I was going to ask why you recommend an insecticide with igr or juvenile hormones. Do the growth inhibitors (juvenile hormones) restrict their growth before the insecticide kills them or does the inhibitor kick in after they are dead.
I am using this new fangled stuff called insecticide which kills them, then as if by majic they stop developing.
 

Peter

[Paul Moss]

Peter, the insectrcide will not kill a well concealed pupae that will develope into an adult flea over the next few days /weeks. When you have major infestations as we have at the moment, I am finding that i am going into several thousand flea infested rooms with  a possible several thousand consealed little shell s hidden and ready to hatch over the coming weeks.
You will also find that the house pet will be allowed back in after a short period ( even though it has been traeted with a flea growth inhibtor) and thats why i apply an insectorcide plus a growth inhibitor.