DIY Pest Control: Bye-Bye Scorpions, Hello Savings

The pests in Arizona are nasty – scorpions, Black Widows, Brown Recluse spiders, rattlesnakes, cockroaches, these things on our front porch:

When we moved into our home, we knew pest control would be a must. We didn’t really want to spend $30+/month on the service, so we started looking into DIY pest control! Here’s the story of how we cleared our house of critters and how we’re keeping them out now. Oh, and how we’re saving a few hundred dollars along the way! 🙂

Step 1: Bombing Our House

via GIPHY

Okay, not like an explosive bomb. It’s called a bug bomb! Before we moved in, we used this Concentrated Deep Reach Fogger. We set a can of it in the middle of each room, activated it (think: hairspray nozzle broke and it won’t stop spraying), closed the door and left!

The fog penetrates all the nooks and crannies of the room and kills everything. When we came back the next day there were dead cockroaches and spiders everywhere. Seriously, disgusting.  😯

Step 2: Finding Commercial-Grade Insecticide

Since we were DIY-ing this and pests are terrifying, we wanted it to be as good as a professional service. Andrew began looking around online for good insecticides and came across Talstar Pro. He liked it because it’s…

1. Highly-rated: 4.5 stars from almost 1,500 reviews
2. Usable outside and inside
3. Safe for pets and kids once it’s dry

If we use Talstar every 3 months, as instructed, this $38 bottle will last us years – literally! My calculation came out to 8 years! Although, some people say it starts to lose effectiveness after a few years. For our calculations later, let’s say the bottle will last us 5 years.

Step 3: Buying the pest control supplies

We had to buy more than just the Talstar Pro – we needed the tool to spray it and the gear to stay safe!

• 1 Gallon sprayer – $29
• Respirator mask – $34
• Chemical-resistant gloves – $9 at Target

Step 4: Clearing Out Brush

Andrew thought he sprayed our backyard well at first, but then found a couple scorpions under a brush pile. It was difficult to properly cover our overgrown yard with insecticide, so we spent an evening trimming back our overgrown bushes and pulling out the brush. Here’s Andrew killing the scorpions –

I’m so thankful to have a husband who handles this stuff!!

Step 5: Killin’ those pests

Andrew found this website called www.doyourownpestcontrol.com. Original, right?? They have discussions, FAQs, and how-to guides for controlling the pests in and around your home. I won’t go into all the nitty-gritty spraying details here, but make sure to check out that site if you decide to do your own pest control!

The Verdict

So, how has it worked?

GREAT!! Really! We haven’t had any nasty pests inside (scorpions or Black Widows) *knocks on wood*. We had a few Black Widows on our back porch, but we were a few weeks overdue for a spraying. We also found a few scorpions in our front yard, but there’s only so much you can do to keep them from meandering onto your property. Once they got one look at me, I’m sure they went back to where they came from:

Savings

When it comes down to it, it’s crucial to have pest control in Arizona, so if we can save a few hundred dollars every year with an effective solution it’s definitely worth it! And, hellooo… That’s extra money for my coffee and home decor fund! 🙂