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Need reco's Plumber & Exterminator


mcallahan

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I need some recommendations for plumbers (need to get my shower drained snaked...too much tank water down it...) and the house sprayed for bugs.

Anyone recommend any companies in particular? Any reefers do this line of work so I could maybe shoot you some biz?

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Hi Mark,

I would suggest being cautious about pest control. Many pesticides are toxic (often affecting the nervous system) and persistent. That's how they kill bugs. Way this, being around dogs, aquariums and humans.

Regardless of whether the pesticide has been approved by the EPA (or not), it does not take much education, knowledge of biochemistry, or ethics to become a pesticide applicator. I used to work for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and I could tell many stories about the misuse of chemicals in the environment.

Having said all of this, what to do? If possible, try to identify the specific insect or pest that is causing the problem. Do not try to nuke 'em and kill everything. Educate yourself about the pest and possible controls - some are relatively benign. I think the library has relevant books, and the internet should be able to help. As an example, my wife was able to order through the internet a "bait" for wood ants that stopped the queen ant from producing more ants in the colony. (And, yes, wood ants are different than termites.)

I think I saw an advertisement for a pest control company in Austin that claimed to use "natural" or "biological" controls, or something like that. I suppose they should be in the Yellow Pages.

Anyway, consider it, and good luck.

Roy

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I don't have recommendations for either. But for a slow drain, we use an enzyme that does wonders on hair and fat (soap residue). If you're interested, I'll find out the name. My shower was very slow and we put this stuff in and all of a sudden, it was like there was a hole in the bottom of my tub (right where it should be!)

For pest control, I agree that it depends on the pest. For most insect kind of things, diatomaceous earth is great stuff. It's made from the skeletons of diatoms, which apparently are very sharp if you're the size of an insect. It pierces their exoskeleton and they dehydrate. Safe for pets and kids. You can eat the stuff if you want to. We got ours at The Natural Gardener and the 20# bag was $18. I thought everyone knew about this stuff, but I've learned differently in recent months.

ej

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  • 2 months later...

I don't have recommendations for either. But for a slow drain, we use an enzyme that does wonders on hair and fat (soap residue). If you're interested, I'll find out the name. My shower was very slow and we put this stuff in and all of a sudden, it was like there was a hole in the bottom of my tub (right where it should be!)

For pest control, I agree that it depends on the pest. For most insect kind of things, diatomaceous earth is great stuff. It's made from the skeletons of diatoms, which apparently are very sharp if you're the size of an insect. It pierces their exoskeleton and they dehydrate. Safe for pets and kids. You can eat the stuff if you want to. We got ours at The Natural Gardener and the 20# bag was $18. I thought everyone knew about this stuff, but I've learned differently in recent months.

ej

Diatomaceous earth is also used in water filters of all sorts. How and where did you spread it?

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Johnny Rooter just left. I now have 2 open drains and $187 less to show for it.

Quick work and the guy wants to start a reef tank now...

Johnny Rooter is one of my customers for computer repair, good bunch of people there.

In regards to pest control, call HomeTeam Pest Defense. http://www.pestdefense.com/ I use them every quarter. No bugs...ever.

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Johnny Rooter is one of my customers for computer repair, good bunch of people there.

In regards to pest control, call HomeTeam Pest Defense. http://www.pestdefense.com/ I use them every quarter. No bugs...ever.

Homes Team is really careful around pets for inside pests, we have a cat, 2 dogs, and a ferret. We have never had a problem when they have come inside.

Edited by blackwiddershin
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We use home team as well, and just got a discount coupon for new customers (I think it gives us some kind of referral as well). Let me know if you need a pest service and I'll forward it

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