The best time to deal with insects in a Stil Bay house is a week or two before you or your guests arrive, not on the first night of the holiday. A treatment done then has time to dry and start working, and nobody spends their first morning wiping an ant trail off the kitchen counter.
A quiet town that gets very busy
Stil Bay spends a good part of the year quiet, then fills up in season. That rhythm suits insects. A house that's been locked for months gives ants, fishmoths and spiders time to settle in without anyone disturbing them. When the doors open and the kitchen starts working again, food, water and warmth arrive all at once, and whatever has been living in the walls comes out to meet it.
Being on the coast and along the Goukou River adds humidity, which fishmoths and cockroaches like. Summer brings braais, fish being cleaned at the outside tap and bins that fill up faster than they're collected. Flies follow all of that.
What people in Stil Bay usually call us about
- Ants marching in from the garden along a skirting board or up the kitchen wall, usually worse after rain.
- Fleas in a house where a dog stayed over winter, or where previous tenants had pets. Flea pupae can sit in carpets for weeks and hatch when the first people walk in.
- Fishmoths in linen cupboards, bookshelves and boxes stored in damp back rooms.
- Spiders in garages, under eaves, around outside lights and in bedrooms nobody has used for a while.
- Flies around bins, braai areas and anywhere fish has been gutted.
- Weevils and pantry moths in flour, rice or pet food left in the cupboard over the off-season.
Our process, start to finish
- A look around first. We walk the house and garden to find where the insects are actually coming from: the trail back to an ant nest, the damp corner where fishmoths breed, the rug where fleas have settled. What we find decides the treatment.
- Treatment aimed at the source. Odourless, non-staining residual sprays go where insects walk and hide. Ant baits are taken back to the nest by the workers, which is what finishes the colony. If cockroaches are part of the picture, we add gel baits.
- A barrier inside and out. We treat around outside walls, doors and windows so new arrivals from the garden don't walk straight back in.
- Advice before we leave. We'll point out what's attracting them, whether that's a leaking tap, a pile of cardboard in the garage or a gap under the back door.
You don't have to empty your cupboards or move out. Once the treated areas are dry they're safe for children and pets, which matters in a house that's about to fill up with family.
A local tip for holiday homeowners
Before you lock up at the end of the season, clear the pantry of open flour, cereal, rice and pet food, and don't leave a bag of birdseed in the garage. Those are exactly what weevils and pantry moths live on while the house stands empty. Leave towels and linen properly dry rather than folded away damp, and empty the bins rather than leaving them for the next visit. None of it costs anything, and it saves a lot of what we find when we're called in at the start of the next season.
The mistake we see most
Setting off a bug bomb the day you arrive. Foggers settle on open surfaces and miss the cracks, wall cavities and nests where insects actually live, so they knock down what's flying around and leave the rest. They also leave a film over every plate and pillow in the room. A targeted treatment does far more with far less product.
How much will it cost?
It depends on the size of the house, which insects we're treating and how settled they are. A barrier treatment and ant baits for a typical home is a straightforward job. Fleas through a whole carpeted house, or several pests at once in a larger property, take longer. If you rent the house out, booking a treatment before each busy season usually works out better than a hurried call once guests are complaining. We quote free once we know what's going on.
To be honest, one spider in the bath or a few ants on a single afternoon doesn't need us. Wipe up the crumbs, seal the food and watch for a week. If they keep coming, that's the time to call.
For roaches specifically, see cockroach control in Stil Bay. If rodents moved in while the house was empty, our Stil Bay rodent control page explains what we do. You can also read about insect control in George, where our office is.
When you're ready, call 044 012 5011 or WhatsApp us. We're SAPCA registered, we've worked the Garden Route for more than 25 years, and our insect treatments carry a 3-month guarantee.
Questions we get asked
Can you treat the house while we're not in Stil Bay?
Yes, as long as someone can let us in and lock up afterwards. Book it a few days before the house fills up so everything has dried and the baits have had time to work.
Why are there fleas when the house has been empty for months?
Flea pupae can wait in carpets and soft furnishings long after the pet has gone, and vibration and warmth from people walking in sets them off. Treating the floors and furnishings breaks that cycle.
Will the treatment leave a smell in the house?
No. The residual sprays we use are odourless and don't stain, so you can open up and carry on with your holiday once they're dry.
Do fishmoths actually damage anything?
They do, slowly. They feed on starch and paper, so stored books, photos, wallpaper and starched linen are what usually show the damage in a damp, closed-up room.
How soon will the ants stop?
You may see more ants for a day or two while they carry the bait home, then numbers drop off sharply. That brief increase is the bait working, so don't wipe it away.
Is it worth having a treatment every season?
For rental homes, usually yes, because guests notice insects before owners do. For a family home used now and then, a treatment when you see a real problem is often enough.