Pest control for Washington Valley homes and rentals
Washington Valley is a busy inner suburb, with old cottages at its port end and plenty of rented homes up the valley. Mice in the pantry, rats in the ceiling and borer in old timber are the jobs here, and Richard tracks each to its source after a free inspection.
Richard under a house when the phone goes? Someone still picks up, and he calls you back.
Roof to subfloor
Inside: Richard works through the warm, dark gaps: behind the fridge and stove, under the sink, the pantry and the hot-water cupboard, where cockroaches hide and mice feed.
- Where
- West of the city centre, beside the port
- Postcode
- 7010
- Common jobs
- Mice, rats, borer
What to send Richard
- A photo of the holes, droppings or nest
- Where you’ve seen them: roof space, inside, under the floor or outside
- How long it’s been going on
- Who’s home: kids, pets, or a business open to the public
- For borer: the rough age of the house
- Work
- Borer, rats and mice, wasps, household pests
- Area
- Nelson, Stoke and Richmond
- Experience
- 15+ years in pest control
- Quotes
- Free inspection and quote
- Phone, or fill in the formPictures of what you’ve spotted help.
- Richard rings youHe asks what you’ve seen, and where.
- Free inspection and quoteRoof space, subfloor and section, then a price.
- Treated where they’re workingThen he checks back that it’s done the job.
Mice, rats and borer in Washington Valley
In a Washington Valley home the first sign is droppings in the pantry, a chewed bread bag or scratching behind the kitchen wall. Mice and rats move indoors when the weather turns, and in a valley of close-set homes they don't have far to travel. Richard treats mice and rats, borer, cockroaches, fleas, ants, spiders and wasps, for owners, tenants, landlords and property managers.
He works from the inside out: the pantry and kitchen cupboards, behind the stove, the hot-water cupboard where pipes come through the walls. Then up into the ceiling and down under the floor. Once he knows where they're feeding and nesting, that's where the bait and traps go. A check-in from Richard follows, to be sure the droppings have stopped.
How Richard works in Washington Valley
Tell Richard what you’ve found
Call, or send the form with a photo of the holes, droppings or nest and where you saw it.
A free inspection
Richard comes out and goes through the ceiling cavity, the subfloor and the section, to find where they’re working and how they get in.
A clear quote
He shows you what he found and quotes the treatment before any work starts.
Treated where they work
Bait stations on the runs, the nest itself, the timber the borer is in: each pest is treated where it lives.
He checks in afterwards
Once the treatment has had time to work, Richard gets back in touch to see that it has.
Rentals, old cottages and the port next door
Rentals change how a pest job runs in Washington Valley, where a good share of homes are let. The landlord's duty is to have a home free of pests when a tenancy starts and to keep it maintained so infestations don't take hold. When pests turn up later and nobody caused them, the responsibility isn't clear-cut, and landlords and tenants often split the cost. Winter is the common time for rats and mice to get in, so a check before the cold sets in saves an argument later.
At the valley's port end, Fountain Place, once called Beachville Street, keeps cottages dating from 1870 and 1900 among old villas, bungalows and newer houses, ten of them heritage listed. Timber cottages of that age were built generations before treated framing, and borer has had more than a century in them.
Port Nelson sits just to the north, its coolstores and ship yards on reclaimed land, and Abraham Heights, Sequoia and Wolfe Reserves give the valley its green edges. Keep an eye out for rat signs along skirting boards and under the house: droppings, greasy marks on timber, gnawed wiring.
Thank you Richard for the exceptional service! You were very knowledgeable and kind!
Tips for Washington Valley
- Tenants: tell your landlord or property manager about droppings or scratching as soon as you notice them.
- Landlords and property managers: book Richard in the gap between tenants, while the cupboards are empty and the floors are clear.
- Keep food in sealed containers and the bread off the bench. Mice find an open packet on the first night.
Washington Valley questions
I rent in Washington Valley and there are mice. Who should book Richard?
Tell your landlord or property manager first, since the home should be free of pests when a tenancy starts. Either of you can book Richard. He inspects free, treats the mice where they're feeding and nesting, and checks in after.
Our cottage is near Fountain Place. Does an old cottage need a borer check?
Yes. A cottage from the 1800s was built from untreated timber, and the grubs feed inside it for years before the adult beetles chew their way out. Richard crawls the subfloor and climbs into the ceiling, looking for new exit holes and powder, and treats the framing where the larvae are.
Do you cover the port end as well as the top of the valley?
Yes. Richard covers all of Washington Valley, from Fountain Place at the port end up past Abraham Heights, Sequoia and Wolfe Reserves, for owner-occupied homes, flats and rentals alike.
We also work nearby in Britannia Heights, Toi Toi and Nelson South. All Nelson suburbs
A free inspection in Washington Valley
Tell Richard what you’ve found and where. A photo of the holes, droppings or nest helps him see it before he comes out.
What to send Richard
- A photo of the holes, droppings or nest
- Where you’ve seen them: roof space, inside, under the floor or outside
- How long it’s been going on
- Who’s home: kids, pets, or a business open to the public
- For borer: the rough age of the house
Richard will be in touch to talk it through, then come out, inspect and quote. If you go ahead, he treats them and checks in afterwards.
Rather talk? Call 0800 166 028
Thanks, we’ve got your details.
Richard will be in touch to talk it through and set a time for the free inspection.