Hello everyone and Welcome to another

episode of Selling Greenville your

favorite real estate podcast here in

Greenville South Carolina I'm your host

as always Stan Mccune realtor right here in

the greater Greenville area of South

Carolina you can find all of my contact

information in the show notes if you

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doing anything like that those are the

only things I'm asking of you guys

and I appreciate all of my listeners so

thank you guys for tuning in today we

have a special guest on the show

Andrew Dixon the owner of Dixon pest

he's recording this from inside of his

car he's got he's sick so he's he's

he's being a trooper for me here

doing this recording and so I

really appreciate I've known Andrew for

a long time I've used him for Pest

Control for I mean pretty much since

he started his business as far as I can

remember and and he's been a great

friend and a great person to work

with over the years so Andrew thank you

for coming on the show welcome to the

show thanks man longtime listener first

time caller yeah that's right Andrew

texts me very frequently about the show

so I always like when I'm able

to have people on the show that are

actual listeners that you know

sometimes I delete those texts too

before I send

them oh boy I try not to be too

controversial Andrew says he tries not

to get too controversial but I I beg to

differ on that point

well m Andrew again thank you for

coming on for those of you that are

listening or watching I will let you

know that we started the show and then

Andrew's phone overheated and so we're

we thankfully we didn't get too far in

we're having a redo

here this is what happens when you try

to when you try to do Zoom from

inside of a hot vehicle but

we're just going to go right back to

what we had started before and I thought

it was a very interesting story I had

asked Andrew and I'm going to ask you

again what's the story behind you

getting into Pest Control why did you

decide to do that how did you end up

in Pest

Control well go it goes back to 08 to1

we had a recession which you you know

and I got let go from my position as

a manager at a hardware store and the

gentleman that I worked for he was he

was kind of an entrepreneur he had

bought and sold a couple businesses and

he had kind of he let me borrow his

pressure washer and I did a couple side

hustles I go pressure wash people's

houses while working for him full-time

and and as the recession built up

another friend of mine who's a vet he

had opportunity to service what they

call the inventory all the houses that

were foreclosed that couldn't get

released into the market there was

there were tons I mean I'm sure

Nationwide it was probably more than I

even realized but in the upstate they

had us hustling to clean them up to

make them safe and then we had to

maintain them as they released them

into the market so they wouldn't I

guess flood the market with too many too

many homes so during that time it was

Gang Busters man I would leave the house

in first thing in the morning while

it was dark and I'd get home when it was

dark we had just tons of work they had

tight time frames you had to have so

much work done in a certain amount of

time it it was kind of my first

introduction to being an entrepreneur if

you will or working for myself quote

unquote there was a lot of longare

involved in that type of work so that

was kind of kind of my first take on

that but as I was getting into that I

worked pest for another company

for about a year for a friend of a

friend who really was just another

great boss just another good man

Christian man who cared and showed

showed me that a boss man can be you

know be

caring so we parted ways for one reason

or another that was my first ta you know

my first taste of pest control kind of

put that on the back burner right so as

the as the inventory started whittling

down HUD basically started making their

restraints higher and higher and higher

to the point where it was just stressing

stressing me and my family out and based

on my wife's counsel you know we just

let it go completely it wasn't really a

contract track so to speak but it was

one of those situations where it's like

okay I'm not going to drive from grec

court to peler you know all the way up

to Pickens you know for $20 or

whatever so as that F yeah oh dude it

it was crazy that some of their

restraints that weren't there at the

beginning you had like a three or four

day window so you would go to one

neighborhood and there'd be three

foreclosures in one neighborhood you

could cut all the yards at the same time

but at the inventory started dropping I

think they were intentionally trying to

whittle people out they would make you

cut one yard in that neighborhood one

day and then you had to go back two days

later to cut the a house down the road

their yard instead of cutting it the

same day you had to come back three days

later to cut it and we're talking

$40 of service I mean you're working on

volume you're not working on price per

yard per se but with that kind of

got me into lawn care and I went

full-time lawn care after that probably

for about seven to eight years and

during that time we I had some

customers ask me hey do you spray for

bugs can you know can you spray

around the house while you're cutting

grass and I was like yeah man I worked

lawn care or I did pest control for you

know a year I could do that and then

next thing you know the customers

started building up and we started

building some Pest Control business

and at that point I just because of my

hatred towards Machinery in general

especially lawnmowers I just I called it

quits I had a guy come down from Ohio

looking to start a lawn care company and

he basically bought that side of

the business and that's that was like

probably 2014 I'd imagine 2013 when I

when I did a full cut when I got rid of

lawn care completely and went full-time

pest

control

so as far as that that's a great story

by the way obviously it's crazy

the different paths we all have to

take to to end up where we are so as far

as as far as the job goes I don't

feel like a lot of people like really

know what is involved with Pest Control

you know it's like it means something

different to to different people right

for some people they probably picture

termites for some people they probably

picture roaches other people might

picture animals what is it that m

what is it that you would say is the

is something that the average person

wouldn't know that is a part of your job

or what’s something about your job

that you feel like is just a

misconception in

general that's a good question

Stan there's a Pro there's probably a

couple different things that I could

think of probably one of the most

prominant things is staying on

schedule and working with people

people are our Prim it's really the

primary target when it comes to Pest

Control you know DIY is a real factor

in today's world you've got YouTube

videos you can buy products online

there's a lot of different ways people

can do things for themselves that they

might maybe wouldn't have been able to

do back in the day so when it when it

comes to that it's really just the

service side you know does someone want

to keep up with their pest control

regiment right does somebody want to

under their house does somebody you know

want to confront a squirrel in the

Attic or you know catch a a skunk you

know and so I I think when what

people when they think about Pest

Control they don't think about those

aspects how do you serve the person as

opposing just a treat for the pests

quote unquote because you know

there's a lot of and again I tell this

to all of our customers it's really in

the routine that you find the best

practice for Pest Control yeah you can

get one treatment a year but th nature

does not stop you know those palmettos

bugs man they're moving you know they're

called American cockroaches you know

technically but is that what they're

called Andrew's talking about the

massive cockroaches that we have down

here in South Carolina that terrifies

everyone that moves here from out of

state that's right that's right they're

like a they're like an alien to someone

from Manhattan, they're like what is this

thing are they Justin South Carolina are

they in like Georgia North

Carolina oh yeah they're actually

they're Nationwide there is a form of

American yeah there is a form of

American cockroaches throughout the

whole at least the Continental America

United States but they're not as

prevalent so we call that pest pressure

right so there there's different

temperate zones and really as you move

down especially from the Appalachian

area like the upstate South Carolina the

pre P pressure actually increases you

got more humidity it stays warmer long

you're going to see a lot more of those

American cockroaches they're going to be

a lot more active they're still even

further north but because of the

temperate zone and the change in the

weather like when you go up North and it

gets cold it stays cold right there the

the frost level in Idaho is like you

know 16 feet or something crazy where in

South Carolina, it's like six inches and

so the activity is a lot higher they're

still there but they're not act as

AC yeah and that's that's one of the

tricky thing is knowing when they're

going to all the sudden start appearing

like I've run into that with some of my

rentals where it's like all of the

sudden you know they're they're just

appearing out of nowhere sometimes my

clients that move here from out of

state to you know it's just kind of

it's just kind of confusing like what do

we do about these stupid bugs and

thankfully people like yourself are

able to address them and you've been

great about you know if a service you

know doesn't quite eliminate the pest

come back out you've always been great

about that do we have do we

need to be afraid that any of these that

you know cockroaches or anything are

starting to become resistant to some of

the to some of the chemicals that

we're using against them yeah there

there is a generational resistance that

can build up it kind of it kind of

depends on the population it kind of

depends on there's a lot of different

factors at Dixon pest we we use what

we call our triple barrier system

which uses three different products in

rotation and so when you when you're

changing up the products you're really

you're creating gaps right to where

they're not being exposed to the same

product over and over and over again

and again another philosophy add Dix and

pest which I would say the industry as a

whole is trying to go this direction is

that we're we're focusing more on what

they call the mechanical aspect of pest

control or or eliminating the physical

aspects which could be you know

foliage control Moisture Control you

could you know be sealing gaps and

things of that nature with some

of the newer technology and building

construction you're finding there's a

lot less ways for these pests to get in

now the caveat is there there is a

section or a group of pests that come in

on people or animals those are what we

call like carrier pests or Urban pest

those are those are the German

cockroaches which are way different than

American cockroaches and a lot of people

like the German ones are the tiny ones

right yeah and they live in people's

kitchens and inside people's

homes now they're not just coming in

from the outside right so the American

cockroaches they're in the leaves and the

stumps they like to you know build build

up in your gutters things like that but

those German cockroaches they're coming

in a box where they're coming in

you know on I mean literally anywhere I

mean they I I mean I hate you don't want

to throw any certain company or any

certain you know organization under the

bus but there's really you can't run and

hide from these bugs you have to be

ready for them you know so the

quicker that you see one is the better

how quickly do they reproduce are they

are they are they pretty faster days oh

yeah Germans man their gestation period

is super fast they are you are going

to have a mess on your hands within

three months so if you ever think oh

they'll just go away or I'll just do

this and they'll be fine I would be

careful because German cockroaches are

very they're elusive they can hide in

places that you wouldn't think they'd

hide behind the refrigerator oh easy

well there's a condensate there's always

see yeah well there's a condensate tray

under the fridge that collects the water

from the motor and the motor puts off a

little bit of heat right so guess what

you got two of the biggest things that

bugs love heat and water and so that's

going to be a prime spot for them to

hang out it's kind of hard to

eliminate the fridge right talking about

the mechanical things that you can

change with pest control so that's one

area you can't really control yeah

but if you're being aware that's going

to be your biggest thing is just being

aware same thing with bed bugs same

thing with fleas those are the three

biggest carrier bugs that we deal with

and I tell people the quicker you catch

them the quicker they're gone if you

think they're GNA Go away You're gonna

have a big problem on your hand long

term so what would you say are some

preventative steps that people should

take from a bug standpoint what's

something that you would recommend you

know everyone do besides call you yeah

right well again some of these

might seem aggressive or extreme but

when you've had bed bugs yeah they

don't seem as extreme right so an e easy

one right off the bat is when you're

traveling I don't care if you're staying

at a fivar resort or if you're staying

at a low-end Motel you always want to

check under your mattress do a quick

check you know the fecal matter or the

blood stains that a bed bug puts off

they're noticeable you know maybe use

your flashlight on your phone I would

say a two minute inspection around

some areas like that can save you big

time for getting bringing bed bugs home

you have do you tear the bed apart or is

you can again I always tell

people the more you're concerned about

it mentally the more you want to do your

inspection I definitely would peel

away any sort of mattress cover and I

would also look at the box spring if

there's one on under the mattress

don't put your not your furniture

don't put your baggage or your luggage

on the bed right away don't put them up

against the bed maybe put them in the

bathtub or set them on a table like you

you want to you want to keep it away

from the bed until you at least get a

good inspection right another big one

is when you're getting stuff from Amazon

or shipping maybe open your box on the

front porch right do a quick inspection

there don't necessarily bring it into

your home and just open it up cart

blanch like nothing's going to happen

some people might think that's extreme

but again until you've had German

cockroaches crawl out of a box you know

you might think twice my mom my mom had

them and this is disgusting she had

them come out of produce that she got

from a grocery store recently not not

locally she's not local but that

kind of blew my mind oh yeah and again I

mean when grocery store when

they're getting food from potentially

across the world, right Mexico is a big

producer and a lot of a lot of our

favorites right or Costa Rica and all

that stuff like you would be surprised

like the bananas avocados, you know

you're gonna you might find some bugs

and again a lot of these big companies

and big grocery stores they've got Pest

Control in place they've got their

protocols in place but you just never

want to just assume that everything's

gonna be gold yeah absolutely so so tell

us a tell us a story what's a what's a

crazy Pest Control story that you

have well just one that comes to mind

well want to you know we don't want to

give any names or no names I'm teasing

I'm teasing this is all fictitious

right well as you know as a pest

control provider, we are at many

times the liaison right people are

sensitive you might have a homeowner and

a tenant right you might have a

homeowner a manager and a tenant you

have three different parties going on at

one time and everybody is looking out

for themselves in most the situations

so as a pest control provider, you know

we're looking for the win-win-win we

want the homeowner to win we want the

tenant to win and we want the

manager to win but there are some

situations where not everyone can win

probably one of the most bizarre

situations that I've been in was was a

tenant situation where there was a bed

bug situation and most leases I don't

know if you've got these in your leases

but you know if you bring the bed bugs

in the homeowner is not going to pay to

get rid of them right it's kind of on

the tenant well a tenant had

claimed that there were bat bugs

in the house right and so a bat bug in a

what are bat bugs so actually

again you some there are some theories

that bed bugs actually came from the bat

bug so bed bug bed bugs have been around

for centuries there are there are

recordings of bed bugs in the

Roman Empire the reason bed bugs have

kind of resurfaced in America in the

last 20 or 30 years mainly due to

international travel but if you go

back to the 40s and

50s America basically eliminated bed

bugs so like people like us you know 80s

90s bed bugs were not even a thing we

almost completely eradicated bed bugs in

America primarily due to the products

that was used after World War II

they just I mean dude they these

products would kill birds out of the sky

I mean dude just literally and I know

this sounds crazy but the the way

Furniture has evolved has actually

changed some of that we have a lot more

stick-type Furniture as opposed to that

old traditional you know heavy sofas and

stuff like that the the invention of

the vacuum cleaner has actually made

a big impact on eradicating bed bugs but

that was mainly in the states where bed

bugs are are are super prevalent in

other countries around the world so

basically, as the you know the FDA and

the EPA and all that as they have

basically eliminated some of those

really strong

chemicals and international travel have

kind of crossed over you're now seeing

bed bugs come back and they're not I'll

be honest it's going to be hard to say

if they'll ever leave and again

this is going to sound crazy but the

Greenville Columbia

Corridor in South Carolina is

actually top 10 bed bug areas in the

country so we see a lot yeah it's

very it's very it's kind of weird but

there's a lot you know there's a lot of

international business coming our way

and stuff like that I'm kind of

segueing a little bit but going back to

the original story so if it's a bat bug

it doesn't fall under the lease and the

Tenant knows it and so we go out there

and I'm thinking you know how do I take

care of this Management's like hey man

we just need to take care of this

customer so I'm quote-unquote playing

along with the scenario and man they

they've got me up in this attic just

hunting down bat bugs hunting down bats

and it's it's getting to the point where

I'm like so what what are what are bat

bugs can you explain that because I

actually don't even know what they are

okay so I didn't finish that so they

look just like bed bugs okay except

there's a there's a couple minor

biological differences like if basically

you have to find you have to look under

a microscope one of them is the hairs

they have little microscopic hairs that

come off their bodies where a

traditional bed bug doesn't have the

same type of hairs that a bat bug does

but by the naked eye they can

look almost exactly right do they do

they live do they you mentioned going

into an attic do they live in attics do

they live in beds like bed bugs do what

okay that's a good question so

the reason I'm in the addict is because

bats can potentially be in the addict

space typically you know when you

find a bat bug infestation it's because

you have a massive bat Roost and the

and the bat bugs their population

is getting so is getting so large that

the bugs are actually starting to spread

through the attic space or through the

ceiling and so what the tenant was

claiming is that the bat bugs

were starting to infest her

bedroom and again it's bizarre because I

could have just dropped the hammer and

said these are not bad bugs right these

are bed bugs and that's just where we

need to stand but in an attempt to take

care of the management and the homeowner

and still give the tenant the benefit of

the doubt dude we're we're I'm digging

through insulation I've been out there

three or four times trying to treat for

for bat bugs and I can't find bat bugs

and it comes to a point where I can't

actually get out I can't go into the the

tenant is so concerned about their

deposit they're refusing basically any

sort of information that I'm giving them

right they brought in third party they

said that it was a bat bug I know it's

not a bat bug so again this is not as

Pest Control related we've got to go to

Clemson, so we're getting to the point

where no one's satisfied and we've got

to bring in the DPR Department of pest

regulation which is Clemson

University and at the end of the yeah it

turned from a what I would consider a

very TurnKey normal service call to you

can't even go to the property without

you know someone else being there you're

right well thank thank thankfully the

Clemson they do an excellent job they're

enologists and their that department man

they are excellent at what they do so

they got the the bed bug they got

they went under the microscope and they

confirmed it was a bed bug and so

long story short wow the tenant the

tenant had to lose her deposit again

it's kind of bizarre because it we're

talking this situation probably

went on for two months I we probably had

to go out there six seven times so do

they have to get rid of a bunch of

furniture

then well basically yeah well the

tenant, I think they actually got

kicked out to be honest with you they

brought it in on all their Furniture

right cuz I saw it I saw it on their

furniture and I'm sitting here thinking

if there were bat bugs you would

see them migrating if you will from the

roost of the bats because there's also

bird mites and again bird mites they

kind of mites and in bed books they kind

of can look similar but again you know

never say never in p control man never

say always so you want to give people

the benefit of the doubt but there comes a

point in time where it just got so crazy

we basically had to call in the big

guns you know wild and thank yeah

thankfully Clemson got that under

control so let's transition for a

second here to

termites so I think most people know

that termites eat wood and are and are

obviously bad for homes right but

beyond that I don't feel like people

necessarily know a whole lot about

termites where they come from what

they're trying to do so how did termites

end up in homes and at what point are

they actually a major problem okay

that's a good question man so termites

they're the only organisms in the world

that eats wood by the way so if anyone

ever thinks that another insect or

something else is eating the wood

they're mistaken the the other ones are

like what they're burrow GR in the wood

or or laying eggs in the wood or

something like that that's correct so

powder post beetles old house bores

carpenter ants things of that nature

they're still using the wood even

carpenter bees that they're they are

burrowing into the wood but they're not

actually consuming the wood for food and

the only reason termites can do that is

because they have little organisms in

their gut right so it's it's weird

because the termites aren't the ones

actually digesting the wood there's

actually an organism another little

organism inside their body that's

digesting the wood for them oh like a

parasite kind of thing yeah exactly

something in their gut and again not

to not to bash the termites they're very

important to our you know

ecosystem in fact in South Carolina

some Studies have shown that there are

one to three colonies per square acre so

I tell people it's not if it's when

they're literally every everywhere you

just can't get away from termites in

South Carolina, now there are two

different types of termites right now

there's really three but two main ones

in South Carolina, one is the native

Subterranean termite the other one is

what they call the fosen termite now the

fosin termite came over during World War

II fosa I think is like an Island by

the Philippines maybe and so it's a very

subtropical aggressive termite it eats

eats wood like 10 times faster than a

native Subterranean termite wow the

good news is is based on Clemson and

their studies these termites haven't

made it past Colombia yet so there

there's a big temperate zone change in

Colombia as you come up to the upstate

so they cannot survive in our temperate

zone which is great right because they

eat wood 10 times faster um but if you

go down to Louisiana you go down to

Florida man they are taking over it's a

much more aggressive termite some of the

the treatments are going to be a lot

more

aggressive from a business standpoint

the contracts will vary because of the

ferocity of the termite but right now

we're still you know I think they've had

two sidings right south of

Colombia so that's good news the

native

termites you know they still eat wood

man they still how do they end up how do

they end up in someone's home

a lot of times it's it's not

necessarily dilapidation of a structure

I would say it's the lack of

Maintenance maybe you know there's no

house that's going to be you know never

exposed right and like like I said

before you never say never you never say

always but there are definitely factors

that contribute to a higher level of

termite exposure a lot of it's going

to be moisture that's why when you do a

CL 100 you're tracking the moisture

right because as the wood is more

moist it's going to give it's going to

be a lot more available for the termites

as they eat it's going to be a little

bit easier for them to go to they also

like softer wood I did an inspection one

time on the on the hamt house and I

don't know if you're familiar with Greer

but there's a lot of Hammet roads right

that's right that cabin was built

in the

1700s the original Hammet

family and it's built from the like har

Pine super hard wood right and it and

and Not only was it hardwood back in

the day but over the centuries it's

dried out even more right and it's been

added on to three times so it was

actually kind of a privilege to be

honest with you to do a termite

inspection because as I'm under the

house I can literally see the different

build outs right because there was a

there was the original cabin which is

super tiny All the lumber was axe it

there was no sauce it was all axe right

and dude I'm telling you that wood is so

hard nothing could no no bug can

penetrate it but as you start moving out

around the renovations, you start seeing

the one that happened in the 50s I think

there was one in the 80s and then there

was a newer one and it's bizarre man

because the one that was done in the 80s

they you know that was when they started

introducing some of the soft Pine dude

it was a dude just a at with

termite it was and the crazy thing is is

you could literally see the termite

damage around the original cabin that's

crazy it was crazy man but it just

shows you that there are there are ways

to prevent termites but with today's

pace and the way houses are built I

don't know if you're going to have

access to that kind of hardwood without

paying a premium price you know what I'm

saying so

how would they how would they find a

house like that oh lost Andrew for a

second

here, we've had a few Tech problems

along the way here let me let me see

if I can get Andrew back up while I'm

doing that

I just want to mention

Andrew referenced a he referenced

doing a cl00 which will probably come up

more than one time in this conversation

that is the wood infestation report it's

a standard

inspection that

covers basically looking for termites

looking for powder post beetles looking

for moisture issues mold Milo things

like that in the crawl space Andrew I

was just explaining while you were

getting back on what a c 100 was since

you since you referenced that earlier

but you can jump

right back into what you were saying how

how they find the

home okay so you're talking about the

ter okay so as as as people build houses

right a lot of Builders there's codes

that are involved and people people

foresee you know termite issues and and

there's been a lot of different ways

people have tried to avoid termites over

the years in fact one of the state codes

is you have to have a PR a

pre-construction termite service and by

law it's it's good for a year so for

those who are buying new homes you

should have a termite plan prevention

plan already wrapped into the purchase

of your home and that's basically

doing a broadcast treatment for a slab

or maybe doing you know your standard

peer treatment under a crawl space but

no know that there's going to be some

some type of treatment in a in a new

house new

construction but again what type of

termite products are people using some

of these companies that that label is a

very broad spectrum you're going to find

some products that are good for a year

you're going to find some products that

are good for 10 years referencing

some of those products from back in the

40s you know they had a 50-year lifespan

I mean it's it's bizarre we're pretty

much outside of those products why

did they stop us were were they

like causing cancer or something like

that it was actually Birds it was

mainly so this is this is this is really

bizarre but it wasn't direct contact

that was killing the birds it was what

they call indirect contact so but so as

the products were affecting the

insects and other non-target creatures

they would find itself in fish

because the product just doesn't break

down like it it's like lasts forever so

the product is at a certain level of

halflife by the time it gets to the fish

the bird Scoops up and eats the fish

that bird is actually ingesting a very

strong product and the next thing you

know there's dead fish and prey Birds

dead everywhere that that was the

main culprit to some of those

products in fact as a pest control

provider if I was to use one of those

products they would take my license away

I've had people call me out of

the blue some Old-Timers I've got

this product I've been saving since the

50s will you come and treat for me

I'm like no sir a gonna happen that's

like when people ask me to commit a fair

housing violation I'm like nope not not

taking the bait on that and that

happens more often than than you think

you know people selling a home they want

to know about you know they get an offer

from someone they want to know you know

are these people religious do they have

a family and I'm like man I can't talk

about that do your own research look

them up I but that's not my job well and

again no offense to the Oldtimer you

know he's got a mindset where he

wants something that's bulletproof right

he wants birds falling from the

sky you know but the good the

good news is though the liquid

products have a lower lifespan so to

speak they are more environmentally

friendly because the the chemical

designs are are are becoming so much

more targeted towards the particular

insects right and and and and in fact

some products on the market they're made

in such a way where they're not leeching

out of the soil and affecting other

areas and I'm all about the environment

man because I'm like yeah we want to

protect the house but at what cost you

know y and and and then you've also got

the bait station the termite bait

station technology that's been around

since the 80s it's it's gaining more and

more traction because you're not dumping

all the liquid into the

soil but really going back to the

original question to avoid termite

infestation you

know F first and foremost going back to

the original Foundation is awareness if

you're not going to be inspecting your

house like a termite inspector you might

as well chalk it up

because if they get in without you

seeing it they're going to do so much

more damage than you could imagine

because we we both know it man how often

do you even think about your crawl space

right five years can go by I try not to

think about the you know those types of

things very

often well five years go by your half

your the the most the house that I could

think of Taylor and I think it was built

probably in the 70s ranch style model

there was a sweet old Widow lady and she

got she got so elderly she basically

never left her room right well that

whole time her the last 15 20 years of

her life termites had just I mean they

had eradicated over 50% of her crawl

space wow I mean you could almost

fall through the floor it was so

eradicated I've I've been in a house

that that you that the floor collaps due

to termite damage that was insane yeah

and and again does it happen overnight

no it happens over time so awareness is

the number one thing St being aware

second thing and today I'm just you know

I'm a little biased as a pest control

provider but having a prevention plan is

just gold man because not only does it

give you peace of mind but you get that

inspection you get someone walking your

property crawling your space check in

your garage and then they're also making

sure that you know if it's a liquid

treatment or a Bas station product that

everything is working the way it should

you know and then and then the final

thing is with that prevention plan you

know you should be getting what they

call a bond right kind of like an

insurance policy where if if the

termites do get in and do damage you're

at least you got you got something in

your back pocket to pay for basically

the so that people understand understand

and to make sure I understand it the

bond is essentially the insurance plan

from The Pest Control provider that

they're basically saying if you have

termite damage after we've treated it we

will pay to to repair the damages is

that accurate correct up to a

certain amount that's right and so

basically it's illegal to put a bond or

insure so to speak a house against

termites a a a treatment has to go along

with it which is why it's called a bond

right okay that makes sense so so if

someone's like if someone tries to quote

unquote Bond your house without a

treatment they're basically breaking the

law interesting thankfully I've not run

into that yet well you know it's it's

sure there some out there doing that oh

yeah well the good news is is the state

requires a level of insurance for all

pest control companies I can't do a

termite service at your house without

being properly insured by the state

and so that that's across the board they

require that every year I've got to make

sure that that our certification and our

licenses all are in line with everything

that the state requires so there is some

accountability there so real quick let's

pivot to animals what's got what's

like the primary animal pest that

that you run into down here you know

probably mice to You Know M mice and

humans have been together

for eons right you know depending on

your your beliefs you know it's

definitely thousands of years in fact a

lot of studies will say wherever there's

a human within 10 feet there's going to

be a rodent of some sort we we have a

Sy that's not something I really want to

think about but okay yeah well man I've

got I've had my share of rodent problems

in my homes as you well know CAU two of

them in my current house myself well

well it's crazy man

because I never will tell someone we can

create a house that a mouse can't get

into it's impossible yeah what we can do

is create an environment that is less

conducive to Road activity and a lot of

that is within your control but some of

it is not in in your control right so

for instance someone might have a house

with a Creek in the backyard right and

that Creek is just it's an environment

and a habit hat that is super conducive

to rodent activity you might have we

have a customer that lives next to a

peach orchard right rodents are going to

be attracted to that Falling Fruit so

you know when it comes to those type of

situations you know we recommend what we

would call a regiment right where you're

doing everything you can to keep them

out so to speak but then you're making

measures to trap them or kill them

before they enter your home the good

news is is is they're not on the

endangered species list right so you

know we we at Dixon pest man we do we do

our darnest to make sure that we're not

messing up any sort of creature animal

that is not within you know that

structural issue like like for instance

you know a customer hey I need you to

come out and I need you to kill these

squirrels in our

trees well you know not only does it go

against my beliefs because I don't want

I don't want just go out and just kill

animals for fun but it's also illegal

for me to do that which is great you

know but you know if a squirrel's

getting into someone's attic yeah we're

going to kill them man we're going to

take them out you know that we're not

really called exterminators anymore

because we can't exterminate the

critters or the bugs we can control them

right or we could create environments

that are less conducive but once a once

a an a mammal specifically a squirrel a

mouse you know you name it

once they find their way into your home

it's over man because they've got a

brain pattern that once those forging

patterns lock in they'll never not come

back and unfortunately it's the same

thing in nature have you ever heard of

the term a Fed bear is a dead bear no

I've not okay so say you're at a park

right National Park and everywhere do

not feed bears do not feed put your

trash in a certain area is because once

that bear gets a hold of that trash can

or knows that they can eat at a campsite

they will never not come back they will

always come back and unfortunately the

rangers they have to eliminate them they

have to kill them it's the same thing

with alligators you know don't feed the

Gators because they will come back every

time so how this this is a really

random

question how effective are cats against

rodent like have you have you ever have

you ever had to eliminate a mouse or a

rat from a house that had a cat oh

absolutely no doubt about it is a

good question though because I

actually ask customers all the time this

question and I get a lot of different

feedback right so some folks will

like hey I need you to come take care of

my mouse problem oh great and you get

there and you're going through your

questions you're trying to get feedback

you know trying to come up with a plan

of action man I've got these great cats

man they just do such a good job and you

said there and you kind of scratch your

head you know like well why are we here

you know but

unfortunately mice in particularly you

know they are opportunistic feeders they

are attracted to other animals if they

smell the oils from cats dogs humans Etc

they're that's actually drawing them in

and the re the reason why is because you

know part of their their nature is

they know that if another mammal is

thriving in that environment that means

that environment has everything they

need food water and shelter so in a lot

of situations a cat or dog will actually

attract mice now there are cats and dogs

that can are good at taking out

rodents um I've had s some customers

they'll be like oh you just can't feed

them you got to starve them you know

they're they're going to come and that's

when they get

hungry that's an interesting strategy

that that doesn't sound that doesn't

sound like something that animal

rights people would be happy about oh no

well and on the other hand I've had some

customers like oh we feed our cat really

good you know and they always have a

dead mouse on the front porch for us so

they've got a little business

relationship going on that's right

that's right so I I will say you know

there is probably a place for cats to be

what they call mousers but I would

say in general as a as a normal

residential homeowner you know I

wouldn't count on it I mean most cats

are getting you know they're kind of

lazy in my opinion but they you know

they're still a great pet to have so you

know not not in my opinion but but I

know there are some people that will

agree with you on that so we'll we'll

let that one slide yeah well the

scariest crawl space I've ever been in

was a cat infested crawl space dude

I'm telling you snake I've had situ

where I've had snakes and all that but

when you're in a crawl space and there's

about 30 cats under there oh my goodness

dude it's like a horror movie because

you hear them they're everywhere and

they make all these noises and I that

was one of the only times where I

actually carried a weapon with me

because I was so scared and you know

what the call was I was there to hunt

down a dead cat like I literally was

trying to find a dead animal and I could

not find that cat anywhere and those

cats had completely destroyed the HVAC

system so when people when they feel

like they can feed cats on the outside

to keep other Critters away they're

actually inviting I've had a lot of

like rat calls not mice but rat calls

because people are feeding feral cats

and that food that they put out on the

back porch is actually attracting

rats and other animals like possums and

stuff like that oh yeah

interesting let's let's transition

here and we only have a few more minutes

left I know I got to let you go I

appreciate your time let's talk about

moisture let's talk about moisture for a

second because obviously you know when

you're doing a CL 100 you're checking

moisture levels in the crawl space and

all of that one of the key ways that

that a house can structure can be

compromised is by excessive moisture but

moisture is confusing to people I run

into this a lot particularly people

coming from out of state so some

people will come from areas that are

don't have crawl spaces basically

States like you know I run into this

people Floridians oftentimes are used to

slab holes or used to really tall homes

or whatever the case may be and the

concept of a crawl space is confusing

because it's like okay there is moisture

in here but too much of it is a problem

how much of it is a problem there's like

different levels different degrees of

problems when it comes to moisture and

mold and Milo and all that

what can you say to kind of clear

clear through all of that to someone

that that really just has no idea about

cross-based moisture levels and what's

safe and what's not that's a good

question so there's a couple things I

would start out with one is you can't

really escape the fact that moisture is

in South Carolina yep it's everywhere

we live we live again going back

to the temperate zone Factor obviously

moisture is a lot higher as you go down

to Florida you know Down to Georgia

stuff like that sure so first of all you

can't escape moisture 100% second thing

is you can't escape mold spores right

mold spores are everywhere where you're

sitting right now where I'm sitting

right now there are mold scores all

around us just like the termites you're

not gonna they're always going to be

there right and so you starting out by

that place I think can help someone

achieve a little bit more peace of mind

right when you come when you get down to

the nitty-gritty you're like okay it's

always going to be there what can I do

to prevent excessive moisture or

excessive mold buildup or proliferation

of mold or excessive termite damage

right and so first and foremost you're

gonna those three aspects though

they all come together they all kind of

show themselves in different ways so

like a termite, I try to tell people they

might start freaking out right oh I got

termites listen you've already tackled

the first problem is your number one

problem is that if you don't know the

termites are there that's when they

cause the most damage but once you find

out that the termites are there you're

good because they're not really fast

they're not like they're not going to

tear your house down in five days as

long not those ones that are in

Colombia yeah that's right the

promotions are not here exactly and so

like we got it like this is this is good

news we found out we that they're here

now we can deal with it and so that's

more of a structural issue the only

reason you need to worry about termites

is because of the structural damage

right so now that we've sto the bleeding

we can now assess the situation and make

sure your structure is proper put

together now with mold it's more of a

you know what they call air quality

right there is a wood destroying fungus

which based on the state and the

findings of Clemson University that

moisture content of that Lumber has to

be over

28% that is an environment in which

fungus can proliferate and it starts to

eat the wood as it as it grows so I tell

people once you find that water problem

whether it be moisture entering into the

crawl space Prime it's usually going to

be a water leak of some sort right so

that's a that's just like the termite

once you find the water leak man we're

good we've stopped the bleeding we can

step back we can get a plan together and

we're going to take care of this um as

far as like more long-term moisture

issues that's going to be a little bit

more difficult because a lot of that

has to do with air circulation the good

news is from an air quality

standpoint theoretically your air

conditioner is supposed to be an

enclosed system so though you might have

higher moisture readings in your crawl

space if your air conditioner is running

properly and sealed properly you have a

a good divider between your crawl space

and your living area so that should put

you in a place where if there's too many

mold spores in your in your living area

it should be going through your

filtration system and your air

conditioner so in a in effect you're

controlling those mold spores right

whenever you find a mold build up in

someone's living

area typically there's usually an issue

with the air conditioner or it's maybe a

vacant house or there's a massive water

problem in someone's home so I've been

in I've been in some houses where

they're running window units right the

window unit technically is supposed to

drain out the back to the exterior of

your house just like all HVAC units they

have a condensate line the water

evacuates to the outside exterior but

some of these folks primarily

renters they don't care the water is

leaking inside the house down the wall

so you walk into the room and man

there's black mold

everywhere you see what I'm saying yeah

so the the system that is supposed to be

filtrating the mold spores is actually

almost feeding itself sense right and so

those are the situations that I would be

most concerned about right another

off-the-wall situation is I've been in

another house where there's only mold in

a closet right well what happens is they

keep that closet door closed for months

those folks may not go in that

particular closet so the air

conditioning system isn't reaching it

that's what we call dead a dead space

same thing can happen in a crawl space

you want air circulation to be moving

those mold spores and to move the

moisture so I would say when people

maybe are concerned about air quality

the first thing I would tackle is your

HVAC system right and then I would if

you're concerned about your crawl space

that would be like a secondary issue

what about humidity I hear people talk

about like now a lot of these smart

thermostats are measuring your humidity

levels inside of your home are there

levels where like that is indicative of

something problematic maybe in the crawl

space or

elsewhere that you've run into it can be

well this is the thing right so again

we're talking humans and there's not

really a lot of regulation on

moisture because humans are so

different you might have somebody that

has a a humidifier in their house sure

their living area is too dry they they

get it dries their lungs out and then

you've got someone next door they've got

a dehumidified

because they need it dryer right right

and so when it comes to humans you know

some people move to Florida because it's

more human it's apparently better for

your joints right but at the end of

the day it's going to come down to the

human the person some people might have

asthma and so a certain level of mold

spores might be worse for someone else

right I had a a gentleman 96 years

old wild dog man I mean this guy was

alive dude for a 96 year old he was he

had pet deer coming up to his house he

had a pack of peacocks that he had as

pets but man I kid you not I went under

his house and I found moisture readings

in the 40% it was so wet under there the

the insulation was just soaking wet and

I'm sitting here thinking like there's a

small percentage of people who could

live in this level of moisture because

once because the HVAC system was not

like really well put together either

this man you you could smell the

dampness in his house but here he is 96

year old kick it you know what I'm

saying wasn't impacting him too much

exactly but if someone else was to come

into that house man they might get a

headache within five seconds sure right

in fact I had made oh sorry go ahead

well I had made a recommendation to him

because he was about to put the house on

the market right and I was like man I

don't know you know this is going to

ding a moisture report like yeah you're

not going to be able to sell the house

with 40% crawl space moisture no no and

you know what he said he goes I don't

care I'm not he goes I'm not doing

nothing he he told me he's like I'm 96

years old he goes they could take it or

leave it I said yes sir you know so

again you see how much he cares about it

that's why you're not a

realtor so so you're if someone is comes

to you and they're like hey my humidity

is consistently above 50% in my house

you're not inherently concerned about

that no no I'm not if if it comes down

to tax and

needles the way that we can really

get down to it is is basically an error

test or a culture test and what that

does it gives you a Spore count and

again this this is still not do you do

those kind of tests well we do but we

send it to a third-party laboratory

right okay and again even that is not

super concrete right because it still

depends on the person the the reason we

do these tests is because we can at

least get a Spore count and then there's

a general there's a general consensus on

if a Spore count gets so

high it would be considered problematic

for the general public right and so at

that point all the parties involved can

be like okay well this is you know this

might be an issue we might need to

address it because you know some

people man they don't want to deal with

it you know what I'm saying where some

people are like man I've got to get this

done but as far as the humidity in the

house I'm not gonna get all crazy unless

I see it building up everywhere or if

we do like a sport count that

makes sense so we're we're almost at an

hour here one question though that I

want to I want to clear the air on for

some

people one thing that drives me crazy is

after a big rain we've had flooding and

whatnot people go in there and want to

do their CL 100 you know right after

that how frequently do CL 100s fail

after you know after we had a big storm

in the area is that pretty common yeah I

would say it's probably more common than

not and again you know there's a

spectrum just like with the air quality

there's a spectrum what we call like

people who Sound the Alarm you know

if I go into a crawl space and I see a

little sitting water I'm not going to

freak out right will it fail a CL 100

yes it will there is a location on the

cl00 that appropriates sitting water

because it can be an issue sure now if

you get a if you get a heavy rain and

there's a way for that water to slowly

work its way out you're probably you're

gonna be probably fine right am I gonna

say you're always gonna be fine no

because you never say never right so

there are

situations where if there's water for a

long period of time over time right that

moisture in the lumber is going to suck

it up because it's it's porous and

that's why the moisture readings on the

lumber are so important because people

are like oh those moisture readings are

going to be really high in the wood

because we just had a big rain last

night well that might not be true right

you could have Sitting W i' and I've had

this many times sitting water in the

crawl space 15 to 16% in the in the

lumber right 15 to 16% does not fail a

CO 100 does not proliferate fungus or

mold it's actually a very good number

for for lumber but that's because

that sitting water isn't always going to

be a longterm issue right it just

happened to come in you know but and

it's normal for crawl spaces to have you

know sitting water after after some rain

yeah it's it's very possible right that

I mean man I've done moisture work

in crawl spaces that have 9% moisture

readings just because the people were so

concerned about water getting in and I'm

sitting here thinking like this is this

is amazing like 9% is insane but

they still they for peace of mind from

Florida

yeah

um and so I would say you know if if if

there are some companies they will take

a look at the water stains on the

foundation to you know I can't remember

it's like Inc they use incandescent

light or whatever okay I feel like that

that can be a little misleading

personally because those moisture

stains may not be necessarily due to

something current it might be a

situation that's that that happened

years ago am I saying that it's not

it's not helpful to a potential buyer

you know a buyer might want to look into

that I don't know if it's going to give

you great data I'm a very big stickler

on the moisture readings in the lumber

because I think that's the most telling

that's going to tell you if this is if

this has been a longtime occurrence

that in my opinion absolutely well

Andrew I think that's about all the

time that we have today is there is

there anything that we didn't cover that

you were hoping to cover do you have

anything else to say to the

audience oh man well I love the podcast

man I'm I want to take a moment to brag

on it a little bit

well you know in in today's world I feel

like there's a lot of people that can

talk about things but I really

appreciate the fact that you go by a lot

of numbers and I think that gives us a

lot more it helps us evaluate the

market you know what I'm saying it's a

little bit more telling so I appreciate

you doing that homework because it I

know it takes a lot of work man and

it does it does help us from a pest

control standpoint because it gives

us an idea of how many people are

potentially moving in you know who's

building houses and things like that so

thanks for doing that man I really

appreciate your hard work absolutely

other than that man you

know I can I can always talk about a ton

of pest control stories but I'm just

what have you on for a second show where

you can just tell stories that's right

that's right I just I just I'm really

I'm really grateful for the customers at

Dixon pest man I just think about all

the different people that we've been

able to serve over the years and this

might be a little chance for me to to

tell them I appreciate them because I

I'm sure some of our customers listen to

your podcast as well so yeah I should

hope so well that was Andrew Dixon from

Dixon pest I'm always an advocate for

local businesses small

businesses if you need Pest Control

contact Andrew I will Andrew you want

me to put your phone number or your

email or what just we'll talk

afterwards I I'll I'll figure out what

contact information you want me to to

put in there but that'll be in the

show notes in case you need to reach out

to Dixon pest for any of your Pest

Control needs highly recommend them I've

us Andrew as I said earlier for a

very very long time he's always done a

great job stands by his work his

employees are great as well which is

not easy in this environment as any

employer knows but what's that I said

you know that's right oh

yeah well that's that's a wrap for

today's episode thank you guys for

listening my contact information is in

the show notes Andrews will be as well

if you need to reach out to me for your

real estate needs him for your Pest

Control needs and please if you like the

show physically like it by pressing the

like button hit the Subscribe button if

you're on YouTube leave a little

comment all those good things we will

talk to you guys next time