Product Review: Pestie

 

Pestie is a bug control subscription service. It claims to be customized to the types of bugs in the area you live. It ships throughout the year, basically quarterly, just before winter, early spring, mid-summer, and early fall. You have the option to pay as you go, when each shipment is sent out, or pay once a year, which has a higher upfront cost but is ultimately less expensive. There are also options for a single application or, if you have a larger area to spray (such as a large deck or patio), a double (XL) application. The first shipment includes a spray applicator and charging cable (which you keep and reuse), a bottle of concentrate, a pair of latex gloves, and a bag for mixing the concentrate (to which the applicator attaches). In every other shipment, you get a new bottle of concentrate, gloves, and bag. The price for a single application, if you pay per shipment, is about $43; on the XL plan, it's about $90 per shipment (as of this writing). On the yearly XL plan (which is what I subscribe to), you pay a little over $200. Either way, it is much less expensive than paying for a pest control company to come out and spray. 

Basically, you fill the bag with water up to the fill line, pour the bottle of concentrate in the bag (and rinse the bottle with water to get everything out), then attach the applicator to the bag, and start spraying. Primarily, you go around the perimeter of your house and spray from the ground about 2 feet up. I also spray around the windows on the ground floor and doors, around my garage doors, and my back deck and patio. I also spray in the unfinished storage room in the basement, around my sliding door, and inside the garage. 

I originally purchased a subscription when I lived in my old townhouse, because my association would not spray around individual units. The main issue at the townhouse was paper wasps, and Pestie really helped reduce their numbers. I moved into a new house last year and had a lot of spiders and boxelder bugs both inside and outside. It took a couple of applications, but I now notice a drastic decrease in the amount of boxelders and spiders inside the house. When I first moved in, there were tons of spiders on the back patio off the basement, and now there are almost none. So, it is definitely working.

The company has wonderful customer service. I had an applicator that was not working correctly, and they immediately shipped a new one. Also, when I discovered that one application would not provide enough coverage for my new house, they sent a second kit out free of charge and switched my subscription to an XL plan. Ultimately, if you are looking for a more affordable pest control option, this is a very good one.