Pest Control in Downers Grove, IL

Downers Grove neighborhoods and homes

Downtown and the streets north of the tracks

The older streets around Main Street, the Tivoli Theatre and the Metra stations have Victorian, Craftsman and early twentieth century homes with porches, full basements and big trees. These homes see the same termite, carpenter ant and mouse calls as old Glen Ellyn.

Ranches and split-levels to the south

South of downtown toward 63rd Street and beyond, post-war ranches, split-levels and two-story homes sit on slab garages and basements, with pavement ants, fall mice and wasps under decks as the steady calls.

Wooded lots near Lyman Woods

Homes near Lyman Woods and the other wooded pockets of the village have trees close to the roof and leaf litter at the lawn edge, which brings carpenter ants, ticks and mice closer to the house.

Pests Downers Grove calls are about

Termites

Older homes with porches, additions and wood near the soil are where termite swarmers turn up in April and May, often in the basement.

Carpenter ants

Damp porch roofs, window frames and decks under the old trees give carpenter ants a place to start satellite nests.

Mice in the fall

Through garage door corners, utility lines and window wells, as soon as the nights freeze.

Wasps

Paper wasps under eaves and yellowjackets in lawns and under decks in late summer.

What you are seeing and what it usually means

Through the year in Downers Grove

• Spring Termite swarms in older homes, carpenter ants waking up, ants in kitchens after rain.
• Summer Wasps under eaves and decks, mosquitoes in shady yards, ticks near the woods.
• Fall Mice moving in, boxelder bugs and stink bugs on sunny siding.
• Winter Mice in basements and walls; inspections for spring termite work.

Older homes near downtown

The older homes around Main Street and north of the tracks have porches, basements and additions built over decades. A termite inspection there covers the porch footings, the sill plate, the joint where an addition meets the house and any wood near the soil. Homes for sale often need a wood destroying insect inspection for the lender, and older homes take longer to inspect than newer ones.

Big trees and the roof line

Downers Grove's mature trees are one of the reasons people live there, and one of the reasons carpenter ants and hornets are common. Branches touching the roof give ants a bridge to the soffits and fascia, and bald-faced hornets build gray paper nests in the high branches by late summer. Trimming branches back from the roof and fixing gutters that overflow onto the fascia take away what the ants need.

Mice from the green space

Homes that back onto Lyman Woods, the parks or the tollway edges see more mice each fall than homes in the middle of town. Traps inside clear the mice already there, gaps at garage door corners, utility lines and dryer vents are sealed, and locked stations along the outside walls are added where activity is heavy.

The drive and the visit

Downers Grove is a short drive from Glen Ellyn by Butterfield Road and I-355 or by Finley Road. The visit is set on the call for the next open window, and you hear the price before any treatment. Downers Grove addresses use ZIP codes 60515 and 60516.

Before the technician arrives

• Keep a few termite wings or a dead ant in a sealed bag It speeds up identification.
• Note where and when you see the pests Kitchen at night, basement in the morning.
• Keep children and pets away from wasp nests Until the technician arrives.

Termite work in older Downers Grove homes is explained on termite treatment, and every service is on pest control in Glen Ellyn.

Fall invaders and spiders in older homes

In September and October, boxelder bugs, stink bugs and lady beetles gather on the sunny south and west walls of Downers Grove homes, then slip in around windows, soffits and vents to spend the winter. Older homes with roomy attics and many small gaps let in the most. An outside treatment in early fall and sealing the gaps they use keeps most of them out, and the same visit clears the spiders and webs that collect in window wells and basements.

Offices, shops and apartments

Offices along Butterfield Road and the I-88 corridor, shops and restaurants downtown and apartment buildings across the village are covered through commercial pest control. Visits are planned around business hours, units around any reported problem are checked together, and each visit is written up in a log for owners and inspectors.

Repeat calls and sealing

Most repeat calls in Downers Grove come back to the same gaps: a worn garage door seal, a dryer vent without a cover, a window well that has pulled away from the brick. Sealing those once is cheaper over time than treating the same problem every fall.

Downers Grove questions