Pest Quest Solutions Aims to Pest-Proof Your Home

Pest Quest Solutions Aims to Pest-Proof Your Home

Winged ants filling the window? Scratching in the walls that never seems to stop? In this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, host Bob Blaisse We sit down with David Miller, founder of Pest Quest Solutions, to get clear on what’s driving pest activity around Delaware County, PA and what actually works when you want your home to feel calm again. David explains why spring often brings ant swarmers, what those winged ants really mean for your property, and why mice don’t politely wait for a season to show up. 

From there, Bob and Dave dig into the homeowner side of pest prevention: what to look for around AC units and other common entry points, how small gaps turn into big problems, and why a one-time treatment can feel good but still leave you exposed. David walks us through the logic behind preventive service plans, including multiple visits per year and rotating products based on the pests creating the most pressure at that moment. The goal is simple: disrupt the life cycle so next year’s issue is smaller and easier to control. 

You'll hear what professional pest control looks like today, including targeted ant strategies with non-repellent treatments and the “fresh set of eyes” that can uncover surprises during an inspection, sometimes even termite signs while looking for rodents. David shares his integrated pest management approach, where he and his clients work as a team instead of relying on blanket chemical spraying, and why peace of mind is the real product homeowners are buying. Whether you live in Delco or beyond, and want practical pest control tips, rodent prevention ideas, and a smarter way to protect your home, you’ll want to listen to this conversation. 

Pest Quest solutions LLC
PestQuestSolutions.com
610-672-7378

--- About The Show--- Good Neighbor Podcast is a spotlight on local businesses in and around Delaware County, PA (“Delco” ) and Beyond...  The executive producer and host, Bob Blaisse, is a community sponsorship advocate, business branding specialist, and publisher of several hometown magazines, including: Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors, Marple Friends & Neighbors and Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors, mailed monthly to more than 12,000 homes in Western Delaware County, PA, and also available for reading online.
 

Transcript

Welcome To Delco And Beyond

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, Delco. This is Michael Barcan. Welcoming you to the Good Neighbor Podcast, where fans of local businesses and their neighbors come together. It's my pleasure once again to introduce my friend and neighbor, our host, Bob Blasey.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Thank you, Michael Barcan, for that introduction, everybody. Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. My name is Bob Blasey, coming to you from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the southeasternmost county in the state of Pennsylvania, just north of the state of Delaware, where Delaware County, Pennsylvania, lovingly referred to as Delco. And our Good Neighbor podcast, Delco and Beyond, intends to bring you the Good Neighbor businesses that we'd like our listeners to become aware of. And tonight, today, we have a very good uh episode for you. It's a good neighbor business serving Delaware County and Beyond. The business is called Pest Quest Solutions. You can imagine what they do, but let's let the owner of PestQuest Solutions tell us what it's all about. Welcome to the stage, Mr. David Miller. David, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Thank you so much for having me.

Meet PestQuest Solutions Owner

Spring Calls: Ant Swarmers And Mice

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Well, it's great to have you and thank you for joining us here. You know, this is a season that people start thinking about pest control because, you know, the weather's changed and it's fluky a bit. You know, I I'd love to start this episode off talking about pest solutions, you know, pest control. But David, seasonally, what's going on this time of year? Is it is it bugs? Is it ants? Is it squirrels? Is it, you know, mice? What's your biggest calls happening these days?

SPEAKER_02 1:37

The biggest calls this time of year. I don't know if you saw it a little bit earlier in April, but those ant swarmers were flying all around. So the winged ants people call them. And what they are is they're the reproductive versions of those ants and they're looking for new colonies to start. So that's that's the main call that I'm mainly getting this time of year. I would say second most, the one who gets a second place trophy for the the calls that I get is mice. And they're just all year, all year.

Home Checks To Stop Entry Points

SPEAKER_01 2:04

All year long. Well, data a lot heavier in the fall, but well, a lot of people, you know, have a strong aversion to pests, whether it's bugs or mice or whatever. And other people are like, ah, it's gonna happen. You know, we have pests. But I so much of it is not just putting up with it, so much of it is actually fixing it, and not just fixing it, getting rid of them, but fixing them to prevent them. So I'm ready to learn, David. Tell help me as a homeowner when when when I know seasons are changing, or or you know, I have a say I have a good neighbor like you, David. What should I be doing with my home these days?

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Yeah, absolutely. So when you own a home, what you need to be doing, especially for for mice, because like I said, they're just around all year, you need to be searching around your house and taking a look at any kind of entry points that you find, especially by your AC unit. That's a big one. That's so common. So check your AC unit, you know, every every four to six months, what you're gonna see is you'll see a little opening there. Sometimes they chew in and they get in your house. And as for ants, they will pop up just throughout the summer, throughout those warmer months. So they're gonna make those ant hills and they can actually fit through any little crevice in your house they can make it inside. But where I come in is I come in to give you peace of mind. And that is my mission here at PestQuest Solutions to give you that peace of mind.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

And when I show up Well, David, when you when you show up, there's where it goes, right there. Is it are you showing up mostly for your clients because they've called and said, David, we have a problem again? Or uh thank you, PestQuest Solutions. I've found you on the internet, and can you help me? Or is it is it are you trying to help your your your really your clients understand that you know I really do need to be coming back regularly? This is not something you can solve once. And is it is it an education factor that you're bringing to your clients too to kind of maybe prevent you from being able to have to come back? Because there's things that can be done to stop this for good.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

Yeah, absolutely. So that's what I try to get people into is the preventative plans, because what you end up getting with that is you end up getting to solve that problem before it becomes a problem. So you have preventative services. I come out, you get to know me, I come out five times a year, and that way I can use a rotation of products to be able to deal with the pest that is causing the most pressure for that time of year. And the good thing about preventative services as well is even if you had a problem before, what it does is it disrupts their life cycle so they become less severe the year after, making prevention even easier and peace of mind even better for you.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

So, you know, anyone that has used a pest control company, and I have in the past, but anybody I think that's ever used one will say it works. A lot of people will say, David, that, you know, is it is it really working? I mean, are they just charging me money and trying to make me feel good that the ants aren't coming in anymore? I know it works, but help our listeners understand, you know, that like you know, when you come into a situation, are you are you kind of sometimes like blown away that they haven't called earlier? And are you taking great satisfaction that you have really solved the problems? Because I'll bet that that's why people, why your company is so popular.

Targeted Treatments That Actually Work

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Yeah, absolutely. So I I do take great satisfaction and great pride, and this is one of the reasons why I went into this industry, is because what I do is I go into people's houses, they've been dealing with these issues sometimes, sometimes for years, Bob. Sometimes, especially those mice issues, they'll just stay there, they'll stay inundated, or even the insect issues. It's just a recurring thing every single year. And when I'm able to go there and I'm able to use a very targeted approach using the top products in the market, what I'm able to do for them is I'm able to remove that issue in a timely manner. And when it's removed, it's like it's like a weight off their shoulders that they didn't realize was there.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

And is it mostly product that is preventing these uh pests to want to come around? Or are you actually almost mechanically going and looking for the spots that they're coming in?

SPEAKER_02 6:15

So a little bit of both, and it really depends on the pest, and that's that's why this industry is so broad, you can learn so much from it. So, for instance, for ants, you'll locate exactly where they are. There's a few methods to be able to locate their colonies, and when you find one, you can either spot treat it, or what I do with a preventative service is I put a residual band around of something they can't sense. It's a non-repellent, so they walk right over it and they're very social insects, so they can actually spread it to each other, and it knocks out all the colonies around the house rather than just killing the one ant that passed through that barrier.

Surprise Finds During Inspections

SPEAKER_01 6:51

And when you come into a house sometimes, I know when we had a problem, uh, we knew it was coming from the other side of the property and it was coming towards us, and I guess because something was going on on that property. But um, you walk around, you can actually see the direction that things are coming from, you can see the causes. But you know, you probably sometimes like a doctor would say, Um, hey, I'm glad you came in for this, but I guess what we've discovered. I mean, do you do you actually find some cases where they don't even know that they have like a bad termite problem as well?

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Yes, absolutely. I mean, in in the past, I have found I have found termite issues when I'm just doing a regular inspection. And that's that's what I like to do. I like to give the homeowner as much information, information as I could possibly give them with the knowledge that I have, because I'm here to impart knowledge. I'm I'm here to educate those who are curious about about pest control and have questions about it. So I might be inspecting for rodents, but I'm in a basement with open joists. So I might take a look up there really quick to see if I can see anything regarding something like termites or same with same with uh the ants. If I'm looking for colonies on the outside, I might see rodent burrows. So there's a lot of overlap there, and you just have to, once you absorb that information, once you learn about the industry, you almost get a fresh set of eyes for that that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Right. And I think once you get a good pest control representative, someone that really knows what they're doing. But once they come to your house and they, you know, they get to know your house and you get to know them, this is the way it was with us. Um, you know, you feel like just like you learn a little bit from your plumber when he comes in to fix something each time. You learn a little bit about the mechanics of things. I I think, you know, your job foundationally is to teach us how to keep pests from keep coming in our house. And then with each successive year a little bit, maybe we're learning more. I want to talk about that because I think that where pest control has gone in recent years, and maybe some people are afraid of it, is that let's not just wait till you have a big problem. Let me let's get on a plan here. Can I come out two or three times and seasonally protect these problems that happen seasonally and the rodents and get ready for the winter and all that? Is that a big part of your business and your clientele these days? They trust you so much that they they kind of want to get on a plan with you.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Yeah, you know, absolutely. The the conversion rate, I guess you could say, of of people on one-time services, it's I would say a little bit over 50%. I I go there for a one-time service and I'm able to kind of educate them on the benefits of just having that peace of mind, having the preventative service in rather than waiting for something to be a problem and start to stress you out. It's and it it costs you less than what a cup of coffee a day would cost you per month.

What Pests They Handle And Don’t

SPEAKER_01 9:34

So it's it's very different than getting other things in your house maintained regularly. Absolutely. Because you have a major piece of real estate here. And and anyone that's ever heard of a friend who's got a bad termite problem, or anybody that knows that you know sickness can come through these pests, um, knows that you know, preventative cures are better than you know, reactive cures to the problems that you're suddenly seeing and you've had enough of. We're talking to the owner of PestQuest Solutions, David Miller, the the founder and the owner. And by the way, great website. If you'd like to get a chance to learn about PestQuest Solutions, it's the same name for the internet domain. Uh PestQuest Solutions.com is where you'll see the website. Now, David, one other thing that I think is a regular part of uh pest control is somebody that has never called. And and um, you know, I want to just let our listeners know that what we have here is a real local business serving Delaware County and beyond, but really a Delaware County guy born and bred, you know, that is uh supporting his family with PestQuest solutions, but one that is an educator and really a love for solving the problems. Are you getting calls, David, from people who who who I know you get first-time callers from first-time clients, but are they like pulling their hair out because there's a squirrel in the attic or a bat guy in the house? Are you actually handling those kind of pests as well?

SPEAKER_02 10:58

So I have as far as wildlife goes, like the larger animals, you know, things like groundhogs, that's not something that I do in Pest Quest Solutions because that's that's a separate certification. It's almost like a separate line of work. And not a lot of people know that. And what I handle, what I like to tell my clients is about rat or smaller. And those are the ones that I handle. It still covers a very large array of things, so all the rodents and most of the insects.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Now not only not only coming in to get rid of them, but to find out how they got in.

Integrated Pest Management Partnership

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Absolutely, absolutely. And some people have some pretty serious issues. Um, you know, they've got something that's been sitting for a long time and they need help. They need help really bad. And what I do is I come in and I implement what's called integrated pest management. And it's it's kind of the new way of pest control. And what it is, is instead of me coming in and spraying chemicals everywhere, I partner with the actual customer. And that's the big difference there. I partner with the customer, it's educating the customer on how we can be a team to tackle this thing together.

Peace Of Mind As The Goal

SPEAKER_01 12:08

That's how you want them to be left. But no, we're or say it again differently. When when you're when you're done the job, what is it that you really want the homeowner to feel as you're going out the door?

SPEAKER_02 12:19

So what I'd like my homeowner to feel more than anything is I want them to feel peace of mind. And, you know, as I mentioned before, when I show up, people have been dealing with a problem that's been sitting in the back of their mind just for a really long time. It's stressful, it's frustrating, and sometimes they've already tried everything that they can think of. So when I leave, what I want them to feel is that they have taken that problem and handed it off to somebody who can truly take it off of their plate. And at the same time, I don't want to feel like they've lost control of the situation. I want it to feel like that partnership that I was talking about. So that we're a team working together through this problem. And when that's done right, there's a sense of relief that happens. And it's almost like a weight being lifted that they didn't realize that they were carrying, as I as I mentioned before. And especially for people dealing with recurring issues like mice or these seasonal pests, it's something that's been quietly stressing them out for a really long time. So if I can leave them feeling confident and relieved, like they finally have control over what's been going on, that's my goal.

How To Contact PestQuest Solutions

SPEAKER_01 13:22

It's a great goal. And it's obvious that you've written that into the mission of your company, the way that you want your clients to feel when uh the visit is over, that you know, the solution has been uh achieved. Pest quest solutions. If you have pests in your house and you're thinking about trying to call someone and you're worried that you're calling, you know, uh some national company that you don't even really know who's going to be coming in the house, here's David Miller, who is actually talking to you tonight and actually able to come to your home in Delaware County or beyond. Give him a call, you know, outside of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. And David will come out and educate you about the problems that you know you have, but also more so, he'll educate you about the solutions. It's PestQuest Solutions. If you'd like to call David, the phone number is 610-672-7378, which is PEST. 610-672-PEST. And really, go to the website and get all that information that you've heard here and more. It's PestQuestSolutions.com. A great business, a good neighbor business in the community, with the owner himself, David Miller, coming out to do the technical work and to help educate you and provide the solutions about the pests that you're questing to get rid of. David, thank you very much for being a guest here on the Good Neighbor podcast. And what a great good neighbor business you truly are. It was great having you on the program today.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Thank you so much for having me, Bob. You know, I really appreciate the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, hosted by Bob Lacey. This is Michael Barkan, inviting everyone to get on the Good Neighbor team. Nominate your favorite local business to be featured on an upcoming episode by going to gmtdelco.com or by following block to the 60th.