Crawford is a settled suburb where many families have lived in the same house for decades, adding rooms as the family grew. The work here is steady household stuff: rats in the roof, cockroaches in the kitchen and ants once summer arrives.
The local picture in Crawford
Fleas from pets and stray cats are common. Bed bugs occasionally arrive with a second-hand mattress or furniture from family, and the whole room must be prepared properly for treatment to work.
This is flat, sandy Cape Flats ground that drains quickly and lets ants tunnel with ease. In winter, rain pools in low spots and stormwater drains back up, while the South-Easter spends summer blowing litter into corners. Sports fields and open spaces nearby give rodents room to move between properties.
Rats are the main call, roof rats in ceilings and Norway rats under outside rooms. German cockroaches follow kitchens, and big American cockroaches come up from drains in the warmer months. Ants in the sandy gardens are constant from spring to autumn.
Signs to look for
- You manage several units or sites and want one provider and one set of records.
- Your insurer, landlord or head office has asked for proof of a pest management programme.
- You handle, store or serve food and need documented pest control for audits or inspections.
- Your premises back onto open land, a river or a canal where rodents have a constant source.
For a food business, a single cockroach or rodent sighting by a customer or inspector can lead to a closure notice, lost trade and reputational damage that lasts far longer than the problem. Rodents in warehouses contaminate stock and chew wiring and packaging, which can mean whole pallets written off. Without service records, it is hard to show you took reasonable steps if a complaint is made. In shared properties like estates, pests that are not controlled at the boundary end up in individual homes.
A note from the field
On farms and packhouses, the risk to watch is rodents moving in from the fields after harvest or after the first heavy rains. Timing extra visits for that window saves a lot of trouble.
Our process, step by step
We start with a site survey to map risk areas, entry points, waste handling and storage, then design a programme around it. Rodent control relies on numbered tamper-resistant bait stations and traps placed on a site plan, checked and logged at every visit. Insects are managed with gel baits, insect growth regulators and targeted residual treatments, with fly control units where appropriate in food areas. Every visit produces a written report noting activity, products used and any proofing or hygiene issues for your team to fix. Least-toxic options come first, which matters in kitchens and around food handling.
Want the full step-by-step? See how our contract pest control service works.
Keeping them out afterwards
- Train staff to log sightings with the date, time and place, which makes each service more targeted.
- Keep waste areas clean and bins lidded, especially in summer when flies breed in days.
- Store stock on pallets away from walls so stations can be checked and rodent activity spotted early.
- Act on the proofing and hygiene notes in each service report, since many repeat issues come from the same unfixed gap.
- Rotate dry stock first in, first out to stop stored product pests settling in old stock.
What affects the price
Contract pricing depends on the size of the site, the type of business and the level of risk, so a restaurant kitchen is priced differently from an office block. The number of bait stations, monitors and fly units, and how often we visit, are the main factors. Multi-site contracts and longer agreements are quoted on their own terms after a site survey.
Some businesses try to run pest control in-house with bait from a hardware store, and it rarely survives an audit because there are no records, no site plan and no trend data. A contract is not for every business, but if you prepare or store food, it is worth having. The cost of one bad inspection outweighs years of servicing.
Frequently asked questions
Why do rats keep coming back to my Crawford roof after baiting?
Usually the entry point is still open and the neighbours still have activity. We bait, find the gaps and advise on sealing them, so new rats don't simply move into the space.
Are the big cockroaches in my bathroom coming from the drains?
Most likely, yes. Those are American cockroaches that live in sewer lines and come up through floor traps and loose drain covers, so we treat the drains and you can keep plugs in overnight.
Do you come out to Crawford for contract pest control?
Yes. Crawford is part of our regular Cape Flats route, along with Athlone, Rondebosch East, Lansdowne, Rondebosch. Most bookings are done within about 48 hours, and after-hours visits can be arranged.
Is there a guarantee on contract treatments?
Treatments carry a minimum 3-month guarantee, and on a contract any activity between visits is dealt with as part of the service.
How often will you visit?
That depends on the site and risk. Food businesses usually need more frequent visits than offices, and we agree the schedule with you after the site survey.
Will your records stand up to an audit?
Each visit is documented with a site plan, activity notes, products used and recommendations, which is the kind of file auditors and inspectors ask to see.
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