Mt Helix Pest Control

I live in a semi-detached home and my neighbor's contractor knocked on my door and informed me that he had found active termites in the wall that we shared. He also reported that the wood rot on my window and in other areas were allegedly due to active termites. I informed him that I had previously had those areas inspected (by Mt. Helix Termite Control) a few years ago and was informed that it was normal wood rot not due to termites. My husband and I asked the contractor appropriate follow up questions that any homeowner would naturally ask. He contradicted himself several times and even became upset with us for just asking the questions. We knew we would not work with this guy either way but needed to know if we really did now have termites. So of course it was time to contact Mt. Helix Termite Control again. Again Rob came out and thoroughly inspected the inside and outside of my home including the garage and attic. He also had my husband and I follow him as he inspected and explained how to detect termite activity and how to differentiate between termite activity and normal wood rot. He informed us that we had NO active termite activity. I informed our neighbor of the result of our inspection by Mt. Helix. My husband and I felt such relief and peace of mind especially after the pressure our neighbor's contractor tried to put on us. Rob could have easily lied to us especially after we had been falsely informed that we had termites. Just like several years ago, I am again impressed and grateful for the honesty and integrity of this company. I really appreciate this company!!!

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I identified three companies with good reputations and asked for inspections.  I knew I had termites but wanted to avoid tenting if possible.  (I have cats...)  I ended up with a different story from each of the three.  Mind you, I think they were all honest, but had different viewpoints based on their experiences ... so I was uncomfortable, and arranged for two more companies to come out.  Mt. Helix was the last.
Steve Orton inspected the house and answered all my questions.  Based on all my googling plus talks with the previous companies, I had a lot of them ... and there is no doubt in my mind that Steve was the most experienced and knowledgeable by far, and he explained my options very clearly.  Basically, I could do either spot-treatments or tenting, depending on my nervous system.  Spot-treatments are not nearly as disruptive as tenting but simply cannot kill all the termites (which I knew from my googling), and so one has to live with the knowledge that some of the miserable little pests are still there, chewing away at the house, and continue doing spot treatments periodically, forever.  Tenting is a royal pain but it kills all the termites, which is easier on the nervous system, and tenting typically only needs to be done once every ten years or so.
My nervous system chose tenting.  Mt Helix gave me the lowest bid of the five.  Their crew arrived on time, got the job done mostly on time (it rained, which slowed down getting the tent off by a couple or hours), and did a great job of cleaning up afterward.  They did break off one lawn sprinkler head (which isn't hard to do), but repaired it before they left.
My only (minor) complaint is that there is a lot of prep work involved, and I called several times with questions to be sure I would do everything right.  The people who answered the phones were very friendly, but tried so hard to be helpful that they sometimes "answered" my questions themselves instead of checking with Steve, and they weren't always experienced enough to do so.  The couple of times I insisted on speaking with Steve, he called back promptly and courteously dealt with my concerns.
The next time I have to tent (sigh), Mt Helix will be the first company I call.

They did what they said they were going to do. Their billing process was very slow but everything else was fine. It seemed like a good deal. We got other quotes and they did it for less than the other options.

Everything went really smoothly. I wanted to get it done by a specific date but didn't get paperwork to them on a timely manner b (my misunderstanding about what I was supposed to do) but they worked with me and we got it done when I needed it to be. There was a problem with the had being turned off 3 days early but that seemed to be a problem with SDGE and not the company. They helped me handle our in a way that I felt was fair.

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It sound like reasonable for what he did an all. He was good. Very personable. They have not come back. I do not see any spiders back so he did a good job.

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They did a good.

awesome. friendly, professional, fast. the work was superlative. would highly recommend without any reservations whatsoever.

I chose them because of the information they gave me. I would use them again.

We have use this company several times and they are always responsive and thorough. They come back for free if you have a recurrence of the problem. This year, for the first time, we aren't having ants (yet!) so haven't called them.

terrific job, efficient
Owners of the company are excellent and highly responsive

I was very pleased with Mt Helix Pest Control.  I bought my house three ago and felt that it was time for a termite check up. I'm new to this part of the country and based on aggressive newspaper advertising, began to wonder if termite infestation was rampant in San Diego . One of my biggest concerns was finding a pest control service that is honest, competent and fairly priced.  After reading the reviews of Mt Helix Pest Control, I felt that I had found a good company.
My inspector from Mt Helix Pest Control, Robert Bacon, showed up on time.  I felt that he inspected my property thoroughly and answered my questions in a friendly and professional manner.  Fortunately, he found no evidence of termites or other serious pest issues.  He also offered suggestions on how to deal with some sporadic, minor pest issues in a nontoxic manner.  I appreciated that he didn't try to sell me ongoing pest control services that I don't feel I need.  I was left with the feeling that Mt Helix Pest Control is a company that I can trust to work with in the future.

From the first inspection to the trap removal about a month later everyone was professional, responsive and friendly. I *highly* recommend their services!

We had moved and needed a new pest control service as our old company did not service the new area we lived. Came to Angie's List because I wanted a company I could trust. We had some ant issues upon moving in and needed to get on a new program. We called around to various places but felt best about Mt. Helix. Their customer service person on the phone was super wonderful. She really answered my questions and took time...she didn't sound rushed like others I had spoken with at other places. I had set up an appointment for an initial spray with John. He came to the house completely on time, very professional and personal too. They are very nice people, and they follow-thru on what they say they are going to do. I'm very happy with my choice and am glad I picked them over others.

My brain dead tenants decided to conceal the fact that they adopted a dog by hiding it's food dish in the cupboard when I came over for routine maintenance. I eventually found it and they admitted that they had some serious ant problems. Mt Helix had excellent reviews on Angie's List, provided a one-time service (instead of a subscription) and offered a discount. Unlike a couple other outfits that I called, they noted that normal pesticides (RAID and various ant-bombs) were chemically incompatible with their product and helped me reschedule my appointment so that their services weren't wasted after the previous efforts of my tenants. They showed up on time, finished quickly and we haven't seen any ants since.

I was nervous to call a termite company as I didn't want to get ripped off. I bought my house 8 years ago and thought it was time for a termite inspection. I read the reviews on Angie's list and called Mt. Helix first. I was pleased with the integrity of Rob who came and did a free inspection. He gave separate quotes for both items, and a 10% discount for Angie's list member. I thought his quote was fair so I went with him. I scheduled the work for several weeks out when my son was home. Everything went smooth, and they even painted the new wood for the eaves to match the house trim.
The only glitch was the technician's paperwork had the full price of $660, so they overcharged on the day of service. I was pleasantly surprised that the next morning I received a phone call with an apology, and a check in the mail 2 days later for the overcharge.
I definitely recommend them. They did good work at a fair price. Although I didn't get a second termite bid, I did get a quote for some roof work, and the roofer wanted quite a bit more to replace the eaves with dry rot.

In between the site meeting to the start of fumigation on June 30, 2012, I asked many questions about the fumigant to be used, that is called Vikane.  This chemical is Surfuryl Flouride, a very serious and lethal chemical.  I asked many times about its use in my home, and each time I was told that it was a colorless and odorless chemical.  Well, Mr. Orton did provide me with warnings about double-bagging all medicines and food to be left in the home so that his company's state inspector that might assess his subcontractor's compliance with laws for fumigation immediately prior to my home's fumigation. But he did not warn me about the chemical's damaging effects on my home's contents.  He simply said that all I had to worry about was food and medicines.  This proved to be erroneous information.

He also mentioned that I might see "a little dust" left on my furniture after the fumigation since high-speed fans would be used to blow both Vikane and Tear Gas around my house!  The Tear Gas, he said, was a state requirement to make sure no human or animal would be trapped in the house.  He also said that he would circulate this gas mixture in my house and in my attic.  Since he said that the Vikane penetrates the paint to kill the termites and any other bug pest in my house at the time.  And Mr. Orton said that his subcontractor would circulate the fumigant in my house, it meant to me that fumigant would circulate in the living space and would separately circulate in the attic.  But instead his subcontractor, circulated the fumigant from my living space up into the attic AND RETURN IT BACK INTO MY LIVING SPACE.  This fumigant return back into my living space brought newspaper insulation dust and debris into my living space, contaminating all rooms, hallways and bathrooms and their contents with this attic debris contaminant.

On the morning of the third day of this fumigation, his subcontractor posted a paper notice saying it was "OK" to enter my house.  As I read the notice, I began smelling this awful nasty odor emanating from my house, and found every part of my house smelled from an odor of burning plastic. I was told that was the tear gas smell but it smelled horrible.  As I inspected each room that I had as a precaution covered with bed sheets most of each room's furniture, I found the wall paint now had a hazy shadow color change in the upper wall areas of all rooms. I later figured out this haze was newspaper dust and debris that was attached to the walls by the blown fumigant gas mixture.  My carpets looked a different color, my large room rugs were discolored and parts of their underlayment were discolored. This debris contamination was all over the walls of my rooms, and the living room ceiling which was bright white was now gray colored.  Over several windows I found the mini-blinds plastic valances were discolored from the fumigant from their clear, colorless plastic to ugly yellow presumably from the sulfur component of the gas.  Even found items stored in my nightstands on each side of my bed, that were encircled with brown outlines on the white drawer paper liner.  The effect of this gas was neither odorless or colorless.

Besides the internal house damage, Mr. Orton's subcontractor, San Diego Fume Works Co., broke the outside main floodlight, damaged my garage's top wooden fascia trim beam with multiple staplings that had many staples left partly ripped out, damaged a length of rain gutter on the backyard side of my roof, and haphazardly reapplied boards of the front fence section that borders my house, and destroyed many sq. feet of weedblock in my front yard with his subcontractor's ladders. This subcontractor did not perform the work in the manner as described by Mr. Orton, my primary contractor.  At the end of the fumigation, Instead of venting fresh air from the backyard pool-side of my house, and having the fumigant exhaust manifold erected over the driveway, the subcontractor reversed the venting and exhaust positions.  It does not appear that this primary contractor has any control over what his subcontractor does.  This means that Mr. Orton can agree to anything with you but it does not mean it will get done by his subcontractor.  This should be a red flag to anyone using a contractor that will not address or ensure ALL concerns are addressed in his instructions to his subcontractor PRIOR TO DOING THE CONTRACTED WORK.

I met with Mr. Orton at the end of the same week after the fumigation.  We reviewed the damage to my house.  He, of course, he said he didn't see anything wrong.  He could not smell the nasty odor emanating from my house contents (this did not surprised me since its similar to house painters who paint rooms daily can't smell the paint fumes either after awhile).  He verbally offered to suspend his fee if that would help offset the cost of cleanup of my house's contamination.  Well, more than two weeks later, the total cost to clean this mess to date is $3008.  On 08/02/12, I asked for him to reimburse me for this sum, instead I received a bill for his work done ($1260).   The $3008 covers damage to-date found in most rooms but not all have been cleaned up, and I expect more damage or cleaning will be needed over the months to come.

At the end of August 2012, Mr. Orton did compensate me the $3008 to cover the global contamination damage done only after I signed a general release waiver, even though there is still possible damage yet uncovered in my storage room or attic.   At the time I write this review, it is my understanding that I will not have to pay the $1260 for his company services.  I never got compensated for the 100 to 150 hours I personally spent cleaning up this mess myself.  I now have to hire painters and handyman to repair the damage caused by Mt. Helix Pest & Termite Control's subcontractor. This settlement payment for all house cleaning expenses incurred -- was all that Mr. Orton would agree to at this time or he would send the matter to his lawyers. Also since I am unemployed and needed the funds to pay down the credit card debt created from this house contamination mess, I had to agree to this settlement payment. 

I do not recommend that any homeowner ever use Mt. Helix Pest & Termite Control for a tented fumigation, so they may avoid a similar fate that has befallen me.

My house was built on top of a huge population of ants, so for years we had ants recurrently invading inside our house. It was so bad that I had to escalate our pest control treatments (from a previous company) to monthly, but the ants were still winning. About 5 years ago I switched my pest control company to Mt. Helix and we have been ant-free in the house ever since doing this. In the 5 years I have dealt with them, I would describe them as a high quality company that uses very effective treatments. Their employees are all veterans with many years of experience in pest control and there has been very little turnover. Everyone has always been very knowledgeable, responsible, and helpful.This is an ethical and honest company with reasonable prices that doesn't try to oversell treatments. Since I have been with them, I have spent less and had better control than I did previously. They are also better at noticing the signs of termite damage. They have picked up infestations that other companies have missed. Recently, I called Rob to look at some termite damage on our wood fence. While he was there, he also noticed some damage to one of our house trim boards just under the roof. It turns out that the solar panels on our roof had been leaking, so we were able to get the leak and board fixed much earlier and averted worse damage to our house. Since there was also termite damage to some of the other house boards we decided to tent our house and do a local treatment to the fence. John did the local treatment to our fence and he did a very thorough job drilling holes and injecting insecticide. and was able to repair a badly damaged termite board as well as patching all the holes, followed by a nice paint job. As everyone knows, tenting is a very labor intensive process, so if you have to do this treatment, it's important to select a good company so the process runs smoothly. Having just finished it, I can honestly say if you have to tent your house this is the company to use. The scheduling and instructions were flawless. Rob came out for a preparatory appointment and spent a lot of time explaining the process with good clear handouts. He gave tips on how to make the process easier and left me with plenty of bags so I actually had some left over. He answered all my questions so I knew exactly what to do. Everything went according to plan, so the whole thing went very smoothly and was as painless as it could be. I would definitely use them again for any future tenting.

They offer a guarantee that if any more problems arise they will come back right away for no additional charge. They did a good job and it was reasonably priced. It was less expensive than most other companies. They also did not press any further maintenance programs compared to other providers I have dealt with, I was pleased.

Mt. Helix came in and they looked at everything and said that the main problem was dry rot. We did, after talking to them, decide to use them as our regular pest control.

He cannot find termite in the house but the fence post in the backyard had some termite infestation but is no longer active. The damage is cosmetic and does not need to be treated.