House tenting for termites involves covering the house with
tarp, piping in a deadly nerve gas,
leaving it for a specified period, removing the tarps, arranging for the
gas to dissipate and finally, checking the house to verify that all gas has
gone. My experience with Total Control
was rather devastating. It is their busy
season so it is a time when they are overbooking and their crews are
overworked, although this still is not an excuse for the service rendered. While my house was being tented I stayed on
the property in my camper. My cat and I
moved into the camper the day before Total Control was expected so my
cat could get used to the move.
On Day 1 of the Service, they did not show up till 7:00 P.M.
or later. The crew consisted of 3-4
young men, there seemed to be no supervisor or person in charge. They had been working since early morning and
were exhausted, which is when accidents occur.
One of the crew members broke his nose, I think he bumped into one of the other
fellows. One of the crew had to remove
the screen from a window in a new section of my house and apparently had
trouble (unknown to me). He did not
consult with me, the owner, on how to
remove this type of screen (there is a
trick to it). The next day I noticed the screen all bent out of shape.
On day 2 the crew arrived again about 7P.M., again tired and
anxious to finish up and remove the tenting.
After they left, I realized the
house was closed up tighter than a drum and I wondered how the gas was going to
get out. I thought, well, they’ll give the gas a longer time to dissipate. However, the next day a person showed up at
noon to measure the gas levels and give me the all clear. He
entered with his meter, did not let me accompany him so I don’t know what his
meter readings were, and when he exited he said it was all clear, I could get back in, and he left.
I entered the house when he left and my eyes started
burning, so I lay on the sofa to rest my eyes and fell asleep for 3 hours!
Then I started unpacking the bags (you have to bag up all food items
prior to tenting). I worked for about
two hours, my eyes still stinging, so I went to bed and slept 14 hours! (And I am an insomniac). I realized later that all of this was due
to exposure to the gas.
When I first contracted for the service, several weeks
beforehand, I read the booklet they gave me with packing instructions and information
on the gas being used. Unfortunately, I
did not reread it until after everything was done. On rereading the booklet, I realized that the
crew should have left all my windows open after removing the tarp so the gas
could dissipate. Instead, they closed
the house up as tightly as they could.
The second thing that stood out when I reread the booklets
was that the symptoms of burning eyes and extreme sleepiness were due to being
exposed to the gas. These and other symptoms
(headache and diarrhea) persisted in me
for a couple of weeks following the whole procedure.
In short, I feel that the people in this company are
extremely cavalier about working with deadly gas, they overwork their crews, and
they maintain no supervisor or person responsible on the site to oversee and
ensure that things are being done correctly or to check that the client had
properly prepared for the procedure (all cabinets and drawers open, etc.). I would
not use them again.