Pest Control Service in Tempe, AZ

What Pest Control Services in Tempe, AZ Cover

General pest control, also called pest management, is a pest inspection followed by treatment and prevention for the household pests in and around your home. In Tempe that means a perimeter treatment (a band of product around the outside of the house), interior treatment at baseboards and plumbing gaps, and plain advice on closing entry points. Finding the cause first and using product only where it is needed is the idea behind integrated pest management.

Most calls here start the same few ways: a bark scorpion on a bedroom wall, an ant trail along the counter, roaches near a drain, or scratching overhead at night. General service treats the house inside and out, then holds pressure down on a schedule that matches how much activity you have.

That is residential pest control from a family-owned business with one exterminator. Kekoa also does pre- and post-emergent weed control, so the gravel out front can go on the same call.

Tempe makes this steady work. The median home here was built somewhere around 1979 to 1985, depending on the source, so door seals and pipe gaps have had decades to open up. July highs average 105.8°F. A cool, damp house is the most attractive thing on the block.

Pests and Problems Kai Handles

Pick what you are dealing with. Each page explains how the problem works here, what a visit looks at, and what it takes to fix.

Some problems will not wait for a regular schedule. A bee swarm at the front door, a scorpion in a child's room or a rat in the kitchen is covered on the emergency pest control page, with what to do while you wait. Call, and Kai will tell you honestly how soon he can come, including whether same-day pest control is possible. One Sun Lakes customer wrote that he responded right away in emergencies, and another had him at a new home the next day for cockroaches. Those are past experiences, not a promise.

Which Pests Are Most Common in Tempe Homes?

Scorpions, ants, roaches and rodents drive most calls, and a few others turn up by season or by household. Google reviewers tag Kekoa for ant, cockroach, rodent, bed bug, flea and hornet extermination. Here is how each one usually announces itself.

• Scorpions. A scorpion on the bedroom wall at night. They come up again and again in Kekoa's reviews, and bark scorpion control has its own page.
• Ants. An ant trail along the kitchen counter means a colony close by. See ant control.
• Roaches. Roaches coming out of the kitchen drain or a bathroom. Cockroach control starts with working out which species you have.
• Rodents. Scratching in the attic and droppings near the pantry call for rodent control, usually trapping first.
• Bed bugs. Itchy bites after waking up, more likely where people move often, such as student rentals near ASU. Bed bug treatment is its own job.
• Mosquitoes. A mosquito swarm in the backyard after rain points to standing water. Ask whether mosquito treatment fits your yard on the mosquito control page.
• Termites. Mud tubes on the foundation point to termites. Termite control is a separate job under its own Arizona license category, so mention them on the phone and ask who should inspect.

Why Tempe Customers Choose Kekoa Pest Control

There are bigger pest control companies in the Valley. Here is what this Tempe pest control company does differently, drawn from what customers report.

• One person, start to finish. Kai owns the business and does the treating. Customers call it "a one man show."
• Reminders and punctuality. Reviewers keep mentioning the heads-up before a visit and that Kai is on time.
• A written record. Monthly customers report a list of the chemicals used, left after each visit.
• Explanations you can use. Reviewers say Kai explains what he is doing and how to prevent the problem from returning.
• Fair pricing, no sales gimmick. That is how the company describes itself. One long-time customer reports rates that have not been raised.
• Pests and weeds together. Customers report both handled on the same service, which saves a second vendor.

Ratings stand at 5.0 on Google across 54 reviews and 5.0 on Yelp across 8. Read them all on the Kekoa customer reviews page.

What Does a Pest Control Visit Include?

Every property differs, but the pest control treatment process follows the same order. Interior and exterior pest treatment both happen, and you hear about what was found.

1. Reminder. Customers report a reminder the day before and an on-time arrival.
2. Conversation. Tell him what you saw, which room, and when. A photo helps, since it speeds identification.
3. Inspection. Outside, he looks at the foundation line, block walls, door sweeps, garage thresholds and plants touching the house. Inside, he looks at kitchen and bath plumbing, baseboards and the garage.
4. Perimeter treatment. A band of product goes around the outside of the home, following label directions.
5. Interior treatment. Baseboards, cracks and plumbing gaps get attention, with placement kept away from where pets and kids reach. For rodents, one customer describes traps set and cleaned up after each catch.
6. Wrap-up. You hear what was done, what to change around the house, and how long to keep people and animals out of treated areas. Monthly customers also get the product list.

Clear the area under sinks and leave access to the garage before he comes. Details are in the guide to preparing your home for a pest control visit.

Kids, pets and re-entry times

Go by the product label, not by a guess. The label says how long children and pets stay out of treated areas and whether a surface has to dry first. Ask for the product names at any visit, and put the question to your vet if you have an animal with health problems. No pest product should be described as risk free, so the wait time is the part to get right.

Pest Control Plans Compared

Choose by how much activity you have and whether the cause is fixed. Pests that keep coming back call for a schedule. A single problem with a known cause may need one visit.

Think of a quarterly visit as prevention for a house with no active infestation, and a monthly plan as the better fit for active infestations and monsoon pressure. A single treatment works when the infestation level is low and the cause is fixed. Ask Kai whether a quarterly or monthly pest control plan suits your house before you settle on a rhythm.

A good rule: if activity is heavy, start monthly, then talk to Kai about stretching the gap once it drops. One customer runs on every two months. Scorpions are the exception to a one-time fix, because they return while entry points stay open.

Some properties need the work planned around who lives or works there:

• Pet-friendly pest control plans placement around animals, with re-entry times and the products listed.
• Apartment and multifamily pest control covers unit turns, student rentals and small complexes.
• Commercial pest control, restaurant pest control, HOA pest control and pigeon and bird control depend on the property, so Kai will tell you on the phone whether it is something he takes on.

What Does Pest Control in Tempe, AZ Cost?

Kekoa does not publish a rate card, because the honest price depends on the property. These things move it:

• The pest. A trapping job, a bee removal and a general spray are different work.
• How active it is. A heavy problem takes more time and often more visits.
• Size of the home and yard. A 2,000 sq ft house has more perimeter and more rooms than a 1,600 sq ft one, which means more product and more time.
• Frequency. A repeat schedule and a one-off visit are rarely priced alike.
• Distance. A long drive from Tempe takes up a one-person schedule, so ask.
• Added scope. Weed control or exclusion work adds to what a visit covers.

For a rough idea, Google reviewers who list a price most often report $20-40 and $40-60 per visit, with one at $60-80, as of November 2026. Those figures are reviewer-reported, not a quote, and they will not match every home. One reviewer described flexible, affordable pest control. Call for your own number.

When you compare bids, compare scope: how often, inside or just outside, and what happens if pests return between visits. Check whether a figure is per treatment or per month, because the two read very differently on paper. The Tempe pest control cost guide goes deeper.

Tempe Pests by Season

The Valley's calendar is short on rest. Here is what tends to show up and when.

Spring. Warming nights bring out ants and scorpions. Honey bees, many of them Africanized, start to swarm. Winter and spring rain feeds weeds in gravel yards, which is when weed control earns its keep.

Early summer. Dry heat of 105°F and above pushes insects toward water and cooler air. Roaches move up from drains, and ants trail to the kitchen.

Monsoon. Monsoon season officially runs June 15 to September 30, and about 3 of ZIP 85282's roughly 9 inches of yearly rain falls from late July to early September. Crickets, roaches and mosquitoes tend to follow the humidity and standing water. Weeds flush again.

Fall. Scorpions stay active on warm nights, while rodents start looking for shelter. Roof rats in mature citrus, common in older irrigated yards, are worth checking.

Winter. Activity slows, which makes it a useful time to fix gaps. Mice and rats are the ones to watch indoors.

How Do Bark Scorpions Get Into Tempe Houses?

They walk in through gaps and climb. The Arizona bark scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus) is the only scorpion of medical significance in the US, according to University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, and it scales walls and crosses ceilings with ease. That is why people find them on a bedroom wall or overhead. A house gives them food, water and shelter, and bark scorpion entry into wall voids (the hollow cavities inside a wall) puts them within reach of closets and baseboards.

Tempe sits in the Sonoran Desert, so many people treat this as an outdoor desert problem. It is not. That same Extension bulletin cites a compilation of 2005-2015 Poison Help reports showing 98 percent of exposures happen in or around homes. Research it describes also found 95 percent of bark scorpions preferred hollow block walls as refuge, and block walls line a lot of Tempe yards.

The usual pest entry points on older Tempe homes are:

• Worn door sweeps and garage thresholds
• Gaps where pipes and wires pass through walls
• Cracks in stucco and around window frames
• Weep openings at the base of the wall

Weep holes, the small gaps at the base of stucco walls, need care. Extension guidance says to screen them with coarse steel mesh rather than plug them, because they ventilate the wall.

Scorpions glow under ultraviolet light, so a black light check at night shows where they are moving. Keep shoes off the floor, and clear wood and debris from the house walls. Read more about scorpion control in Tempe, and ask about scorpion proofing; Kai will tell you whether sealing fits your house.

If anyone is stung, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, or 911 in an emergency.

How do you scorpion-proof a Tempe home?

Scorpion proofing a home works in this order: inspect, close gaps, treat, reduce, monitor. Entry point sealing is what makes the rest hold, because product wears off and a closed gap stays closed.

1. Inspect. Go inside and out, and note each entry point with a photo, the date and the location.
2. Close gaps. Deal with door sweeps, pipe gaps and stucco cracks. Screen weep holes, and never plug them.
3. Treat. Cover the perimeter and the places scorpions shelter.
4. Reduce. Fix leaks, clear debris and control the insects scorpions eat.
5. Monitor. Check with a black light at night, and keep regular visits going while you are still finding them.

When should you call after seeing a scorpion?

Call the same day, because one indoors means there is a way in. Before the visit:

• Photograph the scorpion, and note the date and the room.
• Walk the outside wall and mark gaps at weep holes, pipes and door sweeps.
• Clear access to the garage, the attic hatch and under the sinks.
• Keep kids and pets in a separate room while anyone is checking.

Show those photos when Kai arrives. They tell him where to look first.

Renters and Landlords in Tempe

Most homes here are rented. Census figures put owner occupancy at 41.6 percent for 2019-2023, and about 45,000 of the city's roughly 78,000 occupied units are renter-occupied, many of them student rentals near ASU. So the first question is often who calls.

Tempe City Code Sec. 21-3(b)(20) treats infestations of bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, mice, rats or roaches that may become a public health or safety hazard as a violation. If you rent, here is the order:

1. Tell your landlord in writing, and keep the date.
2. Take photos and note which rooms are affected.
3. Check what your lease says about pest control.
4. Follow up in writing if nothing happens.

Who pays for pest control depends on the lease, so read what it says about landlord responsibility and tenant notice. This page is not legal advice. Landlords can call Kai directly for pest control, and so can tenants who are paying for their own service. See who pays for pest control in an Arizona rental for more, or the page on pest control for Tempe renters and student housing, if you are looking for pest control near ASU.

How Do You Check a Pest Control License in Arizona?

Licensed pest control in Arizona can be checked with the Arizona Department of Agriculture Pest Management Division. Under A.A.C. R3-8-201, anyone in the business of pest management must first hold a pest management business license, and state law counts advertising as part of that business. People who apply pesticides for a company also need to be certified applicators, which means passing a state exam. Older documents may call the regulator the Structural Pest Control Commission.

Pest control license verification takes a few minutes:

1. A licensed pest control company can give you its Arizona business license number, so ask before you book and write down its legal name.
2. Look it up on the state license search and confirm it is active.
3. Match the name on the record to the name on the quote.
4. Ask who will treat your home and whether that person is a certified applicator.
5. Confirm the license category covers your job. Weed control and wood-destroying pests are separate categories.

Ask Kekoa the same questions you would ask anyone else.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Can I have a written quote that lists the pests, products and visit frequency?
• What is the contract length, and what are the cancellation terms?
• How does pest control change during monsoon season?
• What does the pest control guarantee cover in Arizona, including re-treatment between visits, and how do I claim it?
• What is your response time, and is it written down?
• If I move, does the plan transfer to the new address?
• How do you bill, and is a payment plan available?

Read BBB complaint history as well as Google ratings. A good star average does not tell you how complaints were handled.

Where Kekoa Works Beyond Tempe

The base is 2407 E Wesleyan Dr, in ZIP 85282. From there, Mesa is roughly 10 minutes away, and Gilbert, Chandler and Scottsdale sit about 15 out. East Valley pest control is the daily work, and Phoenix, including Arcadia, is a short run up the freeway. If you searched for pest control near me in Tempe, you are likely inside the core of the map. The full list of service areas shows the rest.

From the Kekoa Blog

Practical reading for Valley homes, written around the questions customers ask.

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