Pest control in Escazú: hillside homes

Building against the hillside comes with a cost in pests, and it is fairly predictable. Service 24/7 in all three districts.

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Districts and areas we serve

The three districts of Escazú, which in practice are three different altitudes:

• San Rafael: the lower, most developed part, with Guachipelín, Trejos Montealegre, Anonos and the Próspero Fernández highway corridor.
• Escazú centro: the traditional town center, with older buildings mixed with new housing.
• San Antonio: the upper part, against the Escazú hills, the coldest and closest to the forest.

On the same route we cover Santa Ana, Pozos and Bebedero.

Why the hillside changes everything

Escazú climbs from about 900 meters in San Rafael to well over 1,300 in the upper part of San Antonio, and above that are the Escazú hills, with forest and deep, narrow ravines. Almost all construction in recent decades went up on that slope, taking land from pasture, scrub and ravine forest.

What lived there did not leave. It moved to the edge, and the edge is your house. Add to that a construction detail repeated across the canton: to hold the slope, people build retaining walls, gabions, stone walls and terraces. Each of those walls is a shelter with a stable temperature, moisture and cracks. It is, literally, built habitat.

Scorpions: the number one reason people call

It is the most frequent request we get from Escazú, and it fits exactly with the above. By day, scorpions hide in cracks, under stones, in leaf litter, in stacked firewood and in piled-up building materials, and they come out at night to hunt. All of that is plentiful at a hillside home with a garden.

It gets in wherever there is a gap: under the door, through the patio drain, through the washing machine pipe opening and through the storeroom window. And unlike cockroaches, it does not come for food: it follows the insects it feeds on and looks for moisture, which explains why it shows up in the bathroom.

While the service is being scheduled, three steps lower the risk right away: shake out shoes and clothes before putting them on, do not leave clothes or towels on the floor, and remove firewood and rubble from against the house wall. The full treatment is on the scorpion control page and the preventive steps in scorpion prevention at home. It also pays to reduce what they eat: spiders and other insects in eaves and terraces.

Roof rats and what comes down the ravine

In Escazú the typical rodent is not the sewer rat of downtown San José: it is the roof rat, an excellent climber that prefers to stay up high. It arrives by three routes found at almost every hillside home:

• Tree branches touching the roof or the eaves. This is the most common bridge and the easiest to cut: just prune to leave a gap.
• Cables, gutters and downspouts running along the facade.
• Stone walls and vegetated embankments, which connect one property to the next without ever coming down to street level.

The wooded ravines coming down from the hills act as a continuous corridor between condos: that is why a problem that starts at one property shows up weeks later next door. Treatment is done at the level where the rat moves, the attic and the upper perimeter, not just with stations on the ground. See rodent control.

Eaves, terraces and attics

Escazú’s architecture, with high eaves, covered terraces, double-height ceilings and attached storerooms, leaves many sheltered spaces nobody looks at for months. That is where we find wasp nests and cobwebs.

Condos: per unit or common areas

Much of Escazú lives in condos, and there is a limit worth understanding before you hire: treating one house while the common areas stay as they are gives a short-lived result. The common garden, the trash room, the perimeter embankment and the planters are where pests come back from.

We work both ways: individual service for your house, and a common area contract with the property management, which is what solves the problem at the root when several units report the same thing. If several people in your condo are already complaining about scorpions, it is worth raising it with the management.

How a visit works in Escazú

• The gate needs prior authorization. To get into a gated community you have to be on the security list, so when you book we ask for the resident’s full name, the condo and the house number. Without that, the technician stays at the guardhouse.
• Steep streets and narrow gates. In several areas the vehicle cannot get up to the door; we work with backpack equipment from wherever we can park.
• The treatment focuses outside. At a hillside home, the perimeter is what matters: the exterior baseboard, the retaining wall, the stone wall, planters against the wall and the edge with the embankment or the ravine.
• Before the visit. It helps to move pets out of the area to be treated, pick up food bowls and toys, and take down laundry on the line.
• Who shows up. A trained, uniformed technician, green-label products and a service report.

Frequently asked questions about pest control in Escazú