What Kansas law says about treating another person's property
Kansas law makes it unlawful for a pesticide business without a pesticide business license from the secretary of agriculture to advertise, sell or perform any service for the control of a pest on the property of another, or to apply a pesticide to the property of another.
The license question
Put this to each company before it sets foot inside: "Do you hold a current Kansas pesticide business license, and what is the license number?" Write the answer down with the company's full name, the date and the person you spoke with.
A drinking-water note for Manhattan
The city's drinking water, as Manhattan's CY 2025 Water Quality Report describes it, is groundwater from 19 public water supply wells located near the confluence of the Big Blue and Kansas rivers.
Name the problem before the first visit
A company's answer depends partly on the question you bring it, so it helps to pin that question down. Over a few days, gather what you can:
- a clear photo of what you are seeing, close up and from a step back;
- where it turned up, down to the cupboard, the corner or the window sill;
- whether you notice it by day, at night or only after cleaning;
- any sign besides the creature itself, such as droppings, chewed packaging, small piles of debris or tracks in dust;
- anything new in the house lately: a delivery, a repair, a pet, a stack of firewood or a box brought up from storage.
If you can trap one without touching it, a lidded jar or a zip bag set in the freezer holds it for the technician to look at.
Getting rooms ready for an inspection
A technician can look more closely where the way is clear. Before the visit:
- empty the cabinet under the kitchen sink and the one under each bathroom sink;
- pull small appliances and pantry bins a few inches away from the wall;
- make sure the attic hatch, the crawlspace door and the garage are easy to reach;
- move stored boxes back from the basement walls, if you have a basement;
- put pets in a room the technician will not need, or ask a friend to take them for the afternoon.
Questions while the technician looks
Walk along, and ask as you go:
- What do you think this is, and what makes you think so?
- Where do you believe it is coming in, and where might it be living?
- Is there anything about the house, such as damp, clutter or open food, that could be drawing it?
- Were there places you could not get to, and would those change your view?
If the answer to the first question is a guess, ask what would turn it into a firmer identification.
Comparing proposals
Ask every company for its proposal on paper before any treatment. Read each one for what it is aimed at, where the work happens inside and out, what goes down and how, how many trips it takes and what it all costs. When one company offers a one-time visit and another a standing plan, ask both what they saw that led them there.
For a standing plan, ask how often the technician comes, what each visit includes, whether calls in between cost extra, and how the plan renews and ends.
Labels and the people at home
Ask for the name of every product the company plans to use, and ask what each label says about when people and pets can go back into a treated room. Mention fish tanks, bird cages, a vegetable garden, a child's play area or anything else you want kept clear, and ask how the plan works around them. Follow what the label says.
The openings a technician may point to
What comes in through a gap can come in again after a treatment, so ask whether the company seals openings as part of the job and with what. A walk around the house may turn up a dryer vent whose flap no longer closes, a screen with a corner pulled loose, a threshold with light showing under the door, a hole where a cable was run through the wall years ago, or a crack along the foundation. If sealing is not something the company does, ask which openings matter most to its plan and whether a handyman or you could close them.
The days after a treatment
Keep to the re-entry time the technician gives you from the label. Ask what you might see over the next while, and what would mean a return visit is in order. Ask too whether you should hold off on mopping, vacuuming or washing down treated areas, and for how long.
Note any sighting after the treatment the same way you did before: what, where and when. That record can make a follow-up call quicker and clearer.
Coverage questions for every company
Ask each company for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation before the first visit. Ask what its written service promise covers if the problem comes back, and for how long. Keep the proposals, the label names, the license answer and each receipt together, so the next technician can see what was found and what was done.