I will say one thing about our apartment complex–the maintenance guys are very attentive and quick to respond, when we place a service order through our company’s website.
For a week or so I had been seeing some straggler ants on the linoleum by the front door. I would just kill them, scan the area for their buddies, then go on my way. I even saw a stray in the bathroom a few times, but didn’t think too much of it… a nuisance, but probably just looking for moisture, as bugs tend to do.
One day, though, I killed 10 in the kitchen before work and decided to put in a service request. Living for over ten years in Temecula, which is notoriously bad with ants, has instilled a paranoia in me that once I see even one in the kitchen, nothing is safe anymore. I put in the service request and we had an appointment set for the next week.
Unfortunately for us, prepping the kitchen and bathroom for the exterminator’s attention meant (dun dun dunnn) emptying every cabinet and drawer and wiping them out.
When’s the last time you emptied your whole kitchen and wiped out every cabinet? My money’s on “not recently.” You will be surprised how grungy drawers can get (yuck!) and surprised at how much stuff fits into even a small apartment kitchen:
(The majority of our pile was not as picturesque as our coffee table full of dishes from above.)
Glad to get that taken care of. Doug hemmed and hawed about it, thinking what a pain it would be to empty out the whole kitchen… then again he’s never lived through a full-blown Southern California ant invasion, so really he doesn’t know what we’ve avoided. I was at work when the exterminator came, but Doug said that he was professional and quick. Yay!
My major take-aways from this experience were:
- So glad we’re not moving after all (read: look at all that stuff!)
- I’m glad we can call and have something like this arranged for us, unlike with a previous landlord who was very, ahem, laissez-faire with repairs, etc.
- Well, now the inside of our cabinets are clean and kinda reorganized!
- I still really, really like my whiteware dishes (from Crate and Barrel).
Chalk one up in the renters’ column… you don’t have to pay for things like this! Additionally, we finally got the large burner on our stove fixed (we had been cooking with three small burners) and it’s amazing how much faster a kettle boils on an appropriate sized coil! Imagine that!
Any boring but important repairs around your place lately?
My Friend Staci 
I’m currently waiting for Maintenance to come fix our garbage disposal. It’s weird how things like that (“Oh, the light is broken? Call Maintenance!” “Huh, looks like our tub needs to be re-caulked…call Maintenance!”) just become so second nature that you forget about how when you own your own home calling “Maintenance” means either calling for your tool box or calling a professional who will charge $$$. Sometimes it’s just great to not have to pay directly for those things–it’s all budgeted from your monthly rent.
We had ants in both our apartments here before this one–for some reason, I’ve seen none so far, and the invasion usually starts mid-Spring/early-Summer. I found the most bizarrely effective form of ant control was to kill the Scouts and leave their dead bodies around for a week or two. It was gross, but it stopped the invasions cold. I guess the whole Leave Their Head On A Spike tactic works on many creatures!
I’m familiar with the Head On A Spike tactic but don’t think Doug would appreciate it, and Mosey would probably try to eat their little ant bodies. GROSS!
Also, you reminded me… I think our bathroom sink does need to be re-caulked. Better call maintenance!
Yes, Temecula is terrible for ants (and flies, too, but that’s another story), esp. in the summer. I’d say we’ve been pretty lucky this year so far, but I don’t want to jinx myself! Never used an exterminator, but lucky you, definitely a renter’s perk.