Pest Prevention

[Cinder]

Hi all!

I used to pay $90 quarterly to my local Terminix guy to walk around my house with a little sprayer and lay down a layer of stuff to help keep the bugs from entering the house.  I am now looking for a DIY replacement. 

He would use the same stuff indoors and out.  I once had an ant problem and they sent me some Terminix Safe Shield, which says Natural Indoor Insect control, but it smells about the same as the stuff he would use. 

Listed on the bottle..
Active Ingredients:
Geraniol [106-24-1] 3.7%
Thyme Oil[8007-46-3] 4.0%
Other* 92.3%
* water, 2-Propanol, soap, isopropyl myristrate


We have cats, and the terminix guy said that it was fine for pets once it drys. 

Anyone have any recommendation/experience with Off-the-shelf or DIY solutions for pest control?  I am still seeing dead pests around my windows, which means the stuff they sprayed there about 5~6 months ago is still going strong, though not as strong as it was before (they mostly wiggle around for a while before going kaput).  I'd like to get a system down to do basically the same thing, walk around with a pressurized sprayer 4 times a year and keep out the pests!

[fiveoh]

It really depends on what kind of pests you have in your area.  This is what I use:

http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/demonwp.htm

I buy the envelope which contains packets that disolve in water(so you never actually touch the powder).  It works great for ants,spiders and some other kind of bug(forget the name) that we had problems with.  I only spray every 6 months even though it says 2-3 and it seems fine. 

[madage]

I use Bifenthrin. Looks to be a little cheaper at Amazon. This bottle is highly concentrated. I apply about two gallons diluted to 0.06% around exterior perimeter of my house every three or four months. One bottle will last me more than ten years, which is probably longer than it will stay active. Even so, saves a lot of money over the quarterly bug guy.

I've also used this indoors to treat a few problem areas.

[mahina]

here in hawaii, we have warm, damp conditions year-round. cockroaches, centipedes, you name it, with tremendous population pressure! we've had a quarterly terminex treatment since we built the house 11 years ago, and still occasionally see a few of the critters inside. but very few, unlike my friends who use traps and various home remedies. i'd love to stop paying that big terminex bill, though!

to all who have advice on this topic, thanks.