Hear from Our Customers
Most people in Durand aren’t calling an exterminator because they want to. They’re calling because something got bad enough that ignoring it stopped being an option. Maybe it’s mice finding their way into a pre-war foundation that’s been settling for 80 years. Maybe it’s carpenter ants working through aging wood framing that’s already seen better days. Whatever it is, the goal isn’t just to make it stop — it’s to make sure it doesn’t come back.
When pest control is done right, your home stops feeling like it’s working against you. You’re not setting traps every weekend. You’re not wondering what’s in the walls. You’re not spraying hardware store products that handle the surface and nothing underneath. The problem is identified at the source, treated with the right approach, and followed up on — not handed off to whoever’s available next time you call.
Durand’s housing stock is some of the oldest in Michigan. That’s part of what makes this city worth living in, and it’s also part of what makes pest pressure a real, ongoing concern for homeowners here. Older foundations, aging wood, and decades of structural settling create entry points and harborage zones that newer construction simply doesn’t have. Knowing how to work with that — not just spray around it — is what separates a real fix from a temporary one.
We founded First Choice Pest Control on May 31, 2005. That’s two decades of showing up for homeowners and businesses across mid-Michigan, including Durand and the surrounding Shiawassee County communities. Our owner Roger brings 26 years of hands-on pest control experience to every job — and that standard runs through every technician on our team.
What makes us different from calling a national chain isn’t a tagline. It’s the fact that you get the same technician assigned to your Durand home year after year. They know your property. They know your history. You don’t re-explain the problem from scratch every visit, and you’re never opening the door to someone you’ve never seen before.
Every technician at First Choice is a career professional — not a part-time hire, not a seasonal fill-in. We hold MDARD Pesticide Application Business License #250081, carry full liability coverage, and have earned recognition from both Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor based on verified customer reviews. The credentials are real, and they’re publicly verifiable.
It starts with a thorough inspection. Before anything gets treated, our technician walks the property and identifies what’s actually happening — entry points, harborage zones, activity patterns, and the conditions that are making your home or business vulnerable. In Durand, that often means paying close attention to foundation gaps in older pre-war construction, moisture-prone crawl spaces, and structural voids that are common in the city’s aging housing stock. The inspection isn’t a formality. It’s where the real work begins.
From there, a treatment plan is built around what your property actually needs. Our technicians are trained in Integrated Pest Management — a science-based approach that applies the least toxic effective solution first, targeting pests precisely rather than blanketing everything in chemicals. That matters if you have kids, pets, or elderly residents in the home, and it matters for the yards and waterways of Shiawassee County as well. Treatment is applied by the same technician who did the inspection — someone who already knows your property.
After treatment, you’ll know what was done, why it was done, and what to watch for. If the problem comes back, we come back too — without an argument. Follow-up is part of the process, not an upsell. The goal is a result that holds, not a visit that checks a box.
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We handle the full range of pest problems that Durand homeowners and businesses actually deal with. Rodent control is one of the most consistent needs in the area — particularly in fall, when field mice and Norway rats displaced by the Shiawassee County harvest season start migrating toward the warmth of residential structures. Carpenter ants are another major concern in a city where most of the housing stock predates World War II and aging wood framing is the norm. Stinging insects, spiders, earwigs, stink bugs, boxelder bugs — if it’s showing up in your home, we have a plan for it.
Bed bug detection is where we stand apart from every other exterminator serving Durand. We offer certified canine bed bug detection — a service available from fewer than 100 companies in the entire United States. With Durand Union Station serving as an active Amtrak stop on the Chicago–Port Huron line, travelers move through this community regularly, and bed bugs move with them. Our K-9 detection team finds infestations at the earliest stage, in wall voids, outlets, and furniture crevices that standard inspection misses.
Our mosquito program includes flea and tick treatment at no extra charge — one program that covers the full range of warm-weather pest pressure for Durand families spending time outdoors, near Leisure Lake, or anywhere in the surrounding agricultural landscape. We also offer price matching for reasonable competitor rates, plus discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders. If you’re comparing quotes, call and ask — the price is rarely the reason to go elsewhere.
The most frequent calls we get in Durand involve rodents, carpenter ants, and stinging insects — and the reasons are pretty specific to this area. Most of Durand’s housing stock was built before World War II, which means aging foundations, settling wood framing, and structural gaps that have had decades to develop. Mice can enter through an opening smaller than a dime, and older homes in Durand provide plenty of access points that newer construction simply doesn’t have.
Fall is the busiest season for rodent calls. When the Shiawassee County harvest wraps up, field mice and Norway rats that were living in agricultural areas start moving toward warmer shelter — and Durand’s residential neighborhoods are right in that path. Carpenter ants tend to spike in spring and early summer, especially in homes where moisture has gotten into aging wood. Stinging insects are a consistent summer issue, particularly around older structures near the rail corridor where structural voids give hornets and yellowjackets ideal nesting spots.
Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to confirm with a visual inspection alone, especially in the early stages. The most obvious signs are small rust-colored stains on mattress seams or bedding, tiny shed skins, or clusters of small bites — but by the time those are visible, the infestation is often already established. Early-stage infestations hide in wall voids, electrical outlets, and furniture crevices where a standard walkthrough won’t catch them.
This is exactly why we offer certified canine bed bug detection — one of fewer than 100 companies in the U.S. with this service. Our trained K-9 team can locate bed bugs at the earliest stage with a level of accuracy that human inspection can’t match. For Durand residents, this matters more than it might in a purely rural town. Durand Union Station is an active Amtrak stop, which means travelers are moving through the community regularly — and bed bugs are a travel-associated pest. If you’ve had guests, traveled recently, or brought in secondhand furniture, getting a K-9 inspection done early is the fastest way to get a definitive answer.
Whether pest control holds depends almost entirely on how it’s done. A treatment that addresses the surface — sprays the visible pests and leaves — is going to see the problem return. A treatment that identifies entry points, eliminates harborage conditions, and follows up to confirm results is a different thing entirely.
When we treat a Durand home, the process starts with a real inspection before anything gets applied. That means finding where pests are getting in, what’s attracting them, and what conditions in your home are making it easy for them to stay. In Durand’s older housing stock, that often involves foundation gaps, crawl space moisture, and structural voids that have been there for decades. Treating without addressing those conditions is a short-term answer to a long-term problem. Our technicians are trained in Integrated Pest Management, which means the approach is built around lasting results — not repeat visits for the same issue. And if something does come back between scheduled services, the follow-up is part of the deal.
This is one of the most common questions, and it’s a fair one. The honest answer is that it depends on who’s doing the work and how they’re doing it. Products applied incorrectly, in the wrong concentrations, or without regard for where children and pets spend time can be a real concern.
Our technicians are trained in Integrated Pest Management, which is a science-based methodology that prioritizes the least toxic effective solution. That means targeted application — treating specific entry points, harborage zones, and activity areas — rather than blanket chemical application throughout your home. When treatments are applied correctly by a licensed, experienced technician, re-entry times are typically short and residual exposure is minimal. You’ll be told exactly what was applied, where it was applied, and when it’s safe to let your kids and pets back into treated areas.
Our mosquito program covers more than just mosquitoes — flea and tick treatment is included at no extra charge. For Durand families, that’s a meaningful difference. The city sits in the middle of Shiawassee County’s agricultural and wetland landscape, which means mosquito pressure builds quickly once temperatures climb and stays strong through late summer. Ticks are a real concern for anyone spending time near wooded areas, agricultural fields, or the shoreline around Leisure Lake.
The best time to schedule mosquito treatment in Durand is late April to early May — before populations peak and before outdoor activity really picks up. Treatments typically need to be reapplied on a regular cycle through the season to stay effective, and the schedule can be adjusted based on how much time your family spends outside and what your yard looks like. If you’ve been dealing with mosquitoes near standing water, dense vegetation, or low-lying areas of your property, those spots get specific attention. One program, one price, full warm-weather coverage.
Yes — we offer discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders. In a community like Durand, where a meaningful share of residents are on fixed incomes and where military and public safety service runs deep, these discounts reflect something real about who we are and who we serve.
Beyond those discounts, we also match reasonable competitor rates. If you’ve gotten a quote from another exterminator serving the Durand area and the price is giving you pause, call and ask. The goal isn’t to be the cheapest option — it’s to make sure price isn’t the reason you end up with a lesser result. With 20 years of service in mid-Michigan, MDARD License #250081, and a team of career professionals who know Durand’s specific pest environment, the value is already there.
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