Hear from Our Customers
You stop second-guessing every noise in the wall. You stop spraying things under the sink and hoping for the best. You stop wondering whether the carpenter ant you just found near your deck is a one-off or the beginning of something expensive. That shift — from reacting to knowing — is what a real pest control program actually gives you.
For homeowners in Waterstone, that peace of mind has a specific shape. The 15 lakes and drainage corridors winding through this community don’t just make it scenic — they create standing water throughout the subdivision from late April through September. That’s peak breeding ground for mosquitoes, and it doesn’t let up until the temperatures drop. A treatment program built around that reality means your backyard, your dock, and your trails are actually usable again all summer.
The wooded open space and golf course buffers that define Waterstone’s character also push carpenter ants and ticks closer to your home than most Oakland County residents deal with. Carpenter ants don’t eat wood — they excavate it, and moisture-exposed wood near a lake gives them exactly what they’re looking for. Getting ahead of that isn’t just a comfort thing. For a home this size, in a community like Waterstone, it’s a property protection decision.
We founded First Choice Pest Control on May 31, 2005 — which means in 2025, we’re marking 20 years of serving Waterstone and southeast Michigan homeowners. Roger leads every job with 26 years of hands-on pest control experience behind him. That’s not a stat on a website. That’s someone who has seen what Waterstone’s lake properties, wooded lots, and cold winters do to a home — and knows exactly how to respond.
What makes us different from the bigger names isn’t hard to explain. You get the same technician every visit. Not a rotating crew, not a seasonal hire — the same trained professional who already knows your property, your concerns, and your home’s specific exposure to the pests that thrive in Waterstone. That consistency matters in a community where residents have invested significantly in where they live and expect the people they let through their door to reflect that.
Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor have both recognized First Choice for service quality. We hold MDARD License #250081 and carry Integrated Pest Management certification — which means our treatments are targeted, not indiscriminate.
It starts with a real assessment — not a checklist walkthrough, but an actual look at your property. In Waterstone, that means paying attention to the things that matter here: proximity to the lake, lot edges that back up to open space or golf course rough, moisture exposure around foundations, and any entry points that become rodent highways once October hits. A Golf Highlands lot has different pressure than a lakefront property on Waterstone Lake, and the program should reflect that.
From there, we build a personalized treatment plan around what your home actually needs. We don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach. If mosquitoes are the priority, that program runs through the season — and flea and tick treatment is included at no extra charge, which matters when you have kids on the trails or a dog exploring the wooded edges of your yard. If carpenter ants or rodents are the concern, the focus shifts to source elimination and prevention, not just surface-level treatment.
After the initial service, you stay with the same technician. They know what was treated, what to watch for, and what changed since the last visit. That continuity is how problems stay solved instead of cycling back every season. And if something comes back between visits, we stand behind our work.
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We handle the full range of what Waterstone homeowners actually deal with — mosquitoes, carpenter ants, ticks, fleas, mice, moles, wasps, bed bugs, stink bugs, and spiders. These aren’t random additions to a service menu. They’re the specific pests documented in Oxford Township and the surrounding Waterstone area, and each one has a treatment approach that accounts for the conditions here.
The mosquito program is worth calling out specifically. It runs seasonally and includes flea and tick treatment at no additional cost — one program that covers your full outdoor exposure from spring through fall. For families using Waterstone’s trail network and parks, or for anyone spending time near the lake, that’s meaningful coverage. Our canine bed bug detection service is in a category of its own — fewer than 100 companies in the entire United States offer certified K-9 detection, and we’re one of them. If you suspect bed bugs, this is the most accurate diagnostic tool available anywhere, and it removes the guesswork entirely.
Mole damage to lawns is also something we address directly — relevant in a community where curb appeal is tied to HOA standards and where Boulder Pointe Golf Club sets the visual bar for what a well-kept property looks like. We offer price matching for reasonable competitor rates, and discounts apply for seniors, veterans, and first responders — including residents at Independence Village of Waterstone.
Waterstone is built around 15 lakes, many of them former gravel pit lakes from Oxford Township’s early mining era. The edges of those lakes, along with the drainage swales, retention areas, and low-lying green spaces connecting them throughout the community, create standing and slow-moving water almost everywhere you look. Mosquitoes don’t need much — a bottle cap of standing water can produce hundreds of larvae — and in a community with this much water surface and shoreline, the breeding habitat is essentially continuous from late April through September.
The most effective approach isn’t a one-time spray. It’s a seasonal program that targets breeding sites and resting areas on a recurring basis, timed around the mosquito life cycle. Our mosquito program does exactly that, and it includes flea and tick treatment at no extra charge — which is worth noting for anyone with pets or kids spending time on Waterstone’s trails and open space areas throughout the summer.
Carpenter ants are larger than most common household ants — typically a quarter inch to half an inch long — and they’re usually black or dark brown. But size alone isn’t the most reliable tell. What gives them away is where you find them and what they leave behind. If you’re seeing large ants near windows, door frames, or anywhere close to wood that’s had moisture exposure, that’s a red flag. Carpenter ants are drawn to wood that’s been softened by water, and they excavate it to build galleries — they don’t eat it, but the structural damage they cause over time is real.
For homes in Waterstone, the risk is elevated. Lake proximity, irrigation from the golf course, and general humidity in a water-rich environment all create the moisture conditions that carpenter ants seek out. Finding a few inside doesn’t automatically mean there’s a colony in your walls, but it’s worth having someone look. An experienced technician can tell the difference between a forager that wandered in and an active infestation — and that distinction matters before you decide how to respond.
This is one of the most common questions homeowners ask, and it’s a fair one. We use an Integrated Pest Management approach, which means our treatments are targeted and applied at the lowest effective level — not blanket applications of chemicals throughout your home. The goal is to eliminate the pest with the least possible impact on everything else in the environment, including the people and animals living there.
For most interior treatments, the standard guidance is to keep children and pets out of the treated area until it’s dry — typically a few hours. Your technician will walk you through any specific precautions before they start, and they’ll answer your questions directly. In Waterstone, where a lot of homes back up to open space and lake areas, outdoor treatments are also part of the conversation. The same principle applies — targeted application, appropriate timing, and clear communication about what was used and where. If you have specific concerns about a health condition, an allergy, or a particular product, bring it up before the service starts. That’s exactly the kind of detail a consistent, assigned technician can track and account for over time.
The honest answer is that there’s no single best month — different pests peak at different points in the season, and Waterstone’s climate means the calendar is rarely quiet. That said, early spring is when most homeowners benefit from getting ahead of things. Carpenter ants start showing up as temperatures climb above freezing, mosquito season in northern Oakland County typically kicks off by late April or early May, and tick activity begins well before most people expect it — as soon as daytime temps are consistently above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fall is the other critical window, specifically for rodent prevention. As temperatures drop in October and November, mice start looking for warmth and move toward residential structures. Waterstone’s 600 acres of open space, parks, and golf course rough give them plenty of habitat right up to your foundation. Getting a prevention program in place before that pressure builds — sealing entry points, treating perimeter areas — is significantly more effective than responding after you’ve already found evidence inside. Starting in spring and maintaining through the year is the most cost-effective approach for most Waterstone homeowners.
Yes — and the detection method we use is in a category most pest control companies simply can’t offer. We have a certified canine bed bug detection program, and fewer than 100 companies in the entire United States provide this service. A trained detection dog can locate a single bed bug or egg cluster inside a wall void, behind an outlet cover, or beneath a mattress seam — with an accuracy rate that visual inspections can’t match. If you’re unsure whether you actually have bed bugs or you want confirmation before committing to a treatment, this is the most reliable diagnostic available.
Bed bugs don’t have anything to do with how clean your home is. They travel on luggage, clothing, and used furniture — and for Waterstone residents who travel regularly for work, that risk is the same as anyone else’s. The K-9 inspection removes the guesswork. If the dog clears your home, you can trust that result. If activity is found, you know exactly where it is and what you’re dealing with before a single treatment decision gets made.
We offer discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders. For a community like Waterstone — which includes Independence Village of Waterstone on Market Street as well as longtime Oakland County homeowners who’ve spent decades building something worth protecting — those discounts are a straightforward acknowledgment of the people who make up this community.
If you or someone in your household qualifies, just mention it when you call. There’s no complicated process. We also offer price matching for reasonable competitor rates, so if you’ve gotten a quote from another local exterminator and you want to compare, bring it up. The goal is to make sure cost isn’t the reason someone puts off dealing with a pest problem that’s only going to get worse — or more expensive — the longer it goes unaddressed.
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