Hear from Our Customers
If you’ve spent a Michigan summer swatting mosquitoes off your deck or found mice in the basement once the temperatures dropped, you already know the drill. Pest problems in Drayton Plains aren’t random — they’re predictable, seasonal, and directly tied to where you live. Waterford Township sits on 35 lakes. That much standing water doesn’t just make for great summers — it creates some of the highest mosquito pressure in Oakland County, rated “extremely high” by AccuWeather during peak months. When you get that under control, you actually get your outdoor space back.
The older housing stock throughout Drayton Plains adds another layer. Ranch homes and converted lake cottages built in the 1950s through 1970s — the kind you’ll find throughout the Loon Lake area — tend to have aging wood, crawl spaces, and damp basements that carpenter ants and rodents treat like an open invitation. A real pest control program addresses those vulnerabilities at the source, not just the surface.
What you’re left with after professional treatment isn’t just fewer bugs — it’s a home that isn’t quietly being damaged, a yard your kids and pets can actually use, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing someone who understands Drayton Plains specifically is on top of it year-round.
We founded First Choice Pest Control on May 31, 2005 — which means 2025 marks 20 years of serving Michigan homeowners, including families throughout Drayton Plains and Waterford Township. Roger, who leads the company, brings 26 years of hands-on pest control experience. That’s not a corporate bio line — that’s someone who has been working through Michigan’s seasonal pest cycles, including the elevated pressures that come with living in an Oakland County lake community like Drayton Plains, longer than most competitors have existed.
This is a family-owned operation, and it runs like one. You won’t get a rotating crew of unfamiliar faces. We keep the same technician assigned to your Drayton Plains home year after year — someone who learns your property, knows your history, and shows up knowing what to look for. Every technician is a trained, experienced professional. No part-time seasonal hires, no learning curve at your expense.
We hold IPM certification, Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor awards, and BBB accreditation — credentials that reflect two decades of doing this the right way, for real people in real communities like Drayton Plains.
It starts with a real assessment — not a generic checklist, but a look at your specific property. In Drayton Plains, that means factoring in things like proximity to Loon Lake, whether your home has a crawl space or aging wood structure, which season you’re in, and what pest pressure is most active right now. A ranch home near Sashabaw Road has different vulnerabilities than a newer build further from the water, and the treatment plan should reflect that.
From there, we build a personalized pest control program around what your property actually needs. If mosquitoes are the primary issue, your plan includes flea and tick treatment at no extra charge — because in a community bordered by Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area and Dodge Brothers State Park, where wildlife moves through residential neighborhoods regularly, ticks come with the territory. If it’s carpenter ants, rodents, bed bugs, or stinging insects, the approach is calibrated to the pest, the property, and the time of year.
Michigan’s MDARD requires all commercial pesticide applicators to be state-certified and renew every three years — we meet that standard and always have. After treatment, your technician walks you through what was done, what to watch for, and when to expect a follow-up. No mystery, no guesswork.
Ready to get started?
We handle the full range of pest pressures that Drayton Plains homeowners and business owners actually deal with — mosquitoes, carpenter ants, rodents, bed bugs, stinging insects, fleas, ticks, spiders, cockroaches, and more. Residential and commercial customers both receive the same level of attention, whether that’s a lakefront home near Loon Lake, a rental property in the 48329 area, or a commercial space near the Drayton Road Marketplace on Dixie Highway.
One service worth knowing about: we’re one of fewer than 100 companies in the entire United States offering certified canine bed bug detection. Michigan ranks second in the nation for bed bug infestations, and Oakland County is not exempt. Trained detection dogs find infestations with 95–98% accuracy — compared to roughly 50% for visual inspection alone. If you need a definitive answer before a treatment, a move, or a tenant transition, this is how you get one.
For mosquito control, we bundle flea and tick treatment into the program at no additional cost — a genuine value-add that most pest control companies bill separately. We also offer price matching for reasonable competitors’ rates, plus discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders. If you’re in Drayton Plains and you’ve been putting this off, there’s no reason to keep waiting.
Waterford Township is sometimes called the “Township of Lakes” — and for good reason. There are 35 recognized lakes within the township, and Drayton Plains sits right along Loon Lake’s western edge. That much standing water creates ideal mosquito breeding conditions from late spring through early fall. AccuWeather rates the Waterford area at “extremely high” mosquito activity risk during peak summer months, which lines up with what residents near the lake already experience firsthand.
The issue isn’t just the water itself — it’s the combination of humidity, warmth, and the sheer volume of breeding sites that come with lake-adjacent living in Drayton Plains. DIY repellents and store-bought traps can take the edge off temporarily, but they don’t address the source. A professional mosquito control program targets breeding areas and applies barrier treatments that actually hold up through the season — so your yard is usable, not just tolerable.
Carpenter ants are larger than most common ant species — typically black or dark-colored, and noticeably bigger than the small ants you’d find trailing across a kitchen counter. The more telling sign is where you find them. If you’re seeing large ants near windowsills, door frames, or anywhere there’s wood that’s been exposed to moisture — a damp basement, a crawl space, aging wood siding — that’s a red flag. You might also notice small piles of sawdust-like material called frass near wooden structures.
In Drayton Plains, carpenter ants are a specific and serious concern. The ranch homes and converted lake cottages throughout the area — many built decades ago — tend to have the aging wood and moisture conditions that carpenter ants actively seek out. Nationally, carpenter ant control was the fastest-growing pest control category in 2024, and in Michigan’s lake-adjacent communities, that trend makes complete sense. The damage they cause is structural and slow-moving, which means the longer you wait, the more expensive the problem gets. If you’re seeing large ants consistently, don’t guess — get it looked at.
Once temperatures start dropping in October and November, rodents become the primary concern. Mice and rats are actively looking for warm, stable environments, and older homes throughout the Drayton Plains area — with stone foundations, crawl spaces, and gaps in aging siding — give them plenty of entry points. A mouse can squeeze through a gap the size of a dime, so what looks like a sealed home from the outside often isn’t.
Beyond rodents, stink bugs tend to push into homes in fall as they search for overwintering sites, and bed bugs are completely unaffected by season — they’re a year-round issue regardless of temperature. The smart move is to get ahead of rodent pressure before the first hard frost, not after you’ve already found evidence inside. A fall inspection and preventive treatment can close off entry points and address any active activity before it becomes a bigger problem.
Yes — and with a level of accuracy that most pest control companies in Oakland County simply can’t match. We’re one of fewer than 100 companies in the entire United States with a certified canine bed bug detection program. Trained detection dogs locate infestations with 95–98% accuracy, compared to roughly 50% for a standard visual inspection. That gap matters. A missed infestation doesn’t go away — it spreads.
Michigan ranks second in the nation for bed bug infestations, and the Detroit metro area — which includes Oakland County and Drayton Plains — is among the most affected regions. Residents who travel frequently, purchase used furniture, or have had guests stay over are not immune to the risk. If you suspect an issue, or if you want certainty before a tenant moves in or a home sale closes, canine detection gives you a real answer, not a best guess.
This is one of the most common questions we get from families in lake-adjacent communities like Drayton Plains — and it’s a fair one. When your yard backs up to Loon Lake or you’re near any of Waterford Township’s 35 lakes, what goes on the grass and into the environment matters. We’re IPM-certified — Integrated Pest Management — which is the EPA-recognized, science-based approach that prioritizes the least invasive treatment first.
That means thorough inspection, source identification, and targeted treatment only where it’s actually needed. It’s not about applying less product to save money — it’s about applying the right product in the right place, which is both more effective and safer for your family and the surrounding lake environment. If you have specific concerns about a product being used near your kids or pets, your technician will walk you through exactly what’s being applied and why. No runaround.
We offer discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders — and in a community like Drayton Plains and the broader Waterford Township area, that covers a meaningful portion of the people who call. Waterford’s established lake neighborhoods include many longtime residents who have lived on their properties for decades, as well as veterans and active first responders who serve the Oakland County community every day.
The discount isn’t a fine-print afterthought — it’s something we built into the way we do business from the start. If you qualify, just mention it when you call. We also offer price matching for reasonable competitors’ rates, so if you’ve gotten a quote elsewhere and you’re comparing options, bring it up. The goal is to make professional, experienced pest control in Drayton Plains accessible — not to price people out of protecting your home.
Local Resources
Useful Links
