Hear from Our Customers
Most people who call about bed bugs aren’t even sure they have them. That uncertainty is exhausting — and expensive if you treat the wrong thing. The right first step isn’t spraying. It’s knowing. Our certified canine detection team finds live bed bugs and viable eggs with 90–98% accuracy, compared to just 17–40% for a standard visual inspection. That difference matters, especially when you’re trying to protect a home you’ve worked hard for.
Fenton’s housing stock adds a layer of complexity here. A significant portion of homes in this area were built between 1940 and 1969 — older construction with original hardwood floors, aging baseboards, and the kinds of structural gaps that give bed bugs more places to disappear into. A technician doing a quick walk-through isn’t going to find what’s hiding behind your walls or inside your electrical outlets. A trained detection dog will.
And if you’re one of the many Fenton residents commuting to Detroit or Ann Arbor via US-23 — or hosting guests at a lake property near Lake Fenton or Runyan Lake — you’re exposed to bed bug introduction risks that most people don’t think about until it’s already a problem. Getting ahead of it with a proper inspection is the move that saves you the most time, money, and stress.
We were founded in 2005 and are headquartered in Swartz Creek — about ten miles from Fenton on US-23. Our owner, Roger Chinault, has 26 years of hands-on pest control experience and built this company from the ground up in Genesee County. That’s not a franchise background. That’s someone who has treated homes in Fenton and the surrounding area for over two decades and knows exactly what he’s doing.
When you call First Choice, you get the same technician every time — not whoever’s available that week. No part-time college students. No revolving door of faces you don’t recognize. We hold Integrated Pest Management training credentials, have earned awards from both Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, and have spent 20 years building a reputation in communities like Fenton, Lake Fenton, and the broader Genesee County area.
We also offer discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders — and in a city where 17.5% of residents are 65 or older, that’s not a footnote. It’s a real commitment to the people who make up this community.
It starts with a call. You describe what you’re seeing — bites, small dark spots on your mattress, maybe something you actually spotted — and we help you figure out the right next step. If there’s any real uncertainty about whether bed bugs are present, a canine detection inspection is typically the smartest first move. The dog works fast, covers areas no human inspector can reach, and gives you a definitive answer before any treatment dollars are spent.
If bed bugs are confirmed, your technician builds a treatment plan based on your specific home — not a generic checklist. Older homes near downtown Fenton or in the lake community areas often have more structural complexity, and the treatment approach accounts for that. We use IPM-based methods, meaning the focus is on targeted, effective treatment rather than blanket pesticide application. That matters if you have kids, pets, or health sensitivities in the home.
After treatment, your technician walks you through what to expect during the follow-up window — what’s normal, what to watch for, and when to call back. There’s no contract locking you in. If you need a follow-up, you get one. The goal is a resolved problem, not a recurring invoice.
Ready to get started?
We handle bed bug control for both residential and commercial customers in Fenton, MI. That means single-family homes in established neighborhoods, condos in communities like Whisperwood, older rental units downtown, and commercial properties along the Owen Road corridor or Silver Parkway. Bed bugs don’t care what type of building they’re in — and neither does our treatment approach.
Our canine detection service is available as a standalone inspection for homeowners who aren’t sure what they’re dealing with. It’s also built into the treatment process when needed. Beyond detection, treatment options are customized based on the size of the infestation, the layout of the property, and any specific sensitivities in the household. We’ll price-match any reasonable competitor’s rate — so if you’ve already gotten a quote from another Fenton-area provider, bring it. There’s no reason cost should be the thing that sends you somewhere with less experience or fewer credentials.
For Fenton’s rental property owners and landlords managing apartment units, we also provide the kind of documented inspection and treatment process that holds up when habitability questions come into play under Michigan landlord-tenant law. Whether you own one property or several, the process is the same: accurate detection, targeted treatment, and a technician who knows your building.
The most common signs are small, itchy bites that appear in a line or cluster — usually on your arms, neck, or legs — along with tiny dark spots (fecal staining) on your mattress seams, sheets, or nearby baseboards. You might also find shed skins or, if the infestation is more advanced, a faint musty odor in the room. The problem is that bites alone aren’t a reliable indicator. Flea bites, spider bites, and even skin reactions to laundry detergent can look almost identical.
This is exactly why canine detection exists. Our trained bed bug detection dogs can confirm whether live bugs or viable eggs are present with 90–98% accuracy — including in the wall voids, electrical outlets, and floor gaps that are common in Fenton’s older housing stock. If you’re not sure, a detection inspection is a far smarter starting point than guessing and treating the wrong thing.
Yes — and this is one of the most frustrating parts of dealing with bed bugs in a multi-unit building. Bed bugs move through shared walls, plumbing chases, and electrical conduits. If one unit has an active infestation, neighboring units are genuinely at risk, even if those residents have done nothing wrong. In Fenton, where apartment complexes make up roughly 27% of the housing stock, this is a real and common scenario.
If you’re a renter who suspects bed bugs, document everything — bites, sightings, dates — and notify your landlord in writing. Under Michigan habitability law, landlords are required to maintain rental properties free of pest infestations. If you’re a landlord or property manager, getting a professional inspection done quickly is both the right move and the legally sound one. We provide the kind of thorough, documented inspection and treatment process that holds up if questions arise later.
It’s one of the most common ways bed bugs enter a home, and it’s more relevant in Fenton than people realize. Fenton is a commuter community — Detroit is 60 miles south and Ann Arbor is 40 miles south, both reachable in under an hour via US-23. Regular hotel stays for work, visits to urban entertainment venues, or even a single overnight trip can be enough exposure if the room had an active infestation.
Bed bugs are hitchhikers. They move from infested surfaces onto luggage, clothing, and bags without any sign they’re there. By the time you notice bites at home, they may already be established in your bedroom. The practical habits that reduce risk include inspecting hotel mattress seams and headboards before unpacking, keeping luggage off the floor and bed, and washing travel clothes on high heat when you return. If you’ve recently traveled and are now seeing unexplained bites, that timeline is worth mentioning when you call — it helps us narrow down the source and the likely scope of the problem.
Cost varies based on the size of your home, how widespread the infestation is, and what treatment method is used. For a single-room treatment in a smaller Fenton home, you might be looking at a few hundred dollars. A whole-home treatment for a larger property with an established infestation can run anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 or more depending on the scope of work required.
What most people don’t factor in is the cost of doing it wrong the first time. Store-bought sprays don’t eliminate bed bugs — they scatter them, which makes the infestation harder to treat and more expensive to resolve professionally later. Getting an accurate detection inspection upfront, followed by a targeted treatment plan, is almost always cheaper in the long run than multiple rounds of ineffective DIY attempts. We also offer price matching for reasonable competitor quotes, so if you’ve already spoken with another Fenton-area provider, you don’t have to sacrifice quality to stay within budget.
One treatment is often not enough on its own — and any pest control company that tells you otherwise isn’t being straight with you. Bed bug eggs are notoriously resistant to many treatment methods, which means a follow-up inspection or treatment is frequently part of a complete resolution. The timeline for that follow-up depends on the treatment method used and the size of the infestation going in.
What matters most is that your technician sets clear expectations from the start. At First Choice, the process doesn’t end when the technician walks out the door. You’ll know what to watch for during the follow-up window, when to call back, and what a normal post-treatment period looks like versus a sign that something needs another look. There’s no contract holding you to anything — if a follow-up is needed, it gets handled. The goal is a fully resolved problem, not a completed invoice.
We offer discounts for seniors, veterans, and first responders. In Fenton, where more than 17% of residents are 65 or older, the senior discount is something that comes up often — and it’s a straightforward way to make professional bed bug treatment more accessible for homeowners on fixed incomes who shouldn’t have to choose between getting the problem solved and staying within budget.
If you or someone in your household qualifies — whether as a senior, an active or retired veteran, or a first responder — just mention it when you call. There’s no complicated process. It’s applied to your service, and that’s that. We’ve been serving Genesee County communities like Fenton for 20 years, and these discounts reflect what we actually value about the people we work for — not a promotional line item.
Local Resources
Useful Links
