Tales from the Crawlspace

As PMPs know, the crawlspace is a critical area of a structure that needs inspected and oftentimes treated. PMPs also know the challenges and unique experiences that come with working in this setting, including wildlife encounters, finding lost items and even getting stuck.

PCT recently held a contest in which pest management professionals from across the country sent in their most memorable crawlspace encounters. Alex Retcofsky, president of PDQ Pest Control, Erie, Pa., won the contest with his crawlspace caper (shared below).

Retcofsky has been involved in the pest control industry since he was a young adult and went to work for PDQ, which was owned by his father. PDQ has always been a family business; in fact, PDQ is the Retcofsky family’s abbreviated way of urging people to get tasks done efficiently — “pretty darn quick.” That abbreviation evolved to “professional, dependable, quality” pest control.

Retcofsky took the reins of PDQ in 2021, but he started working for PDQ full time after he graduated high school in 2006. Even before he worked full time, Retcofsky helped his father with small jobs.

“I was going on termite jobs, pulling boards out of nails and loading debris into the truck when I was just a teenager,” Retcofsky recalled. “I remember being a little kid — elementary school aged — and going with my dad after baseball practice to go do some nighttime yellowjacket jobs. All I had to do was stand back and hold a flashlight.”

PDQ has established itself within Erie city limits as well as the surrounding cities and counties. Retcofsky said that the rural areas are the company’s “bread and butter.” This was his father’s idea for how to grow the company from the start.

In addition to Retcofsky’s story, tales from runners-up Carlos Lugo, Resolve Pest Management, Bayville, N.J.; and David Knick, Terminix Service, Columbia, S.C., are included on the following pages.

THE MUMMY. Last spring, my crew and I took on a termite job in a home that had a large crawlspace. While quoting the job, I had opened the crawlspace for inspection. Peering around through the small hatchway with my flashlight, I could see the telltale mud tubes going up several of the foundation walls. Alas, the crawl was also full of debris, an all-too-common obstacle for PMPs when dealing with crawlspaces.

There was everything in there: concrete rubble, roofing shingles, broken glass, red bricks and other construction debris. I had informed my customer that this debris would need to be removed to treat this space properly. The property owner was in no position to do this work herself, so we agreed upon a price wherein my crew would clean out and dispose of the debris prior to the treatment.

So, the day of the job, we set up an assembly line of guys to remove the rubble and toss it into our utility trailer to be hauled to the dump. Our newest and youngest tech, Marvin, being the proverbial “low man on the totem pole,” was assigned the job of being the man deep inside the crawl.

We outfitted him in a PPE space suit, set up our spotlights and sent him in on his belly. Space was limited in there, but things were going quite efficiently. Marvin was passing junk to my position just inside the crawl door and I was passing them to the guys outside to be hauled to the trailer.

Marvin must have had quite the rhythm going, because he soon stopped paying attention to what he was grabbing. This is how Marvin came face to face with a mummified cat. From my viewpoint, I actually saw the moment he realized what he was holding. Now, Marv is a strong, young, country-raised guy who does not scare easily. But this horrific carcass was in his hand and inches from his face when the reality hit him.

I heard him scream through his respirator and watched as he tossed the cat away like a hot potato while simultaneously recoiling so quickly that he knocked his head on one of the floor joists. The rest of the crew subsequently had way too much fun at Marvin’s expense. They still remind him about his cat to this day. — Alex Retcofsky, president, PDQ Pest Control, Erie, Pa.

AIR-TIGHT. I would say I have two memorable stories. The first one is of encountering a deceased raccoon in a crawlspace. We got a call from a customer who was selling their home, and the buyers’ home inspector claimed there was a dead raccoon within the crawlspace that must be removed. When we arrived, we found this poor little guy.

My second most memorable story is of the tight crawlspace. I’ve done so many crawlspaces in my time and never feared getting stuck until I met this one customer at a home who needed a termite inspection.

This crawlspace was so low that you could barely lift your head as you crawled through. Without being able to send you the picture [of the crawlspace], just writing this does not do it justice.

I got midway under the furthest end of the house and started getting worried I’d get stuck with only one way into the crawlspace and one way out.

And there were no existing crawlspace vents to show light either. This one service I could not completely continue through with and ultimately told the customer there was no charge for it. — Carlos Lugo, owner, Resolve Pest Management, Bayville, N.J.

RATTLED. New employees often inquire as to how many snakes I have come across while performing crawlspace inspections. Thankfully, not many.

I have no doubt they may be there, and I tell staff we look like an alligator crawling around in our dark coveralls — snakes will be afraid of us! Working on the South Carolina coast for 25+ years, my best memory involved a fellow employee, Scott.

Often, we would work together and share the work and income for the day. We were doing a termite estimate on a property near the marsh. It was my turn to graph, so Scott suited up for the crawl.

As I worked around the house, I heard a blood-curdling scream. It was like Jamie Lee Curtis in the “Halloween” movies — very high-pitched. I ran to the rear of the home and Scott came out of the crawlspace frantically saying “rat, rat, rat.”

I started laughing and asked what the big deal was. He said the rat on the HVAC trunk line surprised him, but the snake chasing the rat scared him.

We are both still with our company and, while through the years our paths have gone in different directions, we are fortunate enough to now work in our corporate training department. We work hard, and we play hard. — David Knick, corporate technical and training supervisor, Terminix Service, Columbia, S.C.