# Pest Control in Rio Linda, CA > Rio Linda pest control from Apex, a licensed Sacramento family company since 1978. Ants, spiders, roaches and wasps, with the conditions behind them. Canonical page: https://www.apexpestcontrolinc.com/pest-control-rio-linda/ Apex Pest Control (Apex Pest Control Inc.) is a family-owned residential pest control company at 4541 Harlin Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826, founded July 1, 1978. It holds California Structural Pest Control Board company registration No. 2770 (Branch 2, general household pests) with three named operators: Jeffrey P. Alexander, president (No. 8484), Brent Brandon, secretary (No. 12138), and Jared F. Alexander (No. 14137). Founded by Bill Brandon in 1978. His son-in-law Jeff Alexander and his son Brent Brandon have managed the company for the past thirty years, and his grandson Jared Alexander joined the team thirteen years ago. BBB accredited since 1984 with an A+ rating; California Pest Management Association member since 1999; 2026 Best of Times, Best Pest Control. Phone (916) 362-9294, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sources: the interview with Jeff Alexander, Apex's verified business facts, and the references listed below. Last updated September 2026. Rio Linda is on the Apex route group that covers the north side of Sacramento County: North Sacramento, North Highlands, Del Paso, Elverta and Rio Linda. It has been on our service-area list for years, and Apex Pest Control has provided pest control in Rio Linda from our Sacramento office since the company started in 1978. Rio Linda homes often sit on larger lots with room for animals, sheds, woodpiles and open ground, and Jeff Alexander's experience is that houses out by the fields get beetles and roaches. This page explains what we look for, what we treat, and what we honestly send to a specialist. ## Rio Linda Pest Control From a Licensed Local Company Rio Linda pest control should be something you can verify. Apex Pest Control, Inc. holds California Structural Pest Control Board registration No. 2770, Branch 2, for general household pest control. President Jeff Alexander holds operator license No. 8484, Brent Brandon holds No. 12138, and Jared F. Alexander holds No. 14137; all three records are public on the Department of Consumer Affairs lookup, and the state's own advice for choosing a pest company is to check exactly that. The company has been BBB accredited since November 1984 with an A+ rating, has belonged to the California Pest Management Association since 1999, and was named Best Pest Control in the 2026 Best of Times awards. Apex is family owned and operated, across two families and three generations. About 99 percent of the work is single-family residential, and roughly one in three new customers arrives by referral. ## Common Pests in Rio Linda Homes and Yards The Sacramento Valley calendar applies in Rio Linda, with one difference Jeff notes from the route: homes out by the fields get beetles and roaches that a mid-city house rarely sees. ### Outdoor cockroaches and beetles American and Oriental cockroaches have become a big outdoor problem in recent years. They live in garages, sheds, woodpiles, cracks and crevices. Open ground and animal feed nearby add beetles and crickets to the list. All of them are inside our Branch 2 scope. ### Ants Argentine and pavement ants are the two we see most. Several days of triple-digit heat push them into bathrooms and kitchens for water, and the first heavy winter rain pushes them inside for shelter. ### Spiders and webs Spiders follow the insects, and outdoor lights left on all night draw both. Web removal is part of every maintenance visit, under the eaves, around the porch, and along the fence line. ### Wasps, yellow jackets, fleas and ticks Paper wasps nest under eaves and along tile ridge caps; we treat one-story roofs from the ground and do not put ladders on two-story homes. Yellow jackets nest in the ground and were especially bad across the region in 2026. Fleas and ticks come with pets and with the open ground pets walk through, and they are treated with the vet treating the animal. ## Larger Lots, Animals and Outdoor Pet Food One recommendation comes up on the north route more than any other: bring the pet food inside. A bucket of dog food on the back porch, or feed left out for animals, calls every ant, roach and rodent within reach. Jeff's callback story is blunt about it: a homeowner kept seeing rodents after treatment, and the reason was a bucket of dog food on the porch and a tree still hanging on the house. The conditions the technician looks for on a larger lot are the same as anywhere, with more of them: limbs touching the roof, leaf litter and clippings against the foundation, woodpiles against the house, irrigation keeping a wall base damp, and lighting that runs all night. Fixing those is what makes the treatment hold, and it is the list you get before the technician leaves. ## Rats and Mice: Assessed for Fit, Major Work Referred Rodent work is not what Apex is built around, and Jeff does not want the company marketed that way. What we do: place bait stations for roof rats, Norway rats and house mice, and tell you what is inviting them, such as limbs on the roof, an open gap, or feed left outside. What we refer: heavy infestations that need exclusion, cleanup and repairs, plus attic work. Voles, which look like stocky short-tailed mice, are an agricultural pest outside our license, and moles, raccoons and possums need a trapper. We keep a referral list by the phone. ## Exterminator Services in Rio Linda: What the First Visit Includes If you searched for a Rio Linda exterminator, here is what the first Apex visit looks like. Jeff prefers the term pest management, because most of the visit is looking before it is treating. - Interview: why you called, what you have seen, and where. - A tour of the house and a walk around the property, sheds and woodpiles included. - Identification of the pest and the conditions feeding it. - Targeted interior treatment where the activity is, using low-odor products. - The exterior barrier: foundation, garage, windows and doorways, first-floor eaves, fence lines and yard areas. - Spider web removal. - Recommendations you can act on: gaps, litter, branches, lighting, moisture and outdoor feed. ## Rio Linda Pest Seasons Summers are warm and dry, and more than half of the year's rain falls November through February. Spring, April into June: ants and spiders return and wasps start nests. Summer, July into September: heat waves push ants indoors, outdoor roaches and beetles peak around garages and sheds, and yellow jacket colonies reach full size. Fall, October: spiders and webs peak. Winter, November into February: the first heavy rain pushes ants inside, the rest of the route goes quiet below 40 degrees, and rodents stay active. A bi-monthly program keeps the barrier ahead of each turn. ## Maintenance Program or One-Time Service The on-going maintenance program runs bi-monthly. The first visit treats the interior where the activity is and the exterior barrier around the whole home; follow-up visits reinforce the barrier and sweep webs, and you do not need to be home. A locked gate or a loose dog gets a note and a free reschedule of the missed area. On rainy days a granular product that withstands up to four inches of rain goes around the base of the home. Continuing customers in good standing get callbacks between visits at no additional charge for any contracted pest, until it is solved; the company's goal is to reach the home within 24 hours of the call. A one-time visit is a single treatment around the barrier of the home, recommended honestly when it fits: fleas after a pet is gone, or a move-out. For spiders and recurring ants it is usually a bandage, and we will say so before you choose. ## What We Refer to a Specialist Termites and other wood-destroying organisms are Branch 3 work, and Apex is not licensed to identify or treat them; we refer you to a termite company. Bed bugs go to a heat-treatment company and are not covered by the guarantee. We do not control flies or mosquitoes, we do not do bird or pigeon exclusion, and. Honey bees get a beekeeper first from our referral list; a spring swarm resting in a tree usually moves on within a day or two. ## How to Check a Pest Company's License Household pest treatment in California must be done by a company registered with the Structural Pest Control Board, and every operator and field representative carries a state license that renews every three years with required continuing education. You can look up any company or technician on the Department of Consumer Affairs license search before you let them treat your home. Apex's registration is No. 2770, Branch 2; Jeff Alexander is operator No. 8484 and Brent Brandon is No. 12138. Technicians wear long sleeves, long trousers, gloves and safety glasses on every treatment, which is the California standard and the one Jeff, a former industrial hygienist, holds the crew to. ## Estimates and Scheduling in Rio Linda We can usually quote over the phone from the square footage of the home and what you are seeing. The estimate is confirmed at the home, because the interview and the walk-around often turn up more than the caller described. We do not publish prices, because a number without knowing the home is a guess. The $90.00 new-homeowner discount is already in the quote the office gives you. The office is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at (916) 362-9294, and technicians are dispatched from Sacramento. Rio Linda, Elverta, North Highlands, Del Paso and North Sacramento share a route group; the office confirms your street when you call, and the full list of communities is on the service areas page. ## Fleas, Ticks and the Animals on the Property Larger lots and more animals mean fleas and ticks come up on the north route more than in a mid-city neighborhood. Fleas ride in on pets and settle in carpet, bedding and the shaded yard; ticks wait in tall grass and the edges pets walk through. Both are inside Apex's Branch 2 scope, and both work best as a partnership: the vet treats the animal and Apex treats the home and the yard, because treating one without the other is how fleas come back. Jeff names fleas after a pet is gone, or a move-out, as the perfect one-time case, and for a home with animals still on the property he will tell you honestly whether a single visit is likely to hold. On the day of the visit, pets are inside or contained so the technician can meet them and treat the yard. Treated areas stay off limits until dry, and the technician gives label-specific guidance on re-entry, drying and cleaning for the product used that day rather than one blanket waiting period. Bringing feed and water bowls inside, and keeping stored feed sealed, takes away the reason ants, roaches and rodents visit the porch in the first place. ## What to Do Before the First Visit Nothing elaborate. A few things make the first visit go faster on a larger lot and make the treatment hold longer. - Note where you have seen activity, including sheds, woodpiles and animal areas. - Keep pets and animals contained so the technician can treat the yard safely. - Unlock side gates and outbuildings you want walked. - Bring feed and pet food inside and seal what is stored outside. - Move woodpiles and stored material a few feet off the house wall if you can. - For an indoor German cockroach problem, the kitchen is cleaned and the cabinets emptied first; the office will say so when you book. ## One-Time Service or Recurring Protection: The Honest Decision Guide These are the questions the office asks, and the answers that usually point one way or the other. - Is the pest tied to a condition that is gone, such as a pet that has left or a previous occupant? One-time. - Does the same pest come back every season at this house? Recurring. - Is it spiders? Recurring, because the webs return and a single visit is a bandage. - Is it a single wasp nest with no other activity? One-time. - Is it indoor German cockroaches? A plan with follow-up, plus full kitchen preparation. - Is it rodents? Assessed for fit; bait stations and recommendations, with major work referred. ## Pest Control in Rio Linda: Frequently Asked Questions The questions Rio Linda homeowners ask the office most often, answered the way we answer the phone. ## Customer reviews (verbatim) - Carol S.: "We have been a customer of APEX since purchasing the family home from my mother's estate, the past 10 years. My mother was a customer of their's for many years prior to that. They are always willing to go the extra-mile for us, whether it's bugs, rats, or other creatures. The administrative staff is wonderful to work with over the phone, and we love our onsite technician. Great job APEX Pest Control!!! Keep doing what you're doing." - amy mcallaster: "On time meet up for first treatment. The tech went over what he would do and treat, and then went to work killing bugs." - Donna Parker: "We have been with Apex for 17 years. From that first phone call to inquire about their services until now we have been very happy with the service." ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does pest control cost in Rio Linda? We quote by phone from the home's square footage and what you are seeing. The estimate is confirmed at the home, because the interview and the walk-around often turn up more than the caller described. We do not publish a price list, because a number without knowing the home would be a guess. ### Why do I get more roaches and beetles than my friends in town? Homes out by open ground and fields see more of the big outdoor roaches and beetles, and sheds, woodpiles and animal feed give them shelter and food close to the house. Treating the garage and the barrier helps; moving the woodpile off the wall and bringing feed inside is what makes it hold. ### Do you treat sheds and outbuildings? The technician walks the whole property on the first visit, including sheds and woodpiles, because that is usually where the roaches and the rodents are coming from. Tell the office what is on the lot when you book so the visit is planned for it. ### Do fleas and ticks come with the animals on the property? Often, yes. Larger lots and more animals mean fleas and ticks come up on the north route more than in a mid-city neighborhood. Fleas ride in on pets and settle in carpet, bedding and shaded yard; ticks wait in tall grass and along the edges pets walk. The vet treats the animal and Apex treats the home and the yard, because treating one without the other is how fleas come back. ### What should I do about my animals on treatment day? We select the product and placement for the pest, the location and the label, and the technician gives label-specific guidance on re-entry, drying and cleaning for the product used that day. Treated areas stay off limits until dry. Tell the office about every animal on the property when you book so the technician can plan around them. ### Do you serve Elverta and North Highlands too? Yes. Rio Linda, Elverta, North Highlands, Del Paso and North Sacramento sit on the same Apex route group. Call the office to confirm any address near the edge of the area, and see the service areas page for the full list. ### What happens if the pests come back between visits? Call the office. Continuing maintenance customers in good standing get a return visit at no additional charge for any contracted pest, until it is solved. The goal is to reach the home within 24 hours of the call, and troublesome pest issues may require a supervisor's input. ## Related pages - [cockroach control](https://www.apexpestcontrolinc.com/pests-control/cockroaches.md) - [Pest Control in Sacramento](https://www.apexpestcontrolinc.com/pest-control-sacramento.md) - [ant control](https://www.apexpestcontrolinc.com/pests-control/ants.md) - [service areas](https://www.apexpestcontrolinc.com/service-areas.md) ## References - California Structural Pest Control Board: https://www.pestboard.ca.gov/ - Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner: https://agcomm.saccounty.gov/ - UC IPM Pest Notes: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/ - National Weather Service Sacramento: https://www.weather.gov/sto/ ## Contact - Apex Pest Control, 4541 Harlin Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826 - Phone: (916) 362-9294 (the only published number) - Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; no after-hours service - Estimates by phone from square footage and what the homeowner is seeing - Contact page: https://www.apexpestcontrolinc.com/contact-us/