Volunteer Rid A Pest

Volunteer Rid A Pest LLC is a locally owned termite and pest control company that was founded by Billy and Carolyn Gardner on April 1, 1970.

The company has grown from a “1 man with a spray can” operation, to a regional company with twenty-eight employees and a 10-county service area.

Billy and Carolyn operated the company for thirty-three years until Billy’s death in 2003. At that time, their son, Erik assumed the day-to-day operation of the business.

As the business grew, more services were added, such as home insulation services through their Energy Miser division, mosquito control through their Mosquito-Guard division, Handyman services through their Handyman Hotline division, crawl space moisture control through their Moisture-Guard division and they provide crawl space encapsulations through their Encapsulation Kings division.

“I enjoy this business because it involves solving our customer’s problems and protecting their homes from damage. We go into a situation with an upset homeowner with a termite or fungus problem, and when we leave, we have handled the problem and made their day better. I get a lot of satisfaction from that,” Gardner stated.

“But more than that, I feel job creation is vital to our local community,” stated Gardner. “Each year, we have thousands of young people graduating from high school and college that need

good-paying jobs here locally. We want to do our part to help fill that need. We plan to hire four more technicians in 2022.”

Erik Gardner’s eldest son, Paul Gardner, joined the company in 2016, and his second son, Derek Nichols, joined the company in July 2021.

“I have enjoyed working with Paul and watching him learn the business. He is very devoted to his customers and helping solve their problems. I am also enjoying helping Derek get his career started. As a veteran of the United States Air Force, he also has the Service First attitude, which will serve him well,” said Gardner.

Gardner also has a 15-year-old son, Tyler. “I’m not sure what path Tyler will take, but I think it will be hard not to want to work alongside his older brothers when that opportunity arises,” said Gardner.

Volunteer Rid A Pest’s newest division is Encapsulation Kings, which was formed to address a burgeoning problem in our area—damp crawl spaces. These crawl spaces have too much moisture and this allows the fungus to grow on the wood framing members. This will not only damage the floor system but also create an unhealthy atmosphere due to fungal spores. “By encapsulating the crawl space, we can completely change the environment in the crawl space to be more like the living space above. We will protect the home from expensive damage and the people that live there from allergies and other respiratory issues!” stated Gardner. “We have already helped several local families with this service and look forward to protecting many more.”

Volunteer Rid A Pest’s office is located at 633 Mimosa Drive, Cleveland, TN 37312. If you have any questions, visit Volunteer Rid A Pest’s website at www.volpest.com. If you would like to set up an appointment, call Erik Gardner and his staff at (423)-698-7205 or email Gardner at erik@volpest.net.

“This business is all about helping solve problems for other people. What a great way to make a living! I plan to do it for as long as I can,” said Gardner.