Get rid of carpenter ants

Carpenter ants are the most common wood-destroying organism (WDO) pests found in Western Washington. They can establish satellite colonies inside homes or offices and use wall voids or crawl spaces to travel through a structure. These ants are typically black or reddish-brown in color and come in varying sizes.

SEE ALSO
OTHER TYPES

Odorous House Ants
Moisture Ants

Carpenter Ants

Despite their absence in the winter, carpenter ants stay relatively active all year long. They typically spend the colder months sheltered while mining galleries and growing their colony. In the spring, mature colonies may produce winged reproductive ants called “swarmers.” These reproductives emerge to start new colonies. 

Carpenter ants can be found foraging at night during warmer months and can be heard in wall voids as they carve out wooden beams and braces. Ants you may find inside your home are likely from a satellite nest. The parent nest, which houses the Queen, can usually be found within 100 meters of the home in stumps, dead tree limbs, landscape timbers, or other wood debris. Carpenter ants begin by attacking water-damaged wood and are often found nesting in leak-prone areas such as crawl spaces, wall voids, and attics. 

If you still see carpenter ants in your home, even if you’ve successfully gotten rid of the carpenter ant nest, then it’s time to call the professionals at Sunrise. 

Interested in learning more about carpenter ants? Read our blog here.

End Carpenter Ant problems in 3 easy steps

STEP 1

INSPECTION

Identify problem areas

Carpenter ants are considered wood-destroying organisms (WDo) by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Our technicians are specially trained, licensed, and certified to inspect and treat carpenter ant infestations. Your technician will begin treatment by inspecting for activity, damage, and environmental factors that could be causing the infestation.

Our treatment will be completed on the same day as your inspection. This can take one or two hours, depending on the size of the home. The technician will target crucial areas, like the crawl space and wall voids, to treat the entire colony. They will also focus on locations where trailing and live activity has been seen. They will find the nest and eliminate the Queen to stop the infestation. 

The process can include:

  • Using ant baits.
  • Drilling holes in the area where carpenter ant activity is observed
  • Using boric acid to kill them and perimeter spray to prevent the ants from coming back.

STEP 2

Initial Treatment

Treat the Source, Not the Symptoms

It isn’t uncommon to see a spike in activity after your treatment. This is just the ants reacting to the service we have performed. After a couple of days, activity should begin to recede as the ants take our control material back to their nest. After 2 weeks, any carpenter ants seen around the home should appear sluggish, slow, or disoriented. This means that the treatment is working and has spread to the rest of the colony. There should be no more activity after 30 days. 

However, this service comes with a 60-day warranty. If you are still seeing ants after a month, all you have to do is give us a call, and we will dispatch a technician to complete an additional treatment at no cost to you.

Sunrise has been eliminating and mitigating carpenter ant infestations in the Pacific Northwest since 1978. Our treatment is effective, environmentally friendly, and safe for children and pets.

STEP 3

All Pest Protection

Prevent Future Infestations

All Pest Protection is a quarterly maintenance service aimed to prevent infestations of general pests such as ants, rodents, bees, and other insects. We come out on a 3-month rotation to provide an exterior perimeter spray where the home and foundation meet, spot treat around doors and windows for activity, sweep reachable webs and spider egg sacs, and maintain rodent bait stations (secured, locked, black plastic boxes) on the exterior of the home to mitigate outside Rodent populations.

All Pest Protection (APP) can also include various warranties for general pests established after the Initial Inspection and Treatment. Once you get started, each quarterly service is only $109 before tax. Should your house be overrun by fleas, bees, spiders, or any of the pests eligible under your warranty, all you have to do is give us a call. We’ll dispatch a technician to complete a pest-specific treatment at no cost to you under your APP warranty.