About Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants in nature burrow and nest in dead trees, and enhance the decay of the wood. While this is excellent for nature's sake, if a colony invades and begins to damage the wood in your home, they have definitely become an infestation.

In general, carpenter ants are black. However, there are some that may appear red. They are among the largest ants, ranging in length from .25 to .5 inches long. Besides having multiple species, carpenter ants also have different jobs to fulfill for the colony, and because of this, there is a large amount of variation in the appearence a carpenter ant colony.

Carpenter ants mainly eat living and dead insects, honeydew, sweets, meat, and fats. They do not actually eat wood. The wood is damaged as the nest is made inside of it. Carpenter ants become large pests in homes by foragin for food there. The bigger concern to people, however, should be that in living and traveling through the home, the carpenter ants are damaging the wood there.

Carpenter ants cunstruct their nests in just about any wooden structure: hollow trees, fence posts, logs, even wood in homes and other buildings. In general, the prefer wood that is moist and already rotting. They're likely to use old nests or other wood that has been abandoned by termites. In specific, they may nest in small hollows or void areas during the construction of a building. Unfortunately, they have a habit of moving from the decaying and rotting portions of the wood into sound lumber as they expend their nest. They cut "galleries" with the grain of the wood, following the softer parts. They leave the harder parts as walls separating the tunnels.

In making and keeping their tunnels clean, carpenter ants remove the wood in the form of a coarse sawdust-like material, which they push from their nest. It often results in a pile of sawdust accumulating just below the nest entrance hole. This pile may include wood fragments, bits of soil, dead ants, parts of insects and remnants of other things they have eaten.

About Termites

Methods:
Before we begin our treatment, a thorough inspection takes place, followed immediately by an analysis of your property. Once our professional has completed his inspection, the treatment process will begin.

We will construct an invisible barrier around your home, protecting them from the termites. This 'barrier' is created by materials designed to kill termites, thus, with special placement, we can both protect your home and rid it of termites all at once. The application of these materials varies from home to home, depending on:

Type of foundation/basement.

Construction materials.

Number and type of porches, patios, chimneys, etc.

During application, we may need to dig along the walls, and drill holes to reach areas where termites may find entry into your home.