Carpenter Ants
These are large ants, either all black or black and red, either winged or wingless. They construct their nests in hollow trees, logs, telephone poles, posts, porch pillars, and other timber used in homes. Their trademark is a small pile of coarse sawdust beneath their nesting site.

Carpenter ants differ from termites because they do not actually eat wood, but simply hollow it out to form nests. While usually not as serious as termites, they can weaken building structures.
The secret to control is direct treatment of the nests.  Our staff is highly skilled at finding and directly treating the nests.

Termites
Please see our "Termites" page for more information.

Wood Boring Beetles
The larvae of these beetles reduce timbers to a mass of very fine, powder-like substance.  The adults do very little damage.  Treatment options often include improved moisture control and borate applications (Boracare)..

Wood Decay Fungi
Decay fungi can cause severe structural damage to any wood member, even wood species such as redwood and cedar. All that is needed is a source of water in contact with the wood. Decay will occur in untreated wood that is in direct contact with the ground, cement or concrete, or exposed to a source of moisture such as rain seepage, plumbing leaks or condensation. Most decay fungi are unable to conduct water very far and can only attack moist wood. However, Poria incrassata, called the water-conducting fungus, will decay wood which would not be attacked by typical decay fungi. This type of fungus can transport water for several feet through large root-like structures called rhizomorphs. Once established, it can quickly spread through a building and destroy large areas of flooring and walls in as little as one year. Treatment options include removal/replacement of wood that is no longer sound, improved moisture control and borate applications (Boracare).

Crawl Space Cleanup
You can prevent pest problems by cleaning up your crawl space. Our crawl space clean-up service includes: dead animal removal, removal of wood debris that can draw termites, repairing the building vents (reduces the chances of animal entry), re-installing a vapor barrier (lowers the amount of moisture entering the crawl space from the soil), removal of contaminated insulation, deodorizing, etc...