3  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

We live in a heavily forested area near lakes. Lots of wood. Lots of moisture. Lots of rotting wood. Perfect food for carpenter ants. Which are apparently never quite happy enough with the feast in our yard, as they continue to try to come into our house. Year after year.
The first year we noticed them, we figured it was a fluke. We caulked their most obvious entry points.

The second year, Rain Dog went online and did some homework. He followed the ants from outdoors in, tracked their "supply lines," did more caulking. And ordered bait they would take back to their nests.

When that still didn't work, we realized we would never truly get rid of them, and all we really wanted was them out of our house. This time, we called professionals.

Terminix was at our house within the week. They sprayed indoors and out, and after just a few days, we had no more ants.

Initially I feared that introducing chemicals into our home was not the best option, considering we have small children (though the alternative was allowing the ants into our home). However, while we were advised not to let Hamlet play directly in spray zones for 24 hours, being in the same room was not a problem.

Sure, that was just the technician's word. But Terminix provides a complete list of its chemicals on its service order, which always notes what was used and in what quantity. From there, it is easy to go to PesticideInfo.org to look up information on the chemical's toxicity, poisoning symptoms, and other information, including the chemical's application in specific pesticide products.

Terminix has a one-time flat fee and then quarterly payments after that. Or you can pay by the year, for a discount. The rate stays the same no matter how many times you call them, or what kind of problem you have. However, we've never had to call for service outside our quarterly maintenance.

Technicians and service centers will vary according to region, of cource, but we've had very good experiences with ours. On the whole, Terminix is a company I feel very comfortable recommending.