I just moved into a new place and have discovered a bunch of ants in the kitchen.. Has anybody had any good experiences with exterminators/ pest control companies in the NOVA area?

When we moved into one place in fairfax, there were fucking bugs, ants, and shit loads of other crap coming in. I think we got someone from yellow pages, but it didn't help. The problem was all the plants and yardwork in the front, where those insects thrived and invaded the house during the hot time of the year, mostly summer. We got rid of that shit in the yard, and it was much better. Obviously ants are coming into the kitchen because they know food is there, maybe try vacumming the area. If it's really hot/humid, open some windows.

Go to Home Depot and buy a jug of ant killer with a little sprayer thingy. Spray around the foundation of the house and any holes. That should fix it.

What Jester said, plus, get those ant traps and place them in the kitchen where you usually see the ants coming out of the walls or doorframes. These things frigging work. I had a problem with ants in my townhouse every spring invading my kitchen via the doorframe leading out to my rear deck. One time I had a pizza box sitting on the counter for a couple of hours while we watched TV in the other room. Ants went from zero to millions in that short time and I had to chuck the remaining pizza, but as soon as I started using the ant traps, and setting them out at the beginning of each spring, it stopped. I also found that the ants build a nest underneath my patio blocks in the same spot every year, so as soon as I see sand coming up between the cracks in spring, I bomb is with good strong insecticide, as well as spray the base of the house. No more fucking bugs.

While you MIGHT have success with products from Home Depot or Lowe's, I highly recommend Western Pest Service (much better than Terminix or Orkin). We have an annual contract, around $350, and whenever we have a problem they come out within 24 hours and treat it. We also get semi-annual inspections are treatment of the exterior 2-3x per year.

I heard from a friend this afternoon that Western is a good company. $350 is well worth the piece of mind you will get from it. Any idea if that will cover more than just ants?

Need a Hand Wrote:
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> I heard from a friend this afternoon that Western
> is a good company. $350 is well worth the piece
> of mind you will get from it. Any idea if that
> will cover more than just ants?


The annual plan (and it may have gone up slightly) covers all pests EXCEPT termites and I don't think that it covers animals like squirrels or bats. We had a paper wasp nest inside our porch roof and they treated that along with a ground nest of hornets or bees last summer.

The technicians have always been prompt, friendly and competent and they will start a remediation with a low power treatment and work their way up to the nuclear option if things don't work out. I appreciate this approach, for example, in the kitchen where I am concerned with having a lot of toxic residue around. They will keep coming back until the problem is solved, but it rarely has taken more than two visits.

Screw these WAY overrated pest control operations, they water down their chemcials and usually have to come back several times to chalk up a bigger bills. They suck!

$350-$1000 to simply spray some chemicals, you have to be kidding me.

You know your house better. You can do the exact same thing they do and better with higher grade stuff from your local hardware store.

We started with Connors Pest control after termites tunneled into our living room wall.

Friendly, decent guy ….same person each visit…..does the treatments……and for now five years, trustworthy.

$85 for annual termite and pest control contract. Then you agree to 85 quarterly. This includes being able to call them anytime for any bug problem. Of course, mulch brings in the termites so, we’ve had 2 treatments for that problem. The first we paid for before the contract…BIG hit on the wallet……and the second was covered under the contract….so, its like insurance.

I tried treating the ant problem in my kitchen with the store bought chemicals but, the ants kept finding a way. I didn’t want to have to learn all about ant behavior to figure out how to find their nests etc. And, like others said, the nests are outside, under patios…stones, slate walkways etc.

The bug guy knows the right places to spray. As he pointed out to me, our windows aren’t sealed properly at the top where they meet the wall…so, he uses a spray with a long applicator to treat the cracks. Another way they get in is through the openings under the sinks cut out for the pipes. Also, the electric outlets....
He also does a foundation spray, which in August, keeps the crickets out or dead. We used to have crickets jumping all over the basement….they’re gone.

Suggest asking for the best poison, lately they’ve been trying to substitute a eco green friendly poison. In my opinion, not as effective.

How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth...... After 45 years in pest control, I have just finished re-writing my free IPM encyclopedia entitled: THE BEST CONTROL II, that contains over 2,800 safe and far more effective alternatives to pesticide POISONS. This latest copyrighted work is free and about 1,800 pages in length and is now being updated at my new website at http://www.stephentvedten.com/ . There is simply no need to POISON yourself or your family or to have any pest problems.

Stephen L. Tvedten

Wow, well good luck with that. I had western and my dog got really sick and $350 that is expensive! I pay $260 a year with Terminix.

Depends on where you are. We used Better Termite & Pest (located on Duke in Alexandria). They have always been very responsive, and their termite system worked well for us when we got invaded.

Perhaps they can do something for the ants which are annoying.

Sorry, got confused by the thread title... thought it was about the real big pests in our lives.

what did FFXU use to exterminate EJ?

Keep a clean household...that includes no pets.

ITRADE Wrote:
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> Depends on where you are. We used Better Termite
> & Pest (located on Duke in Alexandria). They have
> always been very responsive, and their termite
> system worked well for us when we got invaded.

I used to use them. I had an inspector come out yearly that was really good, and then they moved him to another region and sent this other idiot out who literally punched holes in my trim next to my front door by using way too much force on a "turn-the-screwdriver-backwards-and-tap" test. I could hear the "taps" from my basement, he must have started from behind his head and really slammed the shit out of my house. And no he didn't find any termite evidence, I just had a bunch of holes to repair.

Needless to say they were fired.