Does anyone know how much an exterminator charges to get rid of carpenter ants?

Question

Does anyone know how much an exterminator charges to get rid of carpenter ants?

Answer 1

Just do it yourself!  Use a mix of cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it here and there. The ants will come and pick up the sugar, along with the cinnamon, and take it back to their queen. Ants can’t digest cinnamon and once the queen dies from not being able to digest the cinnamon the colony will die without her

Answer 2

We called Orkin once.  It's not just a one time deal.  They make you sign a contract for a year and come monthly.  I think it was like 75 to 100 a month.

Answer 3

First - Kim G is wrong saying that cinnamon and sugar will kill ants. She doesn't know the first thing about ant biology.

Grits won't kill ants for the same reason. Ants do not swallow whole grits, or even pieces of grits. They also do not swallow cinnamon.  Read here:

http://competitionpest.com/index.php/Pes...

Now that that's out of the way...

I've worked for two other companies before starting my own. Both will remain nameless.

The first was a huge company within the top 20 companies in the whole USA. I've seen carpenter ant jobs for them go as high as $4000/year.

My second company I was employed by would still charge $400 for the first service and $125 every three months.

Now that technology has advanced beyond the spray-and-pray tactics, my prices are about $200 for the first service, no contract.  I've only had to re-treat for carpenter ants once, and that was within the first three months so it was free for the customer.

Find a company who doesn't make you sign a contract and is certain they can get rid of the carpenter ants with one treatment. If you want other bugs dead, such as spiders, it might take two treatments (first one using a specialized product for the ants, second using a general product that works great on other bugs).

Answer 4

Bait and kill them by mixing corn syrup with boric acid in a small dish and place in an area where you see the most ants, (be sure pets can't get to it) they take it back to the nest and feed it to the colony, it attacks their nervous systems and dries out their bodies from the inside and kills them.

You can buy boric acid at drug stores or you can use 20 Mule Team borax laundry detergent.