Carpenter Ants

1. Pull up to apartment complex, park by rental office. Do not park in “future resident parking.
2. Open Pest Pac, press time in
3. Walk into leasing office, Greet the leasing agent, ‘Hi, my name is _____ with Environmental Pest Management I’m here today to do your pest control. Do you have a list for me? Pick up pest control list with all keys needed. Go over any special notes the manager may have regarding service.  Ask for property map if you are not familiar with property
4. Go to unit, knock on the door 3 times. If tenant answers the door we introduce ourselves (I’m “your name” with Environmental Pest Management) Once tenant allows us in we then ask probing questions about pest related issue; Where have you seen activity? About how long have you noticed pest issue? ETC. Inform tenant all people & pets in unit will need to stay away from any treated areas for a minimum of 1 hour following treatment. We do NOT discuss potential treatment plan with tenant. We do NOT discuss other units, unrelated or ongoing issues with the tenant. After gathering some information about pest issue, then move on to visual inspection
5. After knocking 3 times if no one comes to answer the door, we then use key to open the door and announce yourself (I’m “your name” with Environmental Pest Management) Check to see if animals are present, if so make sure they are properly secure in a cage in areas we are not treating
6. Visual inspection inside unit. For multifamily units “Apartment style”  This would be inspecting kitchen, bathroom,  exterior walls in living room, & bedroom. As well as any areas tenant complained of activity. For townhome, condo & duplex units with a basement this inspection will need to be in basement area around sill plate, behind insulation if needed, exterior walls in living room, bedroom, & kitchen. If there is an accessible crawl space area in the townhome, condo, or duplex units this area will need to be inspected as well. While inspecting basement or crawl space sill plate, if any ant frass or activity is noticed we need to pull out insulation to look for active carpenter ant nest. Make sure to put back any insulation you pull out. For units with attics, we only inspect or treat attics at specific request of leasing agent or on site manager. For townhome, condo or duplex units we need to also walk exterior perimeter of structure, looking for any signs of damaged, wet wood, or carpenter ant activity. Also inspect around near tree/wooded areas nearest to home. Try to locate active nest
7. Identification after inspection, before treatment. Make sure you are dealing with carpenter ants & not other ant species such as black field ant
8. Once properly identified formulate a plan for treatment. Carpenter Ants can be controlled with residual spray, granular bait, liquid bait & dust insecticides. Aerosol fogging agents labeled for carpenter ants can be used for quick knock down of active carpenter ant nest. EPM preferred method of treatment is with chemical residual spray, always trying to treat nest directly.
9. Interior; Always treat nesting site directly. If nest is not located spraying residual around baseboards of exterior walls in living room, bedroom, basement or crawl space sill plate & in areas where ants are foraging. Also spraying residual in rooms with water access such as kitchen, & bathroom baseboards. Carpenter Ant bait can also be placed in areas where worker ants can consume & take back to nest. This bait will need to be placed in areas where carpenter ant activity was reported or noticed by technician, as this will be the areas the ants are foraging. If using liquid Carpenter Ant bait place inside ant bait buffet station, or in cracks & crevice. Granular carpenter ant bait will also need a ant buffet station, or can be placed in cracks & crevices. Do NOT place granular bait out in open where can be accessed by children or pets. If using a dust insecticide that is labeled for carpenter ants, only place in wall voids or behind insulation where it can NOT be accessed by children or pets. If nest is located we need to spray nest directly with aerosol for quick knock down. Then spray area with residual spray. If nest is located & treated by technician, he/she then will need to clean up dead ants & all nesting material, or destroyed insulation
10. When treating a townhome, condo or duplex unit an exterior spray may also be considered at technicians discretion. If technician feels an exterior spray is needed for a large multifamily building, he/she needs to get approval from EPM office & leasing office. When treating the exterior of a unit, spraying at the foundation of unit, & spray any ant mounds directly. If needed you can also place granular carpenter ant bait around wooded areas, such as rotted trees, & tree lines located around perimeter of unit. Do NOT place granular bait on top or around residual spray. Do NOT place granular bait out in open where can be accessed by people or pets
11. Following completion of treatment, leave door hanger on backside of front door with name, time, notes from service. Notes of service would include specific treatment areas, & follow up instructions, such as if tenant continues to see active Carpenter Ant activity after 10-14 days following service to report back to office for follow up. Do NOT schedule follow up service with tenant.
12. Return keys to rental office, give the leasing agent any notes from service. These notes need to include activity levels, sanitation issues, clean up, moisture issues, & wood damage that may need to be assessed by maintenance
13. Return to truck, complete Pest Pac and work order system. Always placing any pictures taken during service into work order system
14. Press completed service on Pest Pac, head to next stop on schedule