Finding · Carpenter ants
Carpenter ants, found at the nest
Big black ants in the house? We find the nest and get rid of it. The wood they tunnel is the thing worth protecting.
Chapter 01
Sawdust, rustling, and big black ants in spring
A homeowner in Waretown or Brick may first see a large black ant walking the kitchen floor in March, long before the house feels warm. Carpenter ants are among the biggest ants in New Jersey, and one or two indoors at that time of year often means a colony inside a wall, not out in the yard.
Look for fine, pale, sawdust-like frass in tidy piles beneath a window frame, a door casing or a porch rail, mixed with bits of dead insects. Listen for a faint dry rustling in a wall at night. Carpenter ants do not eat wood; they excavate it to nest, leaving smooth, clean galleries, unlike the muddy tunnels of termites.
Moisture is the opening. A leaking window, a rotted sill, flashing that has failed behind the siding or a damp crawl space gives them soft wood to start in. Winged ants indoors in spring are swarmers, and they mean a mature colony is already established somewhere close, often within the house.
Flashlit floor joist with staining, a probe resting on the sill
Finding the nest before treating anything
This is a locating job. A technician follows the foraging trails, taps and probes suspect wood, checks the crawl space and attic, and works the exterior around trees touching the roof and stumps near the house. Photographs of the damp wood and the entry points go to you, so the repair list is something you can see and not a guess. The nest may sit well away from where the ants turn up, so the search can take a while.
Once the nest is found, treatment goes directly to it, with a perimeter barrier and bait where trails run. If a satellite colony sits in a stump or woodpile, it needs treating too. We work with family and pets in mind, and the Organic Pest Program is open if you want to start there.
Resolve is licensed in New Jersey under LIC# 91689B, and our WDI inspection looks for carpenter ants alongside termites, since the damage looks similar until someone opens the wood. That second opinion matters most at a closing, when a buyer, a lender or a realtor needs to know whether the wood in the crawl space is sound before the paperwork is signed.
Chapter 03
Afterwards, the damp wood still needs fixing
Treatment ends the colony; it does not repair the sill. Replace soft wood, correct the leak, trim branches back off the roof and move firewood away from the house. Without that, new queens find the same damp spot and the whole story begins again. A small leak at a window corner is how most of these colonies begin, and it costs little to stop it early.
Spring is the season for a second look. Call (732) 527-5770 if ants or sawdust return. The 100% satisfaction guarantee covers a retreat at no additional cost, and a WDI inspection can be requested whenever you want the structure checked. Homes near wooded lots in the Pine Barrens edge of Burlington County should expect a visit from scouts each spring.
Licensed & insured · NJ LIC# 91689B · 100% satisfaction guarantee
CROSS-REFERENCE · NJ LIC# 91689B
Found alongside carpenter ant control
Ant Control
Trails along the counter or the sill: we find where they nest and where they get in.
Termite Inspection & WDI Reports
NPMA-33 reports from $125 plus tax, emailed within 48 hours, rush available for closings.
Crawl Space & Basement Pest Control
The dark, damp places pests live first, inspected with a light and photographed.
Termite Control
Inspection, a personalised plan, a barrier around and within the home, then ongoing monitoring.