Great Falls Ant Control
Family-owned & local since 1968
Carpenter ants follow wet wood. We find the leak or rot feeding the colony, treat the nest, and come back free if ants return.
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Trusted Ant Control in Great Falls, VA — in Our Customers' Words
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Why Better Termite
Ant Control in Great Falls you can trust — from $49/mo with no binding contracts.
Lower-Impact Products
Hand-picked, EPA-approved treatments selected by our research team — without 9 of the harshest products still used by most companies.
Local Ant Control Experts
Family-owned since 1968, with 300+ years of combined experience protecting Great Falls homes. A licensed local tech answers the phone.
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Unlimited free re-services and no binding contracts — we keep coming back until your problem is gone. Cancel anytime with 30 days notice.
About Better Termite
In Great Falls, Big Black Ants Usually Mean Wet Wood
Most ant calls from Great Falls are about carpenter ants: large black ants that show up at night in a kitchen, a bathroom, or under a skylight. People expect us to spray and be done. It doesn't work that way. Virginia Cooperative Extension puts it plainly: carpenter ants do not damage sound wood. They nest in wood that water has already softened. Kill the ants you see and leave the soft wood, and the next colony moves in.
So a Great Falls ant visit starts with a moisture hunt. We check deck ledger boards, porch posts, window and door frames, skylights, chimney flashing, and the bathroom next to wherever the ants turn up. Then we treat the colony with non-repellent products and baits the workers carry home, and we show you what is feeding it.
This page covers ants only. For the rest of what large wooded lots bring in, like mice, stink bugs, ticks and termites, see our pest control services for Great Falls homes.
Ant Season in 22066
When You See Them Tells You Where They Live
The month you first notice ants is one of the best clues we get. Here is the pattern in Great Falls homes, based on Virginia Cooperative Extension's carpenter ant guidance and what our technicians see in the field:
- February and March: carpenter ants walking around indoors this early usually means the nest is inside the house, somewhere warm and damp. Outdoor colonies are still quiet.
- April through June: outdoor colonies wake up and foragers come in from dead trees, stumps and firewood. This is also when odorous house ants start trailing to the kitchen, especially after heavy rain.
- May through July: winged carpenter ants swarm. Swarmers indoors mean a mature colony of 2,000+ workers nearby, which can take 3 to 6 years to build. See what carpenter ant swarmers mean.
- Late summer and fall: activity slows, but a colony living in a wall keeps going. Ants that stay active into fall point back to moisture.
Why Great Falls
Three Things About Great Falls Land That Keep Carpenter Ants Close
1. Big lots with the woods left in. Great Falls is mostly zoned Residential Estate (R-E) and is planned as low-density and semi-rural. Homes sit on an acre or more, and many owners keep the tree line close to the house. Carpenter ants nest outdoors in live trees with some decay, dead trees, and rotting logs and stumps. On a lot like this, those nest sites can be a few yards from the foundation.
2. Stream buffers you can't clear. Great Falls drains to the Potomac through Nichols Run, Clarks Branch, Captain Hickory Run, Piney Run and Difficult Run. Difficult Run is the largest watershed in Fairfax County at 57.7 square miles. Under the county's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance, land within 100 feet of these streams is a Resource Protection Area, and you need county approval to remove vegetation there, even dead trees. That keeps fallen logs and standing deadwood near many backyards for years.
3. Dead ash trees. The emerald ash borer has killed ash trees across Fairfax County, and the county warns that infested ash turns brittle and can fail without warning. A dead ash that has shed limbs or come down in the woods behind a house is exactly the kind of decaying wood a carpenter ant colony moves into.
None of this means you need to clear your lot. It means the exterior treatment line and the moisture check on the house matter more here than on a quarter-acre lot in town.
What We Check
Where We Look on a Great Falls House
Carpenter ants keep a parent nest, which holds the queen and needs steady moisture, and satellite nests that are often indoors. Virginia Cooperative Extension lists the usual indoor spots: porch pillars, roofs, windowsills and door frames with water damage, and wood around eaves, chimneys and skylights. It also lists wet foam insulation. On the larger custom homes common in Great Falls, those spots add up fast.
- Deck ledger boards and porch posts where rain sits against the siding
- Skylights, chimney flashing and roof valleys on complex rooflines
- Window sills and door frames with soft or peeling trim
- Clogged gutters and downspouts that dump water at the foundation
- Tubs and showers: cracked grout or caulk can leak into the room below
- Firewood, stumps and branches touching the house
That tub item comes from Daren, one of our technicians. He and his trainer once chased an ant problem through sprays, traps and dusting behind outlet covers before finding cracked grout around an upstairs tub leaking into the kitchen below. Now it is one of the first things he checks. Our guide to signs of carpenter ant damage shows what frass and galleries look like.
Ant or Termite?
Carpenter Ant or Termite? Settle It Before You Pick a Plan
Spring swarmers get mixed up all the time. Homeowners see winged insects near a window and call it flying ants when they are termites, or the other way around. Getting it wrong means paying for the wrong treatment, so we identify before we treat.
- The damage: carpenter ant galleries are smooth and clean because the ants carry the shavings out. Termite galleries have mud or dried soil in them.
- The debris: carpenter ants push out piles of sawdust-like frass, sometimes mixed with insect parts. Termites don't.
- The body: ants have a pinched waist and bent antennae. Termites have a thick waist and straight antennae.
If you find winged insects, put one in a sealed bag and show it to us at the inspection. Our side-by-side carpenter ants vs. termites comparison has photos. If it turns out to be termites, our Great Falls termite treatment page covers the next step.
The Other Ant
Small Ants in the Kitchen: Odorous House Ants
Not every Great Falls ant call is about carpenter ants. The small, dark ants lining up along the backsplash are usually odorous house ants. Crush one and it smells like rotten coconut. They nest shallow outdoors, under mulch, stones and landscape timbers, and move inside when rain floods those nests or when they find sugar and pet food.
Spraying the trail makes them worse. They split into more colonies and scatter. We use baits and non-repellent products the workers carry home, and we treat the outdoor nest sites along the foundation beds. Keep mulch pulled back a few inches from the siding and it helps a lot.
Carpenter ants nest in wood that water has already softened, so the ant usually points to a leak or rot
Clean, smooth galleries with no mud inside are the mark of carpenter ants, not termites. Photo: Cheryl Stinchcomb, iNaturalist (CC BY)
Odorous house ants are small, dark, and give off a rotten-coconut smell when crushed
Exterior treatment targets the foundation line, where foragers from outdoor nests cross into the house
Webs full of ants or winged swarmers can point straight to where a colony is active
Family-owned since 1968, with three scheduled visits a year and free callbacks in between
How It Works
Our Process
Moisture-First Inspection
Our 78-point inspection starts with the wet wood: rotted trim, deck ledgers, window sills, skylight and chimney flashing, and any leak behind a wall. That is where a carpenter ant colony lives.
Name the Ant (and Rule Out Termites)
Big black ants, tiny trailing ants, and winged swarmers each call for a different plan. We confirm the species, and check that the "flying ants" are not termite swarmers, before anything is treated.
Treat the Colony, Not the Trail
Non-repellent products and baits that foragers carry home, plus direct treatment of nest voids we can reach. Spraying the trail only scatters the colony.
Tell You What Is Feeding Them
If a leak or rotted board is keeping the colony alive, we show you where it is. Fixing it is what ends the problem for good.
3 Visits a Year + Free Callbacks
Scheduled visits three times a year, and unlimited callbacks if ants show up in between. No binding contracts.
What Our Customers Say
1800+ Reviews on Google "We've been a customer of Better Termite and Pest Control since moving into our Reston townhouse over 40 years ago. They have always provided great service. They treated a problem that we had many years ago, inspect for it regularly, and it has never recurred."
"I've used Better Termite since moving into my home in Burke. We work with Rob who's great at communicating and treating around our home."
"We have been customers for years. Thanks to Rob D for taking care of our home. Since the early days of COVID, Rob has been our go to guy. This weeks service was excellent as always like all the technicians at Better Termite. Trust worthy and dedication to his craft are his trademarks."
"Daren did an outstanding job conducting my termite inspection today. He was right on time and extremely professional thorough throughout the entire process. I did not have any problems, and he was very good with some solid advice about how to continue to guard against not only termites but other rodents as well."
"We've had a subscription service with this company for yrs, since moving into our current house, and realizing it was rather...spidery. But NO MORE! Better Termite uses pet-friendly, but not spider-friendly products, and we are now creepy crawly-free! Over the years, they've also tackled ants, bees, and HORRIBLE paper wasps!"
"We've been a customer of Better Termite and Pest Control since moving into our Reston townhouse over 40 years ago. They have always provided great service. They treated a problem that we had many years ago, inspect for it regularly, and it has never recurred."
"I've used Better Termite since moving into my home in Burke. We work with Rob who's great at communicating and treating around our home."
"We have been customers for years. Thanks to Rob D for taking care of our home. Since the early days of COVID, Rob has been our go to guy. This weeks service was excellent as always like all the technicians at Better Termite. Trust worthy and dedication to his craft are his trademarks."
"Daren did an outstanding job conducting my termite inspection today. He was right on time and extremely professional thorough throughout the entire process. I did not have any problems, and he was very good with some solid advice about how to continue to guard against not only termites but other rodents as well."
"We've had a subscription service with this company for yrs, since moving into our current house, and realizing it was rather...spidery. But NO MORE! Better Termite uses pet-friendly, but not spider-friendly products, and we are now creepy crawly-free! Over the years, they've also tackled ants, bees, and HORRIBLE paper wasps!"
Your Local Office
Ant Control Across Great Falls, ZIP 22066
From the Potomac side along Georgetown Pike to Leesburg Pike, including homes along Difficult Run, Nichols Run and Captain Hickory Run. Served by our Reston office.
Get in Touch
Call Us
703-659-1118Email Us
info@bettertermite.comVisit Our Reston Office
11250 Roger Bacon DrUnit 3 Suite A
Reston, VA 20190
Office Hours
- Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri9 AM – 5 PM
Good to Know
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? A licensed local tech picks up at (703) 659-1118.
Our Free Callback Promise
See pests between scheduled visits? We come back and retreat at no extra cost — as many times as it takes. No binding contracts, cancel anytime with 30 days notice.