Ant & Spider Control
Carpenter Ant vs Black Ant, or a Spider Problem? Work Out What You Have First
Bees and wasps are my specialty, but ants and spiders keep Portland houses busy all year. This page sorts out which one you have and sends you to the page that covers it properly.
- Same-day service available
- Licensed Commercial Pesticide Operator
- Quoted before any work begins
Do I have an ant problem or a spider problem?
You can usually sort it in ten seconds. A moving line all headed the same way is ants, and the fix is the nest you can't see rather than the line you can. Webbing in corners and along the eaves, with one big spider at a time turning up, is spiders. Ants every spring and spiders every fall isn't one job. That's a house that needs covering all year.
- A line moving in one direction is ants. Kill the line and the nest sends more by morning.
- Webs in corners and along eaves are spiders. They're on your house because insects are.
- Fine shavings like sawdust under a sill means carpenter ants, and that one gets worse the longer it sits.
- Everything in this category is quoted before I start, never after I finish.
Where to go next for ant and spider control in Portland, Oregon
Each of these goes deeper than this page does. Pick the one that matches what's happening at your house, or send me a photo and I'll pick for you.
Ant Control
Trails on the counter, big black ants after dark, shavings under the trim. Ants around here are usually a moisture story before they're an insect story, and that page covers where the water tends to be.
Read about ant control
Spider Control
Webbing across every eave in September, fast spiders in the basement and garage, or the hobo spider question you actually called about. That page has what the research found and what brings the numbers down.
Read about spider control
Complete Insect Protection
For the houses where it's never just one thing. Quarterly visits put treatment down before each season's push instead of chasing it after, and emergency visits in between are free.
See how the annual plan worksNot sure which? Text a photo to (206) 817-7782 and I'll tell you which of those three you want. If it's a nest with something flying in and out of it, I'll point you at bee removal or wasp and hornet control instead, because that's different work under different rules.
Carpenter ant vs black ant vs spider: a quick read on what you have
The sorting I do over text before I load the truck.
| What you're seeing | What it usually turns out to be | Where the detail lives |
|---|---|---|
| A steady line of small dark insects heading for the kitchen | Foragers from a colony in a wall void, under a slab, or under something left sitting on the ground outside. | Ant control |
| Big black ants after dark, plus fine shavings under a sill | Carpenter ants, which means damp wood somewhere is part of the answer and worth finding fast. | Carpenter ant treatment |
| Flat, messy sheet webs low in garage, crawl space or basement corners | House spiders set up where it's dark and undisturbed, eating whatever else lives down there. | Spider control |
| A brown spider somebody told you was a hobo | Usually not one, and the Burke Museum is blunt that nobody identifies hobos by eye. | What the hobo spider research says |
| Something different every season, year after year | A house with easy access rather than a one-off problem, so single visits keep working and keep ending. | Annual plan |
Species specifics live on the pages above, because a sugar ant trail and carpenter ants in a wall get treated differently.
How booking an ant or spider visit around Portland, Oregon works
- 1
Send a photo before you book
Text the bug, the trail or the web to (206) 817-7782. Identification is free. If it's something that sorts itself out, I'd rather tell you that than put you on the calendar.
- 2
Get the number first
I quote before I start, never after I finish, and the number on the phone is the number on the invoice.
- 3
The person who quoted it does it
I work alone, so there's no crew and no handoff. Same-day across the Portland metro when my schedule allows.
What ant and spider control costs in Portland, Oregon, and how I price it
No price list, and I won't pretend otherwise: both of these get quoted on the house in front of me, before any work starts. Send a photo or describe the rooms and I can normally give you a figure the same day. Here is what moves it.
Pricing
You get a quote before any work begins
Call or message me for a quote. Send a photo to (206) 817-7782 and I can usually price it without a visit.
Call or text (206) 817-7782Size and layout of the house
A two-bedroom bungalow and a four-level place with a crawl space are different amounts of foundation line. More perimeter, more time and material.
Exterior only, or inside as well
Plenty of this gets handled from outside before anything establishes indoors. Once there's activity in the kitchen or basement, interior placements get added and the visit runs longer.
One problem, or three at once
Ants, spiders and a wasp nest handled on one visit earns a discounted rate over booking me three separate times.
One visit, or the whole year
The annual plan is quarterly visits, preventative interior and exterior treatment, and free priority emergency visits between quarters. It is offered in West Linn, Lake Oswego and Oregon City only.
When the real fix is a downspout and a tube of sealant, that's what I'll tell you. Call or text (206) 817-7782.
When ants and spiders aren't worth paying anyone for
I'd rather talk you out of a job than take your money for something that was going to sort itself out. A good share of what crawls around a Portland house does no harm, and some of it is quietly working for you.
What does earn a call: carpenter ants anywhere near damp wood, a trail that comes back to the kitchen no matter how clean you keep it, webbing across every eave, or spiders turning up in bedrooms. Those don't resolve on their own.
- The big wheel-shaped web on the porch in September. It'll be gone by late fall and it eats flying insects every night until then.
- A single ant trail that shows up after a hard rain and disappears once the ground dries out.
- A spider in the bathtub. A cup and a piece of junk mail beats a service call.
Google reviews
What Portland, Oregon homeowners say after the job
5.0 from 25 Google reviews
Read them on GoogleSam came out the day after I called and had predicted the situation correctly when we chatted on the phone. He was able to get rid of the yellow jackets and even helped with an ant issue we had. Super nice and knowledgeable!
Erin Dhruva Great service, fast response!
Alex Ramberg Sam was great. He was able to come out same day and take care of the yellow jackets living in our siding. He's efficient and professional. Highly recommend!
Susan Thomsen Before calling Sam, I was told by a “professional” Pest service that the infiltrators getting through my siding were honeybees. The bees were quite visible through my window, but we’re misidentified. Fortunately, I called Sam and he corr...
Patty Rissberger I called Sam to help with a yellow jacket hive in an exterior wall of my house. He communicated quickly over text, made an appointment for the same day, arrived when he said he would, and answered all of the questions I had. He treated t...
Sarah H Sam was great. He ended up coming the same day and removing a yellow jacket nest for us. I would highly recommend him to anyone!!
Tori Phillps From start to finish Sam was professional and easy to work with, he was knowledgeable and friendly and well prepared! It was a much more enjoyable experience to work with Sam than calling a big named exterminator. Sam was honest and fair...
Tamsyn Cox Sam was great! Successful wasp removal, easy communication, quick work. Would call again if needed.
Jen P Sam was outstanding to work with! We had a huge hive return to a spot in our attic that had been previously cleared a year earlier. I called Sam on a Tuesday and he came out the next morning! He worked quickly and efficiently to remove t...
Brian Odell I called Sam and was on a job and about done for the day and I explained my situation and he went out of his way and gave me a time he would be here and he was right on time. Did a Sunday removal of a wasps nest on my front porch and onc...
Michael puderbaugh Called Sam and he answered right away. He was able to come out within a few hours and took care of a large yellow jacket nest that had been built in a fern bush next to my driveway where we walk to get into the back gate and garage. He w...
Diana Lu Sam arrived quickly, day of, to save us from an aggressive hornets nest. Sam knew exactly the hornet before even having eyes on it and was communicative and helpful. The experience was much easier than trying to deal with some others in...
Katheryn Hayward We discovered a wasp nest in a planter in our back yard yesterday (and got stung 3 times, ouch!) and called Sam this morning. He was able to come out a few hours later and eradicate the nest. He was thoughtful, knowledgeable, and just a...
Hans Nolf Sam was awesome! Our Tennant texted us late Sunday night stating her heard buzzing in the walls, and Sam was able to come take a look the next day! He is clearly very knowledgeable and gave us quite a bit of information. Extremely kind a...
Megan Delmore Sam was super friendly and worked very efficiently to remove a huge colony of yellow jackets from our soffit…..which was 16 feet off the ground! Recommend very highly, worth every penny!
Laurie Kunert Fantastic service, Timely, Professional, Friendly, Easy to work with, Great value for the price, Good communication. Bye bye yellow jackets!
Scott Klees I had an urgent need at my work location. I texted Sam at 3:30pm. He replied within the hour. We made a plan for meeting to survey and treat the situation. He was on site by 6:15 and done working by 7:00pm. 5 stars for communication, for...
Patrick Clark A+++++! We were so relieved to find Sam the Bee Man! After an unsuccessful removal by a different bee pro, we were feeling helpless until I found Sam. Not all bee experts have the skill to cut into a structure, but Sam does. He used a he...
Jennifer Stafford Professional and friendly to work with. Great communicator and very knowledgeable. Would strongly recommend for any pest control or be removal services. If you have a wasp, they also specialize in that.
Detail Maestro Sam came out the same day I contacted him, and was able to quickly find and remove a yellow jacket nest. He also was able to talk to me about options for treating ants in my backyard, offering varying levels of treatment that felt most...
Ali C I had a bee problem. I messaged Sam this morning at 8:30am. He responded by 8:46am and was at my building by 1pm. Sam is highly knowledgeable and extremely thoughtful. His approach to bee management is taking into account the safety of t...
Nadine Stanton Sam is so knowledgable and is a godsend to us for keeping the ants and spiders away in our home. His membership model is super valuable and reasonably priced and perfect for our needs. He's also just super friendly and takes his time to...
Veronica McOmie Sam's my new pest control go to man. I had a HUGE ant issue in the primary bathroom. Sam came out the same day I called. He assessed the situation, determined the entry point and provided options for getting rid of them. I have signed...
M R Sam was great. When I had a bumble bee hive in my garage, he came out the same day and was able to relocate the hive to a safer location.
ryan spooner Great experience with Sam the Bee Man! Professional and thorough. Highly recommend!
Jessica Reed
Call or Text (206) 817-7782
For the quickest response to your bee, wasp, or pest concern.
Common questions
Questions I get about ants and spiders around Portland, Oregon
I can't tell what I'm looking at. Can you identify it from a photo?
Yes, and I'd rather you send one than guess. Get as close as your phone will focus and put a coin in frame for scale. For ants I want the trail as much as the insect, because where it runs tells me as much as what it is. For spiders the shape of the web helps more than the spider does. I'll tell you what it is and whether it's worth a visit at all.
Can you deal with ants and spiders on the same visit?
Usually, and it costs less than booking me twice. The two overlap more than people expect, since spiders are on your house because there are insects there to eat. Tell me both problems when you call rather than mentioning the second one while I'm packing up.
I'd rather not have chemicals in the house at all. Is that an option?
Sometimes, and I'll tell you which case you're in rather than promise it up front. Much of what drives ants and spiders is moisture, gaps and exterior lighting, and fixing those beats anything I can apply. Plenty of jobs get handled from outside so nothing goes into living space. A carpenter ant colony in a wall usually does need a product, and I'd rather say so than sell you something that fails.
You're the bee man. Why do you take ant and spider calls?
Because I'm already at the house. Half of these calls start as something else, and I'd rather handle the ants while I'm there than send you looking for a second company. Same license, same truck. Bees and wasps are what I'm known for. Ants and spiders keep houses busy the rest of the year.
Will one visit hold, or will they be back next year?
One visit ends the problem that's happening now. Whether it stays ended depends on the house. If the reason they got in was a wet crawl space, a gap under the siding or a porch light stacking up food by the door, that reason is still there in twelve months. So I leave a short fix-it list rather than just an invoice, and some houses do better on the quarterly plan than on a call every spring.
Do you come out to my part of the metro?
One-time visits cover the full Portland metro from my base in West Linn. The annual plan is much narrower on purpose, since quarterly visits only work if the drive does: West Linn, Lake Oswego and Oregon City only. Outside those three I can still come out, just not on a plan.
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