My backyard drops into a ravine. Does that mean more pests?

Usually, yes. Wooded ravines like Salmon Creek or Miller Creek hold rats, carpenter ant colonies and wasp nests right at the fence line. You cannot change the ravine, but you can make the house the hard target: seal gaps at ground level, trim brush back from the siding, and keep a station line along the edge of the lot.

There are bees coming out of my rockery. Will you kill them?

That depends on what they are. Most nests in rockeries and lawns are yellowjackets, which we treat at dusk or dawn and then treat the entry so a new colony does not take over. If they turn out to be honey bees, we do not kill them. We refer you to a local beekeeper who can move them.

Is it worth treating my house if the neighbor has a rat problem?

On Burien's tighter lots, yes. Rats travel along fence lines and under decks, so a neighbor's problem can reach you within a season. Sealing your own foundation, vents and garage door gaps is the part you control. Exterior stations along the shared side catch rats before they get close to your crawl space.

How quickly can you get to Burien?

Someone will be at your door within 48 hours. Burien is 85 min south of Lake Stevens HQ, and you get a text about 30 minutes before the truck arrives. Stinging-insect calls get priority on the schedule.

Is the treatment safe around kids and pets?

Yes. We use products rated for occupied homes and apply them where pests travel, not across your living space. The technician walks you through what goes down and where before anything is treated. If you keep bees, chickens or a vegetable garden, tell us and we work around them.

South King · 85 min south of Lake Stevens HQ

Pest control in
Burien, WA.

Burien's dense neighborhoods near SeaTac mix older bungalows with newer construction, and ants and rodents are the steady calls.

★ 5.0 from 64 Google reviews
WSDA license #112338
Out within 48 hours

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Pest control in Burien, WA

Burien runs from the airport's west edge down to the Puget Sound shoreline at Seahurst Park and Three Tree Point, with the Salmon Creek ravine, Miller Creek and Walker Creek cutting wooded gullies between the neighborhoods. Saltwater bluffs and creek ravines mean tree cover and damp soil sit close to a lot of backyards.

Pest control in Burien leans on that terrain. The older core near Old Burien is packed with small post-war homes on tight lots, so a rodent or ant problem next door travels quickly. The waterfront and ravine edges add wasps, carpenter ants and rats coming out of the brush. Treat the core and the edges the same way and half the problem gets missed.

Close-up of a black ant on splintered, Burien, WA

Ant Control in Burien

Carpenter ants in Burien's post-war homes and wooded ravines

Many Burien homes date from the late 1940s through the 1960s, and decades of Puget Sound rain have softened sill plates, window frames and deck ledgers. Add the big firs and alders along Salmon Creek, Miller Creek and the Seahurst bluff, and carpenter ants have both a forest nest and a house nest to move between.

We start by confirming the species. Carpenter ants get the parent nest and satellites treated, which often means a stump or rotting tree in the yard as well as a wall void. Sugar ants that trail across kitchen counters are baited, not sprayed. Watch for large black ants indoors in early spring, winged ants around windows, and fine sawdust under baseboards or in the crawl space.

More on our carpenter ant treatment Guide: How to Prepare Your Home and Pets for a Pest Control Visit

Close-up of a brown rat on a concrete ledge outside a home, Burien, WA

Rodent Control in Burien

Rats in Burien's older core and ravine-edge streets

Tight lots in Old Burien and North Burien put houses, garages and sheds close together, and the creek ravines give rats cover right up to the fence line. Older crawl spaces with torn vent screens and gaps around plumbing let them in from below, while ivy and overgrown laurel hedges give roof rats a path up to the eaves.

Rodent control in Burien begins with finding every gap a quarter inch and larger and sealing it with hardware cloth, sheet metal, mortar or copper mesh. Then we place tamper-resistant stations outside, set snap traps inside and come back to check and remove. Signs to watch for: droppings in the garage, noise in the attic at dusk, and ivy growing up onto the roof.

More on our rat control Guide: How Much Does Pest Control Cost in Snohomish County?

Paper wasps clustered on their nest under a house fixture, Burien, WA

Wasps & Bees in Burien

Yellowjackets and wasps along Burien's bluffs and big yards

The west side of town, from Gregory Heights down toward Seahurst and Three Tree Point, has bigger yards, rockeries and bluff vegetation. Yellowjackets nest in old rodent burrows in lawns and rock walls, and paper wasps build under deck railings and eaves facing the water. Nests grow fast through July and are at their largest in late summer.

We treat nests at dusk or dawn, when the colony is home, and treat the void or entry so a new colony does not move back in. Honey bees are never killed; we refer them to a local beekeeper. If you see steady traffic in and out of a hole in the lawn or a gap in the siding, keep kids and pets away and call.

More on our wasp control Guide: Yellowjackets Around the Trash? Check the Food Source First

From the call to the follow-up

Hiring a Burien exterminator

A visit from a Burien exterminator at Pure Guard starts inside 48 hours, with a text when we are about 30 minutes out. We walk the outside first, paying attention to the side of the lot that backs onto a ravine, a bluff or the neighbor's yard, then check the crawl space or attic. You hear what we found and what we plan before anything is treated. Warranty re-treatments come at no charge.

Rating: 5.0 stars, 64 Google reviews
Licensed: WSDA Commercial Applicator #112338
Response: Someone out within 48 hours
Warranty: Re-treatments at no charge

What changes the job here

Burien homes, from Old Burien bungalows to Sound-side view lots

Most homes here are 1940s through 1960s ramblers and bungalows, many on crawl spaces, with a scattering of newer infill and townhomes near the downtown core. West of Ambaum Boulevard the lots get bigger and the ground steeper, and homes near Seahurst and Three Tree Point often have daylight basements set into the slope.

That changes the job. Crawl-space homes need vents, skirting and pipe gaps sealed from below. View homes on slopes have a lower level at ground grade and heavy vegetation close to the siding, which gives ants and rodents an easy approach. Waterfront homes at Three Tree Point sit close together on narrow lots, so sealing one house without checking the shared side yards rarely holds.

Across Burien

Burien neighborhoods and what they deal with

Old Burien: Older homes and businesses on tight lots let rodents and ants move quickly between properties.
Seahurst: Wooded bluffs above the Sound put carpenter ants and wasps close to homes, many with daylight basements.
Three Tree Point: Narrow waterfront lots on a steep hillside bring rodents, spiders and damp framing close together.
Gregory Heights: Bigger yards and mature trees mean ground-nesting yellowjackets in late summer and carpenter ants in spring.
Salmon Creek: Homes near the Salmon Creek ravine sit against a large wooded greenbelt that feeds rats and carpenter ants into backyards.

Through the year

The Burien pest year, season by season

Spring: Carpenter ants swarm from damp framing and ravine-edge stumps once the days warm in March and April.
Summer: Yellowjackets fill lawn burrows and rockeries on the west side, and paper wasps build under water-facing decks.
Fall: Rats move out of the creek ravines and into crawl spaces and garages as the rain sets in.
Winter: Wind off the Sound tests old vent screens and siding gaps, so it is a good time to seal before spring ants return.

Questions, answered

Pest control in Burien, the common questions.

My backyard drops into a ravine. Does that mean more pests?: Usually, yes. Wooded ravines like Salmon Creek or Miller Creek hold rats, carpenter ant colonies and wasp nests right at the fence line. You cannot change the ravine, but you can make the house the hard target: seal gaps at ground level, trim brush back from the siding, and keep a station line along the edge of the lot.
There are bees coming out of my rockery. Will you kill them?: That depends on what they are. Most nests in rockeries and lawns are yellowjackets, which we treat at dusk or dawn and then treat the entry so a new colony does not take over. If they turn out to be honey bees, we do not kill them. We refer you to a local beekeeper who can move them.
Is it worth treating my house if the neighbor has a rat problem?: On Burien's tighter lots, yes. Rats travel along fence lines and under decks, so a neighbor's problem can reach you within a season. Sealing your own foundation, vents and garage door gaps is the part you control. Exterior stations along the shared side catch rats before they get close to your crawl space.
How quickly can you get to Burien?: Someone will be at your door within 48 hours. Burien is 85 min south of Lake Stevens HQ, and you get a text about 30 minutes before the truck arrives. Stinging-insect calls get priority on the schedule.
Is the treatment safe around kids and pets?: Yes. We use products rated for occupied homes and apply them where pests travel, not across your living space. The technician walks you through what goes down and where before anything is treated. If you keep bees, chickens or a vegetable garden, tell us and we work around them.

Everything else we handle in Burien

spider exterminator mosquito yard treatment cockroach pest control restaurant pest control crawl space cleanout

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Burien, WA

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Pest control in Burien, WA.