How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants

One of the significant first steps to take when deciding how to get rid of carpenter ants is to make sure you have the right type of ant.

If you are sure you have a carpenter ant issue you will be better equipped to take care of them because each kind of ant has different things that attract it and make it easier to control. Here are a few ways to identify and control carpenter ants.

Carpenter ants do not eat wood even though a lot of people think they do. They hollow out areas of dead and damp wood to make their nests. They create little passages known as ‘galleries,’ and if the area is left untreated for too long, they can do serious structural damage to the wood. This is the way that carpenter ants operate, and this is unlike any other type of ant.

One significant way to tell if you have carpenter ants is to find their ‘galleries’ and look for an abundance of wood shavings on the outside. Since they do not eat the wood, they remove all the extra wood and leave it outside the hole. Carpenter ants’ nests are often near windows or doors so if you tap on the wall near the areas you think have a carpenter ant nest and you hear a rustling sound in the wall you may have a carpenter ant infestation in your home.

If you are trying to figure out how to get rid of carpenter ants–other than just spreading bait around you can do a few things to ensure they are attracted to it. The first thing you want to do is locate where a nest is in your home. You do not need to know exactly where it is but it helps to have a good idea, so you do not waste any time. If you are treating an indoor infestation, drill a few small holes where the ants are entering the wall and either spray an aerosol ant killer into the holes or cover the holes with a gel bait. Just be careful what you use when treating an indoor infestation around kids and animals.

Preventing carpenter ants can be difficult, but the best way to avoid them is to stop them from getting into the home. The best way to control carpenter ants is with proper home maintenance. If you are afraid of having a re-infestation, take a look and see if you have any excess moisture or plumbing problems. These types of damp areas attract carpenter ants especially if it is within the walls of your home.

Sealing up all openings in your home also prevents carpenter ants from getting in. Carpenter ants get in easily through cracks and crevices in the foundation, openings in windows, and cracks in doors. Make sure that your home is properly insulated as well to prevent carpenter ants from creeping in.

If you have trees or shrubbery that touches the exterior of your home, try to maintain it and keep everything trimmed nicely. The ants can easily cross over from a touching tree to the inside of your home if the tree is untrimmed, so it doesn’t touch the house. This mistake is how infestations start even if you are not doing anything wrong.

No one wants to have to treat their home for pests, but when you do there are a few things that will make the entire process easier for you and more effective.

Bait inside and outside-Having bait inside and outside your house is a great way to ensure that you do not miss any ants.

Use a variety of baits-Each kind of infestation and situation requires a different treatment strategy and if you use multiple baits in various locations on your property, this will guarantee you cover everything necessary to destroy the infestation.

Locate the nest first-If you locate exactly where the nest is in your home you can save yourself a lot of time, effort, and money because you do not have to waste bait on areas that are not going to be effective at treating the problem.

Use a slow treatment method-The best way to kill off the entire colony and prevent yourself from ever having another infestation is to use a bait that does not kill the ant immediately. This allows the ants to take some of the bait back to the colony and kill off the rest of the colony and ultimately the queen. This strategy prevents you from having to worry about a re-infestation.