Carpenter Ants in House? Here are 3 Ways to Kill Them Off for Good

Imagine walking into your kitchen early one morning to find a trail of ants on the counter.

Ants are the number one nuisance pest in the U.S. When comparing carpenter ants vs regular ants, you should know the carpenter causes the most damage.

Carpenter ants are awful, but what’s worse is having carpenter ants in house. Fortunately, they can be eliminated. Check out three effective ways to kill them.

1) Identify the Type of Ant

The first step in dealing with ants is to determine the type of ant that is in your home. Different species of ants require different extermination methods. You will need to catch an ant and determine its identity.

The difference between carpenter ants vs regular ants is that carpenter ants are bigger, so you can typically see the different sections of the carpenter. When comparing black ants vs carpenter ants, you need to know that black ants are your typical garden ant. Carpenter ants like wood, hence the name.

Carpenter ants have two distinct characteristics. The first is a smooth back with no humps. They also have a small pyramid at the waist and a heart-shaped head.

2) Determine an Infestation

Next, you need to determine whether or not you have an actual infestation or if it’s just random. If it’s an actual infestation, you will notice a few things.

• Can you hear them in your walls?
• They typically travel in the dark, so listen and look at night or early morning.
• You will see them over a period of days or weeks.
• You see piles of sawdust. This is usually at the infestation location.

Once you are able to determine that there is, in fact, an infestation, you can then put together a treatment plan.

3) Plan Your Attack

You have options when it comes to treating the infestation. You can go straight to the professionals or try treatment options on your own.

If you want to try and kill them off yourself, you can use an insecticide spray as a perimeter treatment. You can choose to use bait on the carpenter ant trails so that they will carry it back to the nest and kill the other ants.

Are you looking for a more natural form of treatment? Diatomaceous earth carpenter ant treatment uses the earth dust to treat these pests without harmful chemicals. You will put a thin layer of diatomaceous earth dust where the ants tend to hide. This causes them to dry out and die.

How to Prevent Carpenter Ants in House

Ideally, you wouldn’t deal with ants in the first place. There are ways to prevent carpenter ants. Carpenter ants like sugar and grease so they are often found in cupboards and pantries. It’s important to keep moisture out of your home.

You will want to make sure that no wood is touching the outside of your home. That may mean trimming tree branches or moving firewood piles. Be sure to inspect firewood prior to bringing it into your house to ensure there are no ants.

Get Help from the Experts

There are times when you need expert help dealing with infestations like carpenter ants in the house. Let us help you get rid of the ants and have your home back. Contact us today and we will help.