At one time, discovering ants in your house was considered extremely awkward socially. These days it is nothing more than an inconvenience that must be dealt with before it becomes a source of damage to the home. Carpenter ants, one of the larger kinds of ants that nest in or near homes, can be unnerving, but it is possible to eliminate them and to do it quickly. The methods used need to be thorough. First, preventing your home from attracting ants is important. If you discover them, then treating the inside of the home as well as the outside results in more effective treatment than simply doing one or the other.
Three Keys to Controlling Carpenter Ants:
- Prevention
- Indoor treatment
- Outdoor treatment
Prevention
Prevention includes knowing key facts. For instance, carpenter ants do not eat wood, but they burrow through it to nest. So removing woodpiles to a greater distance from the house is important. Also, cut back branches that may touch the house, and monitor trees near the house for any signs of disease or rot that will encourage the nesting of carpenter ants. Within your house, keep floors and counters clean. Keep all food well covered and stored away, including pet food. Both inside and outside, you can make your house unappealing to ants so that any scouts that wander in will soon wander out.
Highlights:
- Remove outside sources of wood like firewood or old trees
- Keep floors and counters inside clean
- Store all food sources
Indoor Treatment
Indoor treatment differs from outdoor treatment in essential ways that the property owner must be very careful of. The chemicals are sometimes different, and outdoor treatments can be dangerous within enclosed living areas. When treating indoors, remember to look for signs of ant nests and their trails to disrupt their chemical trails which they use and reuse to find food. Treatments that are safe for indoor use include insecticidal dust such as Deltamethrin Dust, an aerosol spray with Dinotefuran, and Dinotefuran foam for attacking nests within walls. Bait traps can be very effective as well.
Highlights:
- Look for pesticide treatments that are labeled for indoor use
- Use products made with Deltamethrin Dust or Dinotefuran
- Use ant baits
Outdoor Treatment
Outside treatment includes similar methods to indoor treatment, but sometimes with different pesticides. The most effective treatment involves finding the main nest and treating it. You also want to disrupt the chemical trails of the ants. And finally, your treatment may need reapplied if it is washed away by wet weather. Some weather resistant applications include Dinotefuran foam, Deltamethrin dust which is waterproof, perimeter repellant sprays, and ant baits. Each works in a different way to either repel or kill ants, and baits work well to supply poison which then is carried to the nest and poison the queen.
Highlights:
- Dinotefuran or Deltamethrin
- Repellent sprays
- Ppoisoned bait traps
Conclusion
Carpenter ants can be serious problems leading to damage within the walls of your home. Prevention is the best way to fight off carpenter ant infestations, but if you do find these ants on your property then you can eradicate them. Contact an exterminator near you and don’t wait to tackle this ant problem.