WTF to do about carpenter ants?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - WTF to do about carpenter ants?

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:22:02 PM EDT

these bastards are invading my house. the pest control guy said it would cost a lot of money to erradicate them, and just to wait it out.

anything cheap that can be done to stop them? this also happened last year

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:22:46 PM EDT

[#1]

Put 'em to work!

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:25:01 PM EDT

[#2]

Malt-o-meal.

They eat it, it expands in thier bellies, they die. if they get some to the queen, they she dies, then the colony dies.

Its also pet safe.

ETA: DRY!! I dont want to see you outside your house with a bowl of malto meal and a spatula.

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:25:02 PM EDT

[#3]

They do make bug sprays you can buy...

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:28:22 PM EDT

[#4]

t

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:38:02 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
They do make bug sprays you can buy...

I think they also make a bomb.

You evacuate for 24 hrs, set it off and it kills just about all insect life in the house.

Posted: 8/6/2005 11:46:23 PM EDT

[#6]

Fire. Lots and lots of fire.

-Storm

Posted: 8/7/2005 12:03:21 AM EDT

[#7]

Unionise them then make them go on strike!

Posted: 8/7/2005 12:13:21 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
I think they also make a bomb.

You evacuate for 24 hrs, set it off and it kills just about all insect life in the house.

Posted: 8/7/2005 12:20:30 AM EDT

[#9]

Used Motor Oil

Oil comes from ground, it's natural. You pour it on the nest, it's a natural pesticide.

Posted: 8/7/2005 1:53:33 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Quoted:
They do make bug sprays you can buy...

I think they also make a bomb.

You evacuate for 24 hrs, set it off and it kills just about all ~~insect~~ life in the house.

Fixed it for you!

Posted: 8/7/2005 2:16:37 AM EDT

[#11]

unionize them then refuse to sign a new contract. they'll sit outside your house waving signs and scaring the replacements away.

Posted: 8/7/2005 3:16:56 AM EDT

[#12]

diazanon.

Wait it out?
WTF? They do ALOT of damage in a big hurry.

Sprinkle diazanon around the house on the ground. Stuff a little in their hole and drop some around it. I do so about every 3 weeks to keep them out of my home. A 5 lb bag lasts me several years.
If I didn't do so, there'd be nothing left.

Posted: 8/7/2005 3:25:28 AM EDT

[#13]

i heard theres this chalk you can use....

Posted: 8/7/2005 4:06:28 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
i heard theres this chalk you can use....

Posted: 8/7/2005 4:30:19 AM EDT

[#15]

+1 on the diazanon. very deadly to ants .

Posted: 8/7/2005 4:36:34 AM EDT

[#16]

Get an ardvark. Spread boric acid around your property. inside and out. find the nest and destroy the colony.

and... When all else fails,

Posted: 8/7/2005 4:45:46 AM EDT

[#17]

Carpenter ants are serious business...do not think about "waiting it out"! There is almost certainly more damage done already than you know about, and it will not get any better. These ants, given a bad infestation, can be almost as bad as termites.

They will place their "nursery" usually on the south (or sunny) side of a house where it is warmer, and will begin moving eggs as soon as they are discovered. Often, within 24 hours they will have vacated the original nursery and established another within 10-20ft. so that if you wait a couple of days and return it appears that they have gone...which, I assume, is what your pest guy was referring to. They are most certainly NOT "gone"...just moved to a different location.

There will invariably be a "main" nest outside somewhere, and you must find and eradicate this one, or they will simply re-infest the house. This nest may be in an old rotted stump, semi-rotted railroad ties used as flowerbed borders, etc., but it WILL be there somewhere!

The reason they get started in / on the house is pretty much the same as for termiotes...moisture... wet or damp wood, thus you will also need to find and fix the real problem...either lack of drainage or moisture ingress into the area(s) where you found them, which means that pest control is only one your first step.

More information (maybe more than you wanted to know)

antcontrols.com/pick-diff.htm

www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef603.htm

www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/carp.htm

www.doityourselftermitecontrol.com/wingedsub.htm

Good Luck!

Posted: 8/7/2005 4:54:07 AM EDT

[#18]

I have a freind in Pest Control. He said the only way to deal with ants is bait, bait, bait.

Posted: 8/7/2005 5:16:10 AM EDT

[#19]

Don't panic or spend a ton of money!

Getting rid of carpenter ants is cheap and easy.

Just get some ant poison cups, and put them in the path. Takes about 36 hours, but they die.

Then leave more bait traps out, as more tend to come after periods of rainy days.

Also, spend a little time around the outside of your house, if you're patient and walk slow, you'll find the trail that is eventually entering your house somewhere. If you impatient, you can sprinke diazanon or some other ant powder around the foundation where they're crawling up, then leave an antcup closer to their nest.

I used to think they came into your house due to moisture problems, rotting beams, etc... but this is not true!

I had an old house, and assumed rotting sill or wet walls were attracting them, but have owned 2 new houses since, and they were coming in the first year the houses were built. They will make a nest anywhere they find hollow areas, like under vinyl siding, but their "master" nest is outside somewhere, as others have said. Ants will gravitate to rotting sill or other wood for making a nest, but don't need it necessarily. If you're near a woodsy area, they will come in no matter what. They're just exploring for food.

The thing is, more keep coming. Don't lose patience, just put out more poison.

Posted: 8/7/2005 5:19:20 AM EDT

[#20]

Carpenter ants are attracted to damaged wood. They invariably do not bother with healthy wood.

I have found MANY carpenter ant nests, and not one of them was located anywhere BUT in wood that
was rotting, whether by dry rot or wet rot.

If you have carpenter ants, suspect that your house has hidden water damage somewhere, or dry rot.

Have your home inspected by a specialist.

CJ

Posted: 8/7/2005 5:28:02 AM EDT

[#21]

Clear tree limbs or big shrubs away from the house. Use some Fumigtors that are activated by water they emit a gas not a fog, they work the best for store purchased bug killers. I had some get into my Ranger 373 Bass boat. I had some permethrin that I use to keep ticks of hunting cloths killed them in there tracks, the shit can cause cancer. Some bad shit it is.

Posted: 8/7/2005 5:33:06 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Carpenter ants are serious business...do not think about "waiting it out"! There is almost certainly more damage done already than you know about, and it will not get any better. These ants, given a bad infestation, can be almost as bad as termites.

+1

Your pest control guy is either lazy as hell or a complete dumb ass.

If you want to DIY: First, go to the farm supply or to a Helena Chemical Co. in your area, buy some Permethrin Pro. (Safe for kids & pets, no odor) You need to locate their nest. They will nest anywhere there is a cavity, under siding, under tar paper, even under carpet any place that there is a pocket. It will be moist & damp. Start looking for the source of the ants, they tend to use their own "highways" try to trace them back to the source.

Once you find the source, flood it with the insecticide. Next remove whatever it takes to find the nest, you might have to pull up some carpet or or remove some siding. Obviously, don't go to extremes and tear out a bathtub.

If you have alot of shrubs or debris around your house, start removing it & pruning it. Leave 2'ft of space between the landscaping & the building, you should be able to walk between the house & the shrubs. Then saturate spray a 4' barrier around your house and spray the exterior of the house up to the soffit. Hose end sprayer is fine. Mulch is bad about harboring all forms of insects, consider gravel.

This should put a stop to them. It's best to locate the nest within reason, according to one pest control guy I spoke with, carpenter ants will actually eat termites. They are just as destructive as termites too. Good luck.

Posted: 8/7/2005 7:05:04 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Quoted:
i heard theres this chalk you can use....

Diatomaceous Earth

Posted: 8/7/2005 7:12:10 AM EDT

[#24]

Every spring I go buy a gallon jug (lasts me the entire year, never threw one away empty) of bug spray. Comes with a sprayer attachment. I go around the house and spray the foundation and about 12" out and 12" up from it, under the windows and around the doors. My ant and those little millipede things hardly get in the house now...

That and make sure every little hole in your house is tuck pointed or caulked... I had the old style wooden/glass windows in my basement and the problem was reduced by probably 80% when I had them replaced with glass block windows.

Posted: 8/7/2005 7:27:50 AM EDT

[#25]

A friend of mine told me to mix a bottle of 409 cleaner in with a gal of water. Put the mixture in to a sprayer and spray it around that area where you do not want ants.

Disclaimer do not get it on any plants that you want to keep.

Som how the 409 kills ants. DEAD!!!!

I have not tried this as of yet.

Posted: 8/7/2005 7:28:00 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Malt-o-meal.

They eat it, it expands in thier bellies, they die. if they get some to the queen, they she dies, then the colony dies.

Its also pet safe.

ETA: DRY!! I dont want to see you outside your house with a bowl of malto meal and a spatula.

Not true.

Only about 10% of the carpenter ever ants leave the nest.

And there are so many insular layers of ants to the queen that whatever poisons/concoctions you put down none will never reach her.

Posted: 8/7/2005 8:55:31 AM EDT

[#27]

tag

Posted: 8/7/2005 11:26:56 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
b] the pest control guy said it would cost a lot of money to erradicate them, and just to wait it out.

sounds like bs to me. Go to a local hardware store or Home Depot/Lowe's and buy some Sevin Dust (5%-10%, the powder form, not liquid). Dust it around your foundation and trouble areas. When they get it on them it eventually kills them and if you're lucky they drag it back to the nest. Works good as a flea killer also (use it whenever the fleas start to get out of control).