Whenever you hear rustling noises at night, you may need to reach out to a pest control professional. Carpenter ants may be responsible for this noise, which you can hear through the walls and the woodwork of your home. These species of ants got their name from their tendency to nest in wood. To eliminate carpenter ants, hire a Pestcom Pest Management expert. Such pests thrive in damp wood or pest-damaged wood and can compromise your home’s structural integrity.
Carpenter ants can cause significant structural damage if they go undetected in your home. Common signs of an infestation include sawdust-like debris near wooden structures or faint rustling sounds inside walls. Once these signs appear, it’s essential to act quickly. Professional pest control services are equipped to eliminate these pests and prevent further damage, ensuring your home stays safe from long-term structural issues.
How Carpenter Ants Enter Your Home
Carpenter ants in Caldwell look at major entry points such as your kitchen. This way, their workers can scavenge for food. Also, they can make their way into your home through your bathroom, basement, or roof where baseboards are softened by leaky pipes. Carpenter ants crawl through tree branches and utility lines that touch your home if carpenter ants have invested your yard.
Damage that Carpenter Ants Cause
When carpenter ants use your bathroom or kitchen as entry points, they can live anywhere in your home. They can crawl through your home’s internal foundation if water has compromised the wood. As the ants tunnel through wood, they weaken it, leading to cosmetic and structural damage. When not detected right away, a carpenter ant infestation can double in just a short period. In addition, carpenter ants can give you painful bites; however, they do not transmit diseases.
Identifying a Carpenter Ant Infestation
You should catch an infestation as early as possible to avoid serious home damage. Regular pest inspection helps you avoid infestation and property damage.
Worker ants leave the nest to find food. That is why they can be found in the kitchen. Also, you might spot discarded ant wings near your doors and windows if you have an active infestation. As they tunnel through wood, carpenter ants leave behind frass or wood shavings, that are often found near windows and doors.
Another sign of a carpenter ant infestation is the presence of round holes in the wood. When not detected promptly, the ants can completely damage your home’s structural design and leave the walls hollow. As they communicate with other colony members and tunnel through wood, carpenter ants make rustling noises. if you think you have an infestation, tap suspected areas and listen.
Preventing an Infestation
To keep carpenter ants out of your house, use a dehumidifier if you tend to get plenty of air moisture. Check your house regularly for leaky pipes and ensure the gutters are working properly. Ensure you do yard work regularly if you have a huge yard or lawn. This way, plants or branches do not touch the side of your home that carpenter ants can use as entry points.
Dealing with a Carpenter Ant Infestation
If carpenter ants have infested your home, stop the nest first. if you believe the infestation has just started, below are steps you can take:
- Use an insecticide. Insecticides can kill carpenter ants and eliminate the colony when sprayed directly on it.
- Use bait. When worker ants eat the bait, they will it back to their colony and share it with the rest of them, thus, killing everyone in the colony.
- Use special insect dust. This dust can be used to cover the ant colony and kill all ants in it.
If you believe you have an ant infestation that you cannot handle on your own, reach out to a pest control company for help. This company has skilled and experienced technicians who can eliminate the infestation and prevent it from happening again. These technicians know where these ants might be hiding in your home and use the right solution to eradicate every one of them.
