Ants are never welcome at a picnic and they’re really a sight you don’t want to see in your home. While it’s unsettling to find them crawling on your floors or countertops they are more of a nuisance as they search for something to eat. The Carpenter ant is a very different story with their ability to damage the wood they nest in and an infestation can become a serious problem if left unchecked. Just a single colony of these ants can result in satellite nests throughout your home.
Access points to your home are vents in the attic, cracks in the foundation or around windows and doors as well as any small openings around electrical wires, phone lines and pipes. Some spots they build their nests might be inside the hollow of your doors in wall voids and other structural lumber that has likely been softened by decay or moisture.
Damage Carpenter Ants Cause
The problem with a carpenter ant infestation is that they go undetected as the build tunnels in the wood of your home by which time the damage is quite extensive. Once any damage is detected it’s often attributed to termites and yet the devastation each leaves is quite different. Termites eat the cellulose in wood while the carpenter ant isn’t actually eating the wood at all. What the carpenter ant is busy doing is creating tunnels by hollowing out the wood, by the time
you notice any damage they probably have been there for several years and the result is costly repairs.
How to Identify an Infestation
If you notice worker ants inside your home it’s a good idea to quickly deal with it by calling a local pest control company and have them determine if they have built a nest your home. Ants will travel great distances in search of food but may have not set up a nest just yet. Once inside your home if they find moist and decaying wood they are likely to bring the whole colony with them and start building a nest.
Carpenter ants pose a much bigger issue because they are not visible but you may notice piles of wood shavings under wooden items or near cabinets. A hole in the wall, cabinet or any wooden items is an indication carpenter ants are present it might be advisable to contact your local Vancouver Pest Control expert to get rid of the infestation.