Three Mistakes You Should Not Make When It Comes to Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are a widespread issue across the country. These insects make their nests in damp, dead wood and create tunnels to easily navigate through the structure. These small pests can cause serious damage. A carpenter ant infestation should be handled by professionals such as those from SolutionCimex because treating them involves the use of chemicals that are dangerous to humans, especially children, and pets. When it comes to carpenter ants in your home, there are mistakes many homeowners make, including the following:

Failing to Identify the Kind of Ant Infestation

Termites and carpenter ants cause the same damage to damp, dead wood. Usually, if you have both pests within your property, you will find piles of wood shavings near wood. However, to eliminate an infestation, you need to treat your property for the correct pest. Carpenter ants black ants that have segmented bodies while termites or white ants do not have segmented bodies and have a big head.

Ignoring the Signs of Ant Damage

Carpenter ants can compromise the structural stability of your home by digging into woods to make their nests. If they have been actively infesting your property for a long time, the structural damage can be quite extensive. This is the reason to treat infestations as quickly as possible by calling a professional exterminator. Common signs of carpenter ant infestations include the presence of black ants, piles of wood shavings, and faint rustling noise in walls.

Not Getting Help

Usually, homeowners who discover an ant infestation will turn to DIY ant control solutions such as borax or natural remedies such as cinnamon. While these remedies might work at first, they will not eliminate the entire colony. To make sure carpenter ants will not return, the colony must be destroyed and eliminated. This is only possible when you let the pros handle the job for you. Aside from treating a current infestation, pest control service providers will give you advice on how to prevent the same infestation from happening again in the future.

Professional carpenter ant exterminators will use different techniques to successfully eliminate ant colony. These include the application of dust material from the inside and a follow-up application from the outside. Another solution they will use is perimeter treatment. This involves the application of non-repellent materials to the perimeter, concentrating on identified ant trails and the problem areas where trails may appear. Some professionals may also use nest treatments which are used after locating the ant nest.