carpenter ants in wood panel walls

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In one room in my house I have noticed a couple of what look to be carpenter ants. There haven’t been many seen but a couple appear every two or three days. The room has wood paneling on the walls. Should I be worried that they will damage my walls?

Yes, you most definitely need to be concerned about this activity. As a general rule, 1-2 ants a year would be no cause for alarm. But if you’re seeing 1-2 a month, there is a problem. And based on your message, you’re seeing a lot more than 1-2 a week so you’ll need a treatment. At this point you need to either hire a service company to treat or do the work yourself using the products they’d use and save yourself on the cost of a service.

For now, I suggest you review our online CARPENTER ANT ARTICLE. This details all you’ll need to know about this pest and why they can be so damaging. As you’ll learn, they many times nest in or on a house and forage outside so the homeowner won’t see much activity even though they’re present. This leads the homeowner to believe there isn’t much of a problem even though there is a full blown nest or two hidden and from what you’re describing, I’d say you have at least one nest in or on the home at this time.

In our article you’ll learn one of the best things you can do is to “follow” any ant you find to see where they trail. This means you don’t want to kill them when you see it walking around; instead you need to let it walk where it wants to go, undisturbed, with the hope that it will lead you to their nest site. If you let any ant you find continue along on it’s travels, there is a good chance it will provide a clue as to where a nest might be located. So if you see him walk for 10-20 feet and then disappear through a crack somewhere, it would be a indicator that in fact a nest was located in this area. Our article has a great video on how to “follow” an ant to locate their nest and this should help you learn the process.

Now if you are able to locate a nest location, dusting it with some DRIONE would be the way to go as explained in our article. This treatment method is fast acting and will take care of the nest immediately. But if it turns out you’re not able to find any specific location to treat, no need to worry. In cases like this where we’re seeing some activity but are unsure of where the nest might be, a good application of PHANTOM AEROSOL throughout the room will usually do the trick. It’s slower acting and might take 7-14 days to affect the nest but it should get them.

We also suggest you get some PHANTOM CONCENTRATE and spray the outside of the home. This will insure you get any that might be moving between your home and the outside landscape. Phantom is unique in that it won’t be detected by the targeted insect so they don’t avoid treated areas. And once they step on a treatment, they’ll pick up some of the product which they then share with other members of the colony. This in turn will “kill” the nest after a few days making Phantom a great candidate when nest locations aren’t known.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Drione:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

Phantom: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/pt-phantom-17-5oz

Phantom EC:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/phantom-21-oz

Carpenter Ants:  https://www.carpenterants.com/carpenter-ant-control

wood ants in door frame

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I have large black wood ants nesting in my door frame. The back door of my house started to have saw dust fall from the frame and when I took a closer look, I spotted several large black ants run into the crack between the molding and the wall of my house. I know they’re living in there and want them gone as quickly as possible. I haven’t done anything yet but figure there should be a good spray to use. What would you suggest?

Wood ants are what we call carpenter ants. Though they don’t eat wood, they can chew through it and commonly will do so when making a nest. I suggest you read our on line article on WOOD ANT CONTROL to better understand this pest and what you should be on the lookout for to make sure they don’t make nests in other parts of the home.

As you’ll learn from our on line article, this ant loves to nest in small voids or spaces like the location you’re seeing them at now. To treat such locations thoroughly, the use of some DRIONE DUST is most appropriate. It will do a great job of penetrating all the spaces where they might be and will quickly kill them all. I suggest you also spray the outside of the building with some SUSPEND to make sure there aren’t other nests close by that can continue to thrive.

wood ant control needed

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I have large black wood ants living up the side of my house somewhere, I can’t tell exactly where but I see them marching up and down all day long so I’m pretty sure they must have a nest somewhere. What do you recommend?

Wood ants, also known as carpenter ants, like to live in wood voids and spaces. Houses make excellent nest sites and commonly get infested if left untreated. Since wood ants can cause substantial damage, you need to treat the problem as described in our Wood Ant control article. Since you are unsure of the nest location, I recommend a good perimeter application of the Termidor. This should get the colony as long as they are moving over the treated surfaces. If you see any inside the home, set out some of the Carpenter Ant Gel. It should take 1-2 weeks for the treatment to take effect.

how to kill wood ants in wood pile

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I’ve been seeing a lot of wood ants around my firewood pile. I see saw dust like something is grinding up the wood and I’m pretty sure it’s the wood ants. Is there anything I can spray on the wood that won’t be toxic to burn?

Wood ants, also known as carpenter ants, like to nest in wood as explained in our carpenter ant article. They don’t eat the wood but rather bore through it creating voids in which they nest. Firewood piles are common places for such activity and will almost always attract wood ants if left untreated.

First, locate the wood pile as far away from your home as you can. This will help to decrease the likelihood that they’ll create a nest on the house. Next, treat the wood with Diatomaceous Earth using a Hand Duster. This will both kill them on contact and keep them away. Apply as needed throughout the season. This should keep them controlled but if you find the dust isn’t working well enough, get some of the Termidor and spray it around the base of the pile. This way any ants coming to or leaving the wood pile will be affected and this will keep the area wood ant nest free.