The carpenter ant is a very destructive species of ant, the amount of damage that they can cause is only rivaled by the termite. While carpenter ants do not cause as much damage as termites do annually, they do unfortunately cause a considerable amount of damage that can affect the structural integrity of the homes and other buildings they invade; damages that can become expensive to repair. The Louisville carpenter ant experts at Action Pest Control strongly believe that the best way to protect your Louisville home from these rogue carpenters is to know what the warning signs of carpenter ant activity are. Understanding signs of their presence will allow you to get professional help as quickly as possible and stop these damaging ants in their tracks.
Four Warning Signs of a Carpenter Ant Infestation
- The first and probably most easily noticed sign of a carpenter ant infestation is seeing large black ants wandering around your property, both inside and out. Carpenter ants are the largest house-infesting ant in Louisville. Carpenter ants have a single node and are either black or black and dark red in color. Just seeing a few of these large black ants in or on your property should alert you to the possibility of a serious problem.
- Seeing large black ants with wings crawling on the walls or windows of your home, either inside or outside your home. Carpenter ant swarmers are very large in size (1-2 inches) and have tannish colored wings. Winged swarmers emerge from the colony in the spring in order to mate and establish a new nest. Don’t allow their new nest site to be created inside your Louisville home.
- Hearing the carpenter ants inside your home. If you have a colony of carpenter ants living and tunneling through the structural wood of your home in the evening you may hear “rustling” sounds behind your home walls, above the ceiling, or below the floors.
- Noticing “frass” a sawdust-like material on the floor, trails of sawdust are often seen next to foundations, in basements, around plumbing, and along outside walls when carpenter ants are present. Since carpenter ants don’t eat the wood that they are tunneling through they kick the debris from their tunnels to keep them neat. Carpenter ants keep smooth, immaculate tunnels, unlike their messy termite counterparts.
If you notice any of the above carpenter ants warning signs, contact Action Pest Control immediately. Trying to control a carpenter ant infestation on your property on your own is never a good idea. Placing a carpenter ant control product around your home will not get the job done and may even cause the ants to scatter, leaving you with an even bigger ant problem. DIY pest control doesn’t solve the issue of why carpenter ants are attracted to your property and how they are gaining access. Also, do you really want to be putting potentially dangerous chemicals that you really know nothing about in the reach of your family and pets?
To completely eliminate a carpenter ant infestation on your Louisville, KY property, you need the experience of an educated professional. Professionals know how to find and treat all the nesting areas and how to completely eliminate these damaging ants and keep them from returning. At Action, we offer very effective carpenter ant control services. Our highly trained professionals will come to your property, analyze your home, and implement a treatment solution that is specific to your unique situation. For the best solution to carpenter ants in Louisville, KY, there is only one choice- Action Pest Control! Give us a call to learn more about our residential pest control solutions and our ant control services.