Treating For Carpenter Ants In A Wall Void – Worcester

“There are big black ants coming out from the wall!”

We received a call that there were “big black ants” coming out from a wall void. It was a little unusual because the call came in when it was about 20 degrees out in November. And usually carpenter ants are active in the warmer months and people start noticing them around April or May.

But if the conditions are right – they will be active even when it's cold out.

The reason that the ants were active in Worcester was because the wall void that they were coming out of was directly behind the heating system.

Where there is heat and moisture – there’s insects. Termites, roaches, and carpenter ants all prefer a nice, warm environment with plenty of moisture.

Because of the heat source, the carpenter ants thought that it was summer outside and continued on with their regular destructive routine. They were continuing to hollow out the walls of the home, making the wood paper-thin.

And if the occupants of the home didn’t find carpenter ant activity by accident then they would have had a major infestation come the springtime. They also would have had to do major repairs to their home. But luckily they were aware that they had a problem and took appropriate action.

Sometimes in a case like this people will try to head down to a local hardware store and pick-up some type of do-it-yourself ant spray – one of the worst things to do. Why? Because carpenter ants can be very resilient and difficult to get rid of. Sure, the spray might kill a few of them but when it doesn’t kill all of them it makes treatment much harder.

The ants will go deeper into the wall void and avoid the areas that were sprayed. This is because most over-the-counter products are detectable by carpenter ants; i.e., they know that a chemical is on the surface and will avoid it.

Once they deviate from their typical behavior – they can be much harder to locate and treat. But one thing stays constant – they will continue to destroy the wood in the home.

The difference is that we use “non-repellent” products that the ants do not detect. This way they continue on with their normal routine and within a few days, the entire nest is eliminated. Your home will also be protected much longer because the products don’t break down the same way that over-the-counter products do.

The Elimination Process:

In addition to “non-repellents” to get rid of the carpenter ant nest in Worcester, we also used a specialized fogger unit.

The fogger penetrates deep into cracks of the wall where the ants are hiding and nesting.

Once most of the ants are eliminated we then dust the cracks with an insecticide dust. The dust will remain in the cracks allowing any remaining ants to walk through it. They then track the dust back to the nest where it can get onto other ants eventually eliminating them before they continue to do more damage to the home.

We then treat the entire foundation and exterior perimeter of the home with non-repellent liquids and baits. The liquid will protect the home if other ants from a satellite colony decide that they need a new place to live.

Then the carpenter ant baits will be spread around the perimeter of the home which will eliminate any satellite nests that are in the woods or on an adjacent property.

Follow-Up Prevention:

Once the nest is completely eliminated we then offer Carpenter Ant Prevention, which is one treatment per year.

If you have had a history of carpenter ants then there is a good chance that they will probably return at some point. This is why we always recommend carpenter ant prevention.

Note: If you are one of our many yearly pest prevention plan customers then carpenter ant prevention is already included along with mice, termite monitors, wasps, etc.

There have been countless cases of homes completely destroyed by carpenter ants. I have seen entire sides of houses that needed complete renovation because of ants. I’ve also seen barns, sheds, garages, and every other type of structure infested with carpenter ants.

If you have ever seen a nest in action then you know what kind of damage that they can do in a short amount of time.

The best way to protect your home is either carpenter ant prevention or a full home pest control plan.

I have been to too many homes where I’ve stood there looking at the damage done from ants or have seen the 100s of ants running around the basement ceiling and I’ve thought “this could have easily been prevented.”

So why wait until it’s too late, or until the damage has already been done?

Give us a call, and we’ll set you up with a carpenter ant prevention plan that is guaranteed to protect your home from the “big black ants.”