The idea of having ants in your San Antonio home is bad enough. Now imagine those ants are inside of your walls, eating through, and destroying the structural wood of your house. Unfortunately, if you are dealing with a carpenter ant infestation, this is what is happening. Given how expensive this can be for San Antonio homeowners, you should do everything in your power to prevent carpenter ants from ever gaining access to your home in the first place. If you are able to identify carpenter ants, spot the signs that they are in your home, and know the best methods for preventing them, you should greatly reduce your odds of having to pay for expensive repairs.
What You Need To Know About Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are ants that grow anywhere from ½ an inch to 5/8th of an inch in length. Though they are often all black, carpenter ants may be brown or red in color or even a combination of the three.
Unlike termites, which eat wood for a nutrient found within it, carpenter ants only use wood for nesting purposes. However, that doesn’t mean they are any less destructive to your home. At maturation, a carpenter ant colony can have up to 50,000 individuals in it. Most of the individuals are workers. When a colony is mature, the queen will produce swarmers, which set out to create new colonies.
If carpenter ants gain access to your home, they could cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to the structural wood behind walls and under floors. They could also damage furniture or any other wood fixtures that you keep within your home.
How To Spot Carpenter Ant Infestations
Unlike termites, which you may never see until they’ve already done irreparable damage, carpenter ants do exit their nest and you may spot them throughout your home. They will travel into living areas to find food which they can bring back to the nest. You may also notice the shed wings of swarmers.
Another way to spot a carpenter ant infestation is by finding piles of sawdust beneath small holes in the wood of baseboards, windowsills, and the like. As previously stated, carpenter ants do not eat wood, so there will be sawdust-like shavings found around where they are nesting. If you notice any of these signs, you should call the professionals at Romney Pest Control right away.
How To Keep Carpenter Ants From Entering Your Home?
Carpenter ants will enter homes through any openings they find. This could be cracks around the foundation, openings around pipes and vents, or holes around doors and windows. To prevent carpenter ants you need to take away their entry points.
- Seal any cracks in the foundation of your home.
- Seal cracks around window and doors frames.
- Seal openings around pipes and vents on the exterior of your home.
- Replace moisture-damaged wood in your home.
- Fix leaky pipes and fixtures in your home.
- Keep firewood stacked away from your home.
- Trim back tree branches that may provide a bridge to your house.
How To Get Rid Of Carpenter Ant Infestations
If you spot any signs of carpenter ants in your home, you should call the professionals here at Romney Pest Control right away. Here at Romney Pest Control, we have the required expertise and tools to remove any pest infestation. We will also work with you to prevent future infestations. Don’t get left holding the bill for carpenter ant damage. Give Romney Pest Control a call today.
