BLOG

Carpenter Ant Prevention

Of all the ant species that you could have in your home, carpenter ants are probably the worst. While most ant species will simply scurry around looking for food, carpenter ants will actually destroy your home. Similarly to termites, carpenter ants destroy wood, using it as a medium in which they can build their colonies. As such, it’s important to prevent carpenter infestations from occurring. Here’s how you can do just that.

Carpenter ant misconceptions

Some homeowners will see a carpenter ant or two in the home and not think much of it. After all, if there’s only one here and there, then you don’t really have much of an infestation, right? Unfortunately, this is not true. Carpenter ants do not need to necessarily find food sources in the home that they infest. They can simply go outside and find food there. So, make sure that you keep an eye out for black ants that are larger than usual, and if you see them either outdoors or indoors, you call over a pest control specialist to perform an inspection.

Prevention tips

Ideally, you want to deal with carpenter ants by preventing them from setting up in the first place. In order to do this, you will need to follow a few guidelines:

• Make sure that you keep firewood and any other type of wooden products at least 20 feet away from the home, and elevated off the ground. This will not only protect you from carpenter ants, but from termites as well.
• You also want to trim branches and bushes near the home. This will prevent any dead wood from staying in contact with the home, and it will also allow the sun to pass through and remove any moisture that may be near the wood in the foundation.
• Obstructured gutters are another big source for moisture that leads to termite and carpenter ant infestations. Obstructed gutters will force water to run down the side of the home and puddle near the foundation wall. This will obviously lead to rotten wood.

Preventing a carpenter ant infestation is mainly about preventing them from having access to degraded or rotting wood. Once they are in the home however, they need to be removed immediately. Contact us today if you have a carpenter ant infestation and you need professional help in order to remove it from your home.