Avoid taking chances with the structural integrity of your home and dodge possible financial hardship by allowing our New Jersey pest control team from Heritage Pest Control to stop carpenter ants in their tracks! For more than twenty-six years, we have been delivering pest control results to commercial businesses like warehouses, office buildings, and the residents of New Jersey.
Where Do Carpenter Ants Build Their Nests?
If you have worked with wood, you know that without the innovation of power saws and drills, construction would take triple the amount of time. If we have difficulty manipulating wood, how does a carpenter ant manage to build their nests?
Carpenter ants target soft, moist, decaying wood found in the following locations:
- Leaky pipes: Wood near leaky pipes in the walls, basement, crawlspace, or attic becomes soft and attractive to carpenter ants.
- Underneath bathtubs: Moisture from water seeping through the floor or leaking drains rots the wood under the tub.
- Window sills and door frames: Water collecting in the sills or at the base of doors softens the wood.
- Porch supports and support columns: Constant exposure to the weather combined with poor maintenance creates an environment of decaying wood susceptible to carpenter ants.
- Soffits: Leaking or consistently clogged gutters overflowing onto the unprotected or poorly maintained wood provides an inviting area.
- Wood siding: Failure to keep the siding painted and sealed allows moisture to penetrate the wood.
- Leaking chimney flashing: Flashing that has separated or lost its seal due to age and heat no longer deflects cascading water off the shingles allowing the water to penetrate the roofing wood.
- Skylights: Due to constant expansion and contraction, the seal around skylights fails, and water accesses the surrounding wood.
Carpenter ant nests require a consistent temperature, moisture, and protection from predators. A carpenter ant nest on your New Jersey property is hard to find. If you believe you may have a carpenter ant infestation, contact Heritage Pest Control.
Can You See Carpenter Ants In The Walls?
If you know the sights and sounds of carpenter ants, you will find them if they are present. For example, one of the signs of carpenter ants in your house is the sound of crinkling paper emanating from the walls. One colony of carpenter ants can have up to 50,000 members, and the sound they generate is of them chewing through the wood. If you suspect you have carpenter ants but do not hear sounds from the walls, use a stethoscope or an inverted water glass pressed against the walls to listen for ant activity.
Another indication is carpenter ant frass in your home. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not consume wood but remove wood as they create nests. As they chew off the wood, they move it out of the tunnel to the exterior of the wood and create a sawdust-like pile of debris known as frass; this debris contains slivers of insulation and dead insect body parts.
The Do's And Don'ts Of Carpenter Ant Control
Carpenter ants are active and will create satellite nests. A carpenter ant nest in your home is likely not the main colony but is an extension of a nest located outside the house on your property. Knowing what we have learned about carpenter ants, here are a few things to do when trying to get rid of carpenter ants:
- Seal holes in the foundation and exterior to prevent carpenter ants from infesting the home.
- Repair leaking pipes and drains in and underneath the house
- Replace rotting wood on the interior and exterior of the home.
- Inspect and repair leaking flashing around the chimney and skylights.
- Remove pieces of wood from your property.
- Elevate firewood and locate it at least 20 feet from the house.
Because carpenter ants quickly create satellite communities, don't remove wood stumps, tear apart rotten wood stumps, or disturb large piles of wood without assistance from the technicians at Heritage Pest Control.
Professional Carpenter Ant Extermination In New Jersey
Avoid carpenter ant damage to your home by allowing Heritage Pest Control to assist you. We will inspect your New Jersey home and property to determine carpenter ant nesting locations and entry points. We will create a strategy to eliminate the current colonies and prevent future infestations. We will stop carpenter ants from harming your New Jersey home.