Carpenter Ants. One call, someone's on the way.
Sawdust piles under window frames and trim
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Is this what you are looking at?
Large, usually black ants together with small piles of what looks like coarse sawdust are the signature. That material is frass, the wood shavings and insect parts they push out of the galleries. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood; they excavate it to nest, which is why the galleries are smooth and clean inside.
Also called: big black ants, wood ants
Where they actually are
They establish in wood that is already damp or decaying, so they usually indicate a moisture problem before they indicate a pest problem. Mature colonies set up satellite nests indoors while the parent colony remains in a tree or stump outside.
- damp framing around windows and doors
- roof leak areas
- bathroom subfloor
- hollow doors and porch columns
- firewood stacked against the house
- insulation in wall voids
Why the can from the hardware store does not work
Spraying ants on the counter kills foragers while the nest continues in the wall. Because they often shelter in damp framing behind finished surfaces, surface products rarely reach the colony, and the underlying leak keeps the conditions right.
What a contractor actually does
A contractor will trace the activity to the nest, which often means finding the moisture source first, then treat the galleries directly and address the exterior conditions that let the colony establish. Repairing the leak is part of resolving it rather than an optional extra.
Damage accumulates slowly compared with termites, but the moisture problem that invited them is usually worth finding sooner rather than later.
Questions people ask on the call
- Carpenter ants or termites?
- Carpenter ants have a pinched waist and bent antennae, and leave coarse frass. Termites have a straight waist and leave mud rather than shavings.
- Does the sawdust mean structural damage?
- It means active excavation. How serious it is depends on where the galleries are and how long they have been there, which is an inspection question.
- Why do they keep coming back?
- Usually because the parent colony is still outside in a tree or stump, or because the damp wood that attracted them has not been fixed.
Where carpenter ants come up most
Climate decides a great deal of this. These are cities in the regions where this one is among the most common calls.
Carpenter Ants in the house?
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