Are Carpenter Ants In Gilbert Dangerous To Leave Untreated?

What tools come to mind when you think about a carpenter: saws, drills, squares, screwdrivers, hammers, etc.? You know a carpenter is at work when you hear the sounds of saws cutting wood, drills revving up, and hammers pounding in nails. 

The pest world has its group of carpenters, but unlike human carpenters, they don't construct buildings or furniture, but weaken and destroy it. Carpenter ants are part of our ecosystem's carpentry team that serves a purpose in the outdoors but are a problem when they invade our structures. 

If you suspect carpenter ants are working on your home, you need the best pest control in Gilbert, What's Bugging You Pest Control. We have removed carpenter ants from hospitals, homes, and other locations since 2013. We know about carpenter ants, and in this article, we share answers to questions about this silent destroyer.

How Can I Tell If The Ants In My House Are Carpenter Ants?

You know when human carpenters are working by the sounds of tools, but carpenter ants are different. Carpenter ants work in the shadows, mainly in the non-livable areas of a house, and mostly at night, so how do you know they are in your home? Although they often work out of sight, the following signs of carpenter ants in your house indicate their presence:

• Carpenter ants in your home: These ants are 1/2 to 5/8 inch long, usually wingless, and have a body color combination of dark red and black, or they may be solid red, black, or brown. 
• Sounds from the walls: A mature colony of carpenter ants may have up to 10,000 members working away on wood. When this many ants are chewing through the wood, you can hear them if the room is silent. The best time to hear carpenter ants working is in the early morning or late evening hours. 
• Tiny holes: Carpenter ants do not eat wood but bore through the wood to create nests. 
• Sawdust-like material: As the carpenter ants tunnel through wood, they expel the cellulose at the end of the holes. The presence of sawdust-like material outside of tiny holes in wood is another sign.
• Ants with wings: In the spring, the colony produces winged, reproductive ants that leave the nest in groups (swarms) searching for new nesting locations. The presence of winged ants in your house indicates their presence. 
• Flying carpenter ants around the property: If you see large groups or swarms of flying ants in the spring or early summer, you may have a carpenter ant colony on your property that has dispatched reproductive ants to search for a new satellite location. 

These signs indicate carpenter ants, and you need ant control in Gilbert before the colonies mature and cause significant damage.

Why A Carpenter Ant Infestation Is Such A Problem For Your Home

Carpenter ants drill against the grain in the wood to create space for nests to raise their young. The creation of many tunnels weakens the wood resulting in sagging floor corners, warped door and window frames, damaged deck posts, and collapsed column supports. Because of the structural damage carpenter ants cause, you should take action to get rid of carpenter ants in your Gilbert home. 

What Is Attracting Carpenter Ants To My Property?

Decaying tree stumps, landscaping timbers, fence posts, and firewood attract carpenter ants in Gilbert. Carpenter ants prefer wood softened by decay because it is easy to bore into the wood. Once the ants establish a colony in an old tree stump or other rotting wood in the yard, they dispatch winged reproductive ants in the spring to create satellite nests. 

When the flying ants enter the house through cracks in the foundation, holes in window and screen doors, or crevices between the wood and door frames and siding or mortar, they search for moist areas for potentially soft wood. Carpenter ants in your house usually have nests in the crawlspace, basement, or attic, but they may also be underneath decks or porches. Once the ants find soft, moist wood, they begin boring holes to create a satellite nest that will house workers and maturing ants. Solid dry wood with a moisture content below 15% is not appealing to carpenter ants. 

The Best Way To Protect Your Home From Ants

Get carpenter ant control in Gilbert from What's Bugging You Pest Control to successfully eliminate carpenter ants. Our technicians will inspect your home and property to locate the hot spots and nest locations. We will treat the affected areas and create barriers using effective products to eradicate the ants and protect your home from future infestations. Let us STOP what's bugging you today!