Our homes are an investment, and no one wants their investment to crumble beneath them. Carpenter ants will slowly eat away at your home's wood, potentially costing a huge amount of money in repairs. Before these tiny destroyers invade your San Mateo home, have Pacific Pest Management, the premier San Mateo pest control company, inspect your home for carpenter ants.
Where Are Typical Carpenter Ant Nesting Sites?
Wherever you have the combination of decaying or unpainted wood and moister, there is a possibility for a carpenter ant nest. These nests are located both inside and outside the home. Examples of possible locations for outdoor carpenter ant nests include:
- Decaying trees
- Buried logs or boards
- Under the roof
Carpenter ants in San Mateo are found inside the house wherever decaying wood is present. In many cases, the decaying wood is the result of leaking water or water condensation. The following are common locations of decaying wood in the home:
- Wood windows and doors
- Around bathroom tubs and showers
- Behind tiles in the bathroom
- Under the subfloor in the crawlspace
Common locations for black carpenter ants in your home include voids in walls, interior doors, window sills, and foam insulation.
You will know you have a carpenter ant by the presence of the ants and by the small openings in the surface of the wood. If you see debris piles near the small holes in the wood, there is likely an active infestation of carpenter ants in your home.
Is It Possible To Hear Carpenter Ants Chewing A Wall?
Hearing the sound of carpenter ants excavating through the wood in your home is one of the signs of carpenter ants. A colony of carpenter ants contains 20,000 or more ants, and when you have thousands of ants working their way through the wood, there is an actual sound. Each carpenter ant has six legs, and on each leg are four hooks for a total of 24 hooks. When thousands of ant hooks excavate through the wood, you hear what sounds like paper crinkling or rustling. You are likely to notice the sound at night when there are no extraneous noises in the home.
What Not To Do About Carpenter Ant Damage
You do not want to ignore signs of carpenter ants in your home. Over time, they can significantly harm the structural integrity of your home.
Signs of carpenter ants in your home include:
- Carpenter ants
- Carpenter ants around holes in indoor and outdoor wood
- Holes in wood with debris near the holes
- Sounds of crackling and rustling in walls
Don't underestimate the damage carpenter ants can cause to your home. Failure to take quick action may result in costly repair bills. Here are steps you can take now to start eliminating carpenter ants from your property:
- Remove rotten wood from your property.
- Repair holes, cracks, and crevices in your home's exterior.
- Seal around the base of wooden windows.
- Keep firewood stored away from the home as far as possible.
- Check the kitchen, bathrooms, and crawlspace for signs of moisture.
Decaying wood is the common denominator that attracts carpenter ants and that type of wood is found where there is moisture. You must eliminate standing water and sources of moisture in the home if you are to fight against carpenter ants.
Carpenter Ant Extermination In San Mateo
Resolving moisture issues and incorporating the five steps mentioned above will help your carpenter ant infestation, but total elimination will require outside expert help. To get rid of carpenter ants, you need the professionals at Pacific Pest Management. Our team has environmentally friendly tools to treat carpenter ant nests. Reach out to us today and let us solve your carpenter ant problem with our effective home pest control and commercial pest control services.