carpenter ants

bostonbaker

We had 5 or 6 carpenter ants in our house last night.  Anyone else have experience with this?  I did some online research and it said that they can have their nest outside of the house but find their way in looking for food, so I am hoping they aren't nesting in the house!  It said to give them some food and follow them around to find where they are coming in from.  Does anyone have any other tips?  It looks like this is the high season for them so I am kind of hoping they just wandered in from outside and will be gone soon.

jackieo1309

I haven't seen them in a long time but we used to have them in our house when I was younger. I remember my Dad following them and just finding a little hole where they were getting in. He just filled in the hole and they would stop getting in. As far as I know they usually have their nests outside. 

RhymeReason

we had them last summer and it looks like they are back again this year. DH put out this powder around the exterior of the house the other night and it seems to be doing the trick so far (he's seen a few of them dead or dying in the powder). We also put ant bait traps in our house last year and they seemed to do a pretty good job.

HalleyGirl

We get them every year, ugh!  I just saw a few this past weekend.  We use and old school laundry detergent, Borax.  It is a power (maybe the same thing Northern Lights uses) and we sprinkle it around the outside of the foundation.  This takes care of the problem, and it's pet friendly.  I was skeptical the first time I heard of this method, but it did the trick.  It's cheap and easy!  Good Luck!

wamozart12

DH killed one on our screen porch this weekend, so I'm keeping an eye out while he's gone. I have experience with various types of ants, but not carpenter ants. I think I'll go buy some borax, that seems very easy!

christar2000

We had a HUGE carpenter ant problem when we first bought this house---we saw only a couple though actually in the house until we opened up a wall and hundreds of them poured out.  We had to hire an exterminator of course.  They like wet wood.  The gutters on our house had not been installed properly so the ants were attracted to those parts of the house that were getting wettest.  We had to have the exterminator come several times to get rid of them.  When we opened up our kitchen last spring we saw many other holes that they had made.  Now we have a service come out twice a year to spray the exterior of our house for prevention.

bostonbaker

Thanks everyone.  I am going to try following them around and plugging up holes first, then the laundry detergent, and hopefully I won't have to resort to calling an exterminator!  Ugh.  I hate bugs.

RhymeReason

Not sure what DH used, but if it's expensive, I'll suggest Borax. It's in an orange container that he got a Lowes. Thanks Halley!