Took last week off, we were to do a bit of touring down the coast, visit some family, friends, etc.
Over several days DW has seen five or ten ants in the kitchen…
The morning before we leave I begin looking for the source and notice some large ants crawling up the foundation and under the siding. Further exploration with a screwdriver has it sinking to the handle in spots, so I open up the wall.
4X6 sill beam under mud room is wet as… broken flashing above, poor paper job… water is collecting on top of foundation before spilling outside. The house was jacked and set on a foundation before I bought it (one of the reasons I bought it) explains the beam instead of a sill plate.
So I spend my holiday replacing the beam, adding flashing in places. While I had the tools out, I ripped out the old back stairs, replaced the landing changed the railing, and added a small deck. I’m happy, DW’s happy and the kids 5 and 3 helped out.
Carpenter ants, don’t destroy wood, they make their nests in wood that is already soft and rotting. Without the ants leading me to the problem, I would not have known untill the beam failed.
So the ants have no place to live and are wandering into the house.
How do you kill them?
May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
Replies
Most ants eat sugar or grease.
Get some boric acid powder, some bacon grease, sugar and water, and some bottle caps.
Mix acid and grease in some caps and acid, sugar, and water in the others.
B-A won't hurt warm blooded critters. Kills insects.
I baited some honey with Boric acid but these ants are turning up their noses at it.
I'll give the grease a try.
Time to clean out that little pot under the BBQ.May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
I always thought carpenter ants were winged creatures that rarely go "in" houses.
If you do a search of ant control, there are universities that have an abundance of info on all ants and suggested control.
Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
The wingers don't come inside, they are cruising the deck.
I don't need a University,
I've got Breaktime!May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
We take borax and powdered sugar, put a cup of each into a quart jar.Then shake the jar good. The sugar coats the borax, then sprinkle it around at their pathways. They find the chunks of "sugar" and carry it back to the nest where they have a party and die. later, when the next generation wakews up, they find a meal all ready laid out for them, and follow their predecessors to perdition.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Hopefully, I destroyed the nest, when I removed the rotting beam and now that I've left them homeless, my plan is to murder them.
I LMAO while doing a search of past threads on Ants.
Stilletto said, " If you look really close you can tell they are carpenter ants by all the little beer cans laying around."
They never put the really good quotes in the magazine, do they?
ROAR!May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
you ever see a carpenter ant hauled in for flying under the influence?me neither;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I've gotten rid of a colony at my place with the icing sugar/fine borax mix by sprinkling it on the ants that now take it back to the colony where others clean/eat it off the returning members. It's not a one time application- had to do it daily for for a couple of weeks. You're working with a green/ environmental method and not a manmade nerve chemical or something similar.
They are winged when they swarm, usually in late May around here
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yes, but do they then turn into household pests, or do they nest in the wall and move on ? Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
Once the nest is there, it stays until you put the eviction notice onto them. if you see flyers, but have never had them before, they might be looking for a house with you. But more than likely, they are leaving for a new colony and just leavinga skelton crew behind to repopulate next year.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks, Ive only seen carpenter ants once many years ago. Guess their not so common out here. Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
What Sam said, unless you can locate some Chlordane. Dursban or any thing other than sevin will work as well, sevin wil wipe out the friendlies , esp. bees.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
There is no cure for stupid. R. White.
I don't know what Chlordane or Dursban is. I wouldn't call my ant problem an infestation, just a few here and there.
If I ever need some heavy artillery, I'll keep them in mind.
May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
Chlordane is banned from use in the USA. HIGHLY toxic, and known carcinogen. But it still is being made (?)
Dursban is available as a weakend solution sold in most Ortho products designed for inside use.
Do NOT confuse Malathion as an inside spray...I have in severe infestations of fleas, but the home must be vacant of people and pets.
FiCam works well on ants and is the best for fleas, being a wettable powder, it can be a bear to apply w/o a good sprayer...B&G is the tittts.
If you want to really do in the buggers, Ortho homeDefense is a good way that is least invasive or oderous.
Get the water problem solved, and bye-bye ants also.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
There is no cure for stupid. R. White.
I believe use of Chlordane was outlawed about thirty years ago. If there is still some around, it should not be used.
It was banned in '90 I think.
My neighbor still has some, and I can smell it a mile away.
I used it for foundation treatments and termite eradication, the smell never leaves ya...never.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
There is no cure for stupid. R. White.
Diaz is BAD stuff.
Use a mix of Cayanne pepper and water on the pathways..you be fine.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
There is no cure for stupid. R. White.
One cup sugar, three cups of water (boiling hot) and 4 teaspoons of Boric acid. Mix till clear and let cool then add to several small bottle caps, laid down near their homes, and they'll be gone in a week or two. Boric acid is also known in the real world as roach killer or termite killer, it's all the same stuff . I've used the sodium salt, better know as Borax Laudry Detergent and it seems to work just as well and is a lot cheaper. Borax is used in comercial solution to kill termites and as a wood preservative. Dense pack cellulose insulation is treated with it too.
Excellent! A Recipe!
I bought Boric Acid at the pharmacy. Says it is for pests and also for topical pain relief. I need some for my foot from all the stomping I've been doing.
Boric Acid sugar cakes, Boric Acid grease cakes...
The dinner bell is ringing Ants,...Come and get it!May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord
A while ago I started a thread about killing ants with citrus cleaner. This is non or not very poisonous as far as I know. I pointed out my scientific experiment in which I annihilated an ant trail several years ago and the dead corpses are still there on the battlefield and no ant has trespassed on that route ever since.
So I suggest a bottle of something like Zep citrus cleaner for your problem. I am awaiting my nomination for a Noble Prize for this serenditious discovery as well as a Pulitzer for my clever and distinguished writing.
~Peter, Pesticide columnist for Organic Gardening magazine
Citrus cleaner sounds pretty cool. Had I known I would have sprayed some around before I closed uo the wall, I did squirt a little bleach in there but I know it evaporates quickly.
I don't mean to step on your Pulitzer, but is serenditious a word? Serendipitous discovery, maybe?May neighbors respect You, and troubles neglect You.
Gord