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Am about to build a conventionally framed cottage in an area that has a high carpenter ant population. What techniques can be employed to prevent/deter the ants from taking up residence in the structure?
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Some 'stream-of-consciousness' ideas (not just construction, but habits too):
(1) Make the soil in the immediate vicinity of the foundation walls and under slabs inhospitable to ants (soil poisoning). Use only concrete slabs in crawl spaces. Seal edge joints.
(2) Remove dead wood from your property and don't allow it to accumulate (within 250' of house). Do not store firewood near your house. Do not allow tree branches to overhang your house (within reason) especially evergreens.
(3) Termite shields, sill sealer, caulk all gaps at sills, keep sawdust out of the excavation, don't bury any wood near the foundation wall during construction.
(4) Pressure treated wood in vicinity of foundation wall. First course of sheathing pressure-treated plywood - use sealant between sheathing and foundation wall, make sure of overlap. Backprime all finish wood (good practice anyway).
(5) I've seen recommendations to put some boric acid in stud bays, first floor. It's toxic so I won't recommend it.
(6) Keep the soil near the house dry - pipe leaders away, keep gutters cleaned out, no overflows, etc. Make sure that your plumbing doesn't leak.
(7) Avoid keeping garbage near the house. Carpenter ants are attracted to 'sweet and greasy' things.
(8) Run utilities underground where possible (I've seen them march onto my roof on the telephone line).
(9) Use heavy asphalt shingles with self-sealing tabs.
(10) Keep an anteater as a pet. :)
... and keep your eyes open.
Jeff
*A few suggestions .....#1 good housekeeping practices while building; no buried sawdust or woodscraps to provide food for the critters.....run the shop vac inside and vacuum everything including the bays before insulating/drywall. #2 sprinkle boric acid powder in each bay before insulating (Roach Pruf (sp.?)is one brand). #3 termite shields .....I don't know if they are effective against carpenter ants but they won't hurt. #4 Last but not least ...good design, materials, and construction. Things such as broad overhangs that shelter the sidewall, backpriming all exterior trim and siding, and proper site grading to direct water away from the house.
*Can you guys tell me what you do after the ants have invaded. I have a cabin that's had ants in the roof structure for a number of years. The cabin is a modified A frame with 2x6 t&g decking (ceiling/roof) over the frames, ie no attic. The ants have gotten up in the roof decking in the very small valley spaces and I'm afraid into the decking and possibly a gluelam beam. Any suggestions other than burying my head in the sand as I've done so far?
*couldnt resist this one......give them all hammers and saws and let them build the house for you......find out if they are real carpenters.........i know its lame but you should have some of the help i have
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Use the force -
b FUMIGATE
Obie
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Ditto Obie Wan's advice ..........depending on the infestation, you may have to do it more than once. I'd start poking around for rotted/wet wood, willing to bet you will find some somewhere. I'd start looking where the infestation seems heaviest.
*you can pre-treat with Bora-care..hey jeff.. r u shur about this one ?..((5) I've seen recommendations to put some boric acid in stud bays, first floor. It's toxic so I won't recommend it. ))i thot Borax and boric acis were generally benign to humans ?...am i mistaken ?this is one of the main ingredients of GOOD cellulose insulation..b but hey, whadda i no ?
*Boric acid is not toxic. Contact your local poison control center for further information. When I build a house I mix two containers of Roach-Pruf to four gallons of water. Let it sit for awhile before stirring; it will dissolve easier. Use a sprayer and hit every wood surface you can after your building is dried in. The next day if you drag your finger across any wood surface you will notice a slight white film. The 2500 square foot house I just sprayed used 32 bottles. At $2.98 a container that is an excellent investment. You can also spray before your plywood and windows are installed but it always seems to rain, undoing a day's labor. Hope this helps.
*Some Carpenter Ant info...
*Boric acid is considered toxic, but acute poisoning is reportedly rare; although chronic exposure can cause problems. It is used in eye wash products and as a vaginal suppository for yeast infections, among other things. From the MSDS for Boric Acid at http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/b3696.htm Potential Health Effects ---------------------------------- Inhalation: Causes irritation to the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. May be absorbed from the mucous membranes, and depending on the amount of exposure could result in the development of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, drowsiness, rash, headache, fall in body temperature, low blood pressure, renal injury, cyanosis, coma, and death. Ingestion: Symptoms parallel absorption via inhalation. Adult fatal dose reported at 5 to > 30 grams. Skin Contact: Causes skin irritation. Not significantly absorbed through the intact skin. Readily absorbed through damaged or burned skin. Symptoms of skin absorption parallel inhalation and ingestion. Eye Contact: Causes irritation, redness, and pain. Chronic Exposure: Prolonged absorption causes weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, convulsions and anemia. Liver and particularly the kidneys may be susceptible. Studies of dogs and rats have shown that infertility and damage to testes can result from acute or chronic ingestion of boric acid. Evidence of toxic effects on the human reproductive system is inadequate. Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions: Persons with pre-existing skin disorders or eye problems, or impaired liver, kidney or respiratory function may be more susceptible to the effects of the substance.
*So how long do I have before one of my walls collapses? I KNOW that I have carpenter ants; walked into the kitchen one day last year to see HUNDREDS of queens pouring out from under the baseboard. I grabbed wet paper towels, and just kept scooping them up and threw them into garbage bag. But my DH doesn't want to use any poison, doesn't want to hunt for them, just leave them alone. Haven't seen a huge swarm this year, but there have been queens in the house every year for the last four years. Find them plastered to the window screens, looking for a way out. Since we live in the middle of the woods, keeping dead wood 250 feet back is just about impossible. Evergreen trees overhang the house. The gutters leak. Anteaters aren't native to Ontario.Of course, we have the regular ground ants that areundermining the brickwork in the patio. Couple years ago the bricks in one area sank by 6". I keep trying to get rid of them, (pouring boiling water onto them) but my DH says that ants don't undermine brickwork. Says it must be rotting wood underneath. What about all that sand the ants keep bringing to the surface???Guess I'm not looking for a real answer, just venting steam. Don't like the house anyway. Maybe if the damn thing falls down, I can move.
*That may become reality in this century. Not actual ants of course, but ant-sized self-reproducing machines. "Nano-technology" is the word for it, which is mechanical engineering at the microscopic level. All sorts of schemes are being proposed from "ants" that scurry around your house cleaning up and chasing away real insects to "bugs" for building structures on Mars and other planets. The one conceptual problem for self-reproducing machines is what happens if they escape and get out of control? Whole forests might be converted into "MacMansions". Oh wait, that's already happening
*Martagon,Have your DH repair the gutters and you may be surprised in the result. Carp. ants love moist wood and will seek out any area, at any height to do their damage. Eliminate the wet and they just might go back out to the woods. Might not solve the whole problem, but it will certainly help. Keep the crawl (if you have one) dry also. Best of luck.
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You have a simple choice of techniques - Fumigate, if a company will do it where you live, or, as an alternative - Find The Nest and Destroy It. It's not entirely impossible that you might find the nest, but you might beat up and/or remove some perfectly good parts of your house doing so.
PS - The winged beasties are called 'reproductives.'
Obie
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Mongo, Thanks for that very informative link regarding carpenter ants
*Thanks guys, No problem getting a fumigater here, I have talked to a local company, but my husband refuses to use chemicals in the house. I figure they are in behind the kitchen sink, probably a little damp back there. Full basement, and relatively dry now. It used to be around 60% humidity, but it's so cold and damp down there, I run the fireplace (gas) year round. Humidity's reasonable now. Figure gas is cheaper than dehumidifier, and it's cold enough, the heat doesn't matter. I just wanna know how long before the wall falls down. When do I get to utter those magic words "told ya so"P.S. Reproductives?? What happened to queen ants. Geez, guys, is that what we are, reproductives??
*I've encountered alot of carpenter ants and their damage. The experts say they will infest dry wood, but in my experience, I have never seen them except where the wood was damp. I've seen abandoned nests that were dry, or sopping wet, and nests that the ants were tunneling into drier wood from adjacent damp wood, but I have yet to see an active ant colony that wasn't preceded by a water leak of some sort. I would say that if you have an ant problem, you have wet wood that is an attractive place for them to nest. If the ants don't destroy it, the rot to follow will. My suggestion for your cottage, in addition to some mentioned above would be a generous overhang at the eaves and gables, and gutters to protect against splashing (and other problems).
*get rid of the leaks....and if DH doesn't want to use chemical in the house.. at least spray your foundation with diazanon all the way around.. especially up under teh siding.. use a two gallon pump sprayer..cut the evergreens back so yuor house can dry out between rain storms....carpenter ants arn't QUITE as destructive as termites.. they arn't eating for food.. just to make nests...but in the wrong structural wood they can bring down a floor system...also . if you have ants you've got water .. and if you have water you PROBABLY have some serious rot...fix the leaks..also the dehumidifier will do a better job on your wet basement than the furnace.... and your furnace will do a better job of taking the chill off if you lower the RH in the basement..good luck with DH.....
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Anybody else notice the similarity between carpenter ants and those ants you see on peonies? I asked a local entymologist who said she believed they were the same but wasn't sure.
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Not the same ants at all (different sizes). The ones on the peonies should be there - they have a symbiotic relationship.
*Give them all tool belts and tell them the pays better on the other side of town, or perhaps getting a pet anteater instead of a dog.:-)sorry could'nt help it. Have you tried the yellow pages under pest control?
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Am about to build a conventionally framed cottage in an area that has a high carpenter ant population. What techniques can be employed to prevent/deter the ants from taking up residence in the structure?