Carpenter Ants
Follow it to the nest.
Carpenter ant treatment and the moisture that invites them.
NC licensed • Family owned
Serving Gaston, Mecklenburg and York counties
Carpenter Ants
Wood destroying carpenter ants
Envirosafe Pest Control understands how damaging Carpenter Ants can be for homeowners. Carpenter Ants typically have a satellite colony in exterior areas of the home, such as live or dead trees, stumps, logs or decorative landscape wood. The satellite colony is often located in a tree, stump, stacked wood within 50 yards of the home or in wood and stumps buried in the yard when the house was constructed. Decorative wood and landscape ties brought in to enhance the beauty of a yard or driveway may also be the source of a satellite colony.
Carpenter Ants can be very damaging to the structure of your home. Carpenter ants tunnel through wood in large numbers and cause major damage. If you see one, it is very likely there are already colony infestations and damaged structural wood in or around the outside of your home. Envirosafe Pest Control Guarantees we will get rid of your carpenter ant infestation using highly effective, yet earth-friendly pest solutions. Our technicians thoroughly treat with EPA Registered non-repellent liquid spray applications, Delta Dust, and Termidor Foam in targeted harborage areas, breeding areas and other areas where high levels of moisture or other environmental factors may be conducive to Carpenter Ant proliferation.
After initial treatment we highly recommend our Annual Carpenter Ant Retreatment Protection Plan . Envirosafe will return annually to protect your home from future Carpenter Ant infestations. We will re-apply barrier treatments around the exterior perimeter foundation, crawl space (if present) and other areas around your home and yard
that are conducive to recurring infestations. These Carpenter Ant protection treatments work to ensure that your home is protected year-round. Envirosafe Pest Control Guarantees it. Our Carpenter Ant Annual Retreatment Protection program may be continued, call or text us for pricing.
Carpenter Ants Are a Moisture Problem First
Carpenter ants do not eat wood. They excavate it to nest in, and they overwhelmingly choose wood that is already damp or already starting to decay. That is why finding them inside a house is worth more than a spray: they are telling you where water is getting in.
The places we find them in Gaston County homes are consistent. Around a leaking window or door frame. In the band board and sill plate above a damp crawl space. Behind a shower or tub wall with a slow leak. In a porch column or deck post sitting on wet ground. In fascia and soffit under a roof leak or a clogged gutter. In a dead tree or old stump within about a hundred feet of the house.
Carpenter Ants Versus Termites
People mix these up constantly and they need completely different treatment.
- The wood. Carpenter ant galleries are smooth and clean, almost sanded looking, with no soil in them. Termite galleries are packed with mud and soil.
- The debris. Carpenter ants push out frass, which looks like coarse sawdust mixed with insect parts, in small piles below the nest. Termites leave no sawdust.
- The swarmers. Both swarm. Ant swarmers have a pinched waist, bent antennae and front wings longer than the back. Termite swarmers have a straight body, straight antennae and four wings all the same length.
- The damage. Termites are usually the more serious structural problem, but a large carpenter ant colony working a wet sill plate over several years does real damage too.
If you are not sure which one you have, do not guess. Send a photo or call. We handle both, and a termite inspection settles it.
Signs You Have a Colony, Not Just Stray Ants
- Large black ants indoors in winter, which means the nest is inside the structure rather than outside
- Small piles of coarse sawdust below a window frame, a baseboard, or in the crawl space
- A faint rustling or crinkling sound inside a wall when the house is quiet
- Winged ants at an interior window in spring
- Steady trails at night, since carpenter ants are most active after dark
- Wood that sounds hollow or feels soft when probed
How We Treat Them
Find the nest, not the trail. Carpenter ant colonies have a parent nest, often outside in a stump or tree, plus satellite nests inside the structure. Killing foragers accomplishes nothing. We follow trails, look for frass, and identify where the colony actually sits.
Treat the nest directly and use non repellent material along trails so it moves back through the colony rather than scattering it.
Fix the water. This is the part that decides whether they come back. A leak, a clogged gutter, wood to soil contact, or a damp crawl space has to be corrected, otherwise the wood stays attractive. Our crawl space and moisture control service handles the structural side.
Remove the harborage outside. Stumps, firewood stacked against the house, landscape timbers, and limbs touching the roof are all staging areas.
Carpenter Ant FAQ
I see them inside in January. Does that mean the nest is in my house?
Almost certainly yes. Outdoor colonies are dormant in winter. Active ants indoors in cold weather mean a satellite nest in a heated wall or floor.
Do they cause as much damage as termites?
Usually less, and slower, because they excavate rather than eat. A long established colony in a wet sill plate is still a structural problem worth taking seriously.
Can I just spray them?
Repellent sprays scatter satellite colonies and make the problem harder to trace. It is the single most common thing that turns a small job into a big one.
How long until they are gone?
Usually a couple of weeks for the colony to go quiet once the nest is treated. If activity continues, there is another nest, and we come back.
Get It Diagnosed Properly
Call Envirosafe at 704-860-2041 or request service online. We are at 1001 E. Catawba St., Belmont, NC 28012, serving Gaston, Mecklenburg and York counties. See our full service area.
Carpenter ants don’t stand a chance against Envirosafe Pest Control of Gastonia NC, we deliver safe, effective, organic treatments and stand behind every job, which is why so many loyal customers keep calling us back!
Our technicians are trained in eco-friendly, low-impact methods and in telling carpenter ant damage from termite damage, two very different repairs.