Nowadays you can find plenty of carpenter ants killer to get rid of them. But the PRO has their own ways to deal with them and they do it way better than homeowners.
So, how do exterminators get rid of carpenter ants?
It’s a frequent question I get a lot from my readers. So, I will be talking about their techniques and mechanisms in this article. Stay with me!
Getting Rid Of Carpenter Ants: The Exterminators Way!
Even professionals find it difficult to get rid of carpenter ants. But they usually apply these below-mentioned treatments after assessing the situation:
- Dust Material Treatment
- Water-based Insecticide
- Residual Insecticides
- Mist Treatments
- Perimeter Treatment
- Ant Bait
Yes, I will be explaining each of the above treatments in detail. But you need to identify the carpenter ants first before you can apply any of the treatments.
Missing any spots will lead to the re-emergence of carpenter ants and you do not want that to happen any time soon after completing a hectic treatment!
Where Do Carpenter Ants Live?
They may hide inside your house or live outside. For inside, you can look for them in the most vulnerable spots as:
- Wood beams
- Wall voids
- Crawl spaces
- Plumbing
- Sinks
For exterior spots (and you need to deal with them as well), you can find them outside of your home in those areas:
- Woodpiles
- Mulch
- Trees/stumps
- Wooden shades like dog houses
- Wooden fences
- Electric/any cable entrances
- Vents, gutters
Now that you know where those carpenter ants might be hiding, let’s explain those treatments usually applied by professional exterminators.
- Perimeter Treatment
It involves treating ants living both inside and outside the house. It includes not only your home but also any exterior parts of the house as well. That’s how you can get them all!
But the main feature of perimeter treatment is to prevent the carpenter ants from getting into the house. That’s why the exterminator applies the treatment to the perimeter of the house to block the entrances.
Once the trails of carpenter ants are identified and you have successfully located all the problem areas, you can use non-repellent materials like the professionals.
Usually, the exterminators apply the treatment to all the cracks, foundations of the house, and other spots that the carpenter ants may use to re-enter the house.
- Dust Material Treatment
When your house has so many hidden areas (both interior and exterior), the situation may demand applying the dust material treatment by the exterminator.
Of course, he will assess the situation first to determine whether the infestation situation warrants such treatment or not.
The pesticide dust material can both find and eliminate the nests of carpenter ants. Professional exterminators apply the dust in a way so that the dust can reach into void areas.
That way, the dust floats and enters all the hidden areas where carpenter ants may hide. Usually, the exterminator starts from the inside of the house and works all the way to the exterior parts.
This two-fold approach ensures not to overlook any hidden parts of the entire house.
As a DIY pest controller of your own house, you should never try the dust material treatment yourself.
Yes, you can get the dust treatment from the over-the-counter but these DIY pesticides don’t contain the most active ingredients used by professionals. Here is a video explaining how it’s done.
- Water-based Insecticide Treatment
It is used as an alternative to dust material treatment. Sometimes, it’s difficult to treat carpenter ants hiding in the cracks, crevices, and other hidden places with a dust material.
That’s where the water-based insecticide comes in handy.
It not only reduces the size of the ant colonies significantly; it completely eradicates them as well!
- Nest And Barrier Treatments
Without the right equipment and trained eye, it’s almost impossible to identify all the nests of carpenter ants. That’s why it’s crucial to treat your home with a professional pest controller.
And almost every professional exterminator applies the nest and barrier treatment to completely get rid of the carpenter ants.
- Residual Insecticides Treatment
The potency of these insecticides remains for a long time and sometimes it makes sense to go for this treatment when a long-term solution is the only way to get rid of carpenter ants from your bedroom and from the rest of the house.
For instant results, exterminators don’t apply this treatment usually. After assessing the level of infestation, the exterminator can decide to apply this method only when he determines a long-term pest control solution is a must.
The residual insecticides treatment is equally suitable for both indoor and exterior treatments. Meaning, it can remove the ants and create a barrier outside to prevent entering your home.
- Mist Treatments
When you ask the exterminator to destroy carpenter ants from any specific wooden structure, he usually applies the mist treatment.
This treatment works only when you are sure that the ants are hiding inside the doors, walls, and beams voids.
Exterminators use their pressurized equipment to apply an ultra-light mist to destroy such ants including their nests from the inside of the wooden structures.
- Ant Bait
It’s not something every professional exterminator applies but I have seen its action and it works! Yes, it’s a slow-acting method but effective enough.
So, a few of the exterminators still apply the ant bait treatment for their clients.
That’s how they do it.
They contaminate the food source of the carpenter ants with deadly pesticides without ruining the taste and smell and make it a bait.
Exterminator’s Advice To Prevent Carpenter Ants
Yes, they will get the job done destroying all the nests and getting rid of the carpenter ants completely. But that’s not the job done completely.
Such ants can come back anytime soon!
So, after the job of the exterminator is done completely, he will usually recommend following the preventive measures:
- If is any moisture problem, you need to fix it fast to prevent infestation. That means you need to fix roof and plumbing leaks and so on. Replace any water-damaged wooden parts of your house on a proactive basis.
- Beware of the pipe and other wall penetration areas of your house. That’s how the ants get inside easily.
- Regularly cut the growing braches and trees closed to your house. Not just carpenter ants, any type of ants can use them as a ‘bridge’ to get into your house.
- Keep your firewood piles away from your house.
- Declutter your house and exterior areas to remove the sheltering spots for the carpenter ants.
- All the doors and windows of your house should be properly insulated.
- The perimeter insecticide application should be an ongoing process. This will keep the carpenter ants out of your home.
Closing Remarks
I can’t stress this enough, there are no alternatives to a professional pest control service when your home is infested with carpenter ants.
Only the professionals have access to some specific carpenter ants’ killer that you have never heard of.
And, now that you know how do exterminators get rid of carpenter ants, you can discuss with your hired exterminator about those above-mentioned treatments and pick the most suitable one for your house.
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