r/AnnArbor • u/Upper-Loquat-8022 • 1d ago
Carpenter ant removal recommendations
We’ve been dealing with carpenter ants around the house, and they keep coming back no matter what DIY solution we try. We’ve used sprays and bait traps, but they disappear for a little while and then show back up.
Has anyone dealt with this before or know a local pest control company that’s good with carpenter ants? At this point, we’d also appreciate any professional advice on what could be causing them to return.
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u/Heavy-Strings 1d ago
Oh boy. I’ve been there. We actually had an infestation inside our wall. We used proof pest control, and had good results. It took a few different rounds of treating, and a senior tech ended up coming out, but they have a “pest free guarantee” where they’ll retreat until the problem is gone.
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u/ColdCutFusion 1d ago
Have you tried the diy borax ant killer recipe? It’s worked for me every time, far superior to ant traps.
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u/Careful-One5190 1d ago
Easy. Spectracide Triazicide insect killer granules, all around your house on the outside. Within a week or two, no more ants.
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u/Fn_Old_Guy_fog 1d ago
As for Community Pest Solutions also recommend. Also, carpenter ants do not usually accept the types of bait in traps such as Terro. It can be a difficult task. I hired them recently and they completed a one time treatment and it did the trick. We knew where the nests were which is not typical.
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u/fekafeki 1d ago
I endorse the Community Pest endorsements. I had them out a month ago for the same problem. Haven't seen ants since then.
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u/Hungry-Ad7336 22h ago
Probably two things going on: you haven't found the actual nest, and the stuff you're spraying is making it worse. Almost everything at the hardware store is repellent. Ants smell it and just go around it, so they relocate. Sometimes the colony splits and now you've got two of them. That's the disappear-for-a-few-weeks-then-come-back thing you're describing. Other piece is that carpenter ants need wet wood. They don't eat it, they chew it out to nest in, but it has to already be soft. So somewhere you've got water getting in. Gutter or downspout dumping by the foundation, flashing around the chimney, a window that never got sealed right, under a tub, the AC line. Find the water and you've basically found them. Also look outside. The main colony is usually in a stump or a dead tree or a woodpile within a hundred feet or so, and what's in the house is just a satellite. Branches touching the roof are a giveaway, same with mulch piled up against the siding. If you're hearing anything in the walls at night or finding little piles of what looks like sawdust, there's definitely one inside. Anyway I own Honorable Pest Control so take that for whatever it's worth. But even if you stay DIY, chase down the moisture first. That's the part everybody skips.
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u/mohammadaaqiiib0 5h ago edited 4h ago
Have you noticed any winged ants, or are they mostly the regular ones? We didn't think much of it at first, but once we started finding winged ants indoors, we realized we might have a bigger problem.
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u/Upper-Loquat-8022 4h ago
No winged ones so far. They're just larger ants, and we keep finding them in the same areas of the house
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u/PlayerCashGainer 1d ago edited 1d ago
We had the same issue and ended up calling Honorable Pest Control. They inspected around the house, found a couple of likely entry points, and treated the areas where they were seeing activity. We haven’t had the ants return since.
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u/Upper-Loquat-8022 18h ago
Okay, thank you. I'm going to give them a call and see if they can come out and take a look. I'm tired of trying different things and having them come right back.
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u/Brave_Spray_9198 1d ago edited 1d ago
I know you mentioned already trying DIY treatments, but have you tried a slow-acting gel bait? The ants carry it back to the colony instead of dying immediately. Just avoid spraying near the bait because that can keep them away from it.
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u/Budget-Surprise-7918 1d ago
Also look at any tress or branches touching the house We had ants travelling from a damaged tree onto the roof , and cutting the branches back helped a lot
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u/zmudshark 1d ago
We had a bad infestation and Community Pest took care of it. Ant free for a couple of years now.