If you need some help avoiding carpenter ants this year and every year, you will need some tips to make your home less attractive to them. They are just seeking food, water, and shelter for their colonies, but carpenter ants can wreak havoc in your home. Finding their satellite and remote colonies can be extremely difficult.
You know how much damage termites can cause, but they are not the only damaging pests that can cause severe damage to the wood materials in and around your home. Termites eat the wood as they go, and carpenter ants dig through it like miniature excavators on a mission. When they do, they can cause nearly as much damage as termites. Carpenter ants have large mandibles that chew up wooden beams and other items and then leave the sawdust and wood bits behind.
For these and many other reasons, you will want to avoid a carpenter ant infestation in and around your home. The damage they leave behind can be extensive and may even weaken the structure of your home or building. Being proactive is the best way to avoid costly damage. Here are some things you can do around your home while you are cleaning up your yard this year:
- Avoid placing mulch too close to your home as this would be an invitation to carpenter ants to check out your home and discover the wonderful source of food, water, and shelter within.
- Trim trees and bushes to avoid direct contact with the home.
- Try to eliminate wood-to-ground contact with any wooden landscape products that come into direct contact with the home.
- Eliminate tempting food sources in your kitchen and pantry by storing leftover food in containers that are tightly sealed.
- Clean up spills and messes inside and outside right away.
- Seal off all entry points into your home by replacing missing or damaged screens and vents. Fill holes in your foundation, and be sure to close off any openings around vents, pipes, and cables as well.
Most importantly, you should call a trusted and experienced pest control service like Big Blue Bug Solutions for more information. We can help you if you already have signs of a carpenter ant infestation like sawdust piles. Our professionals have the training and expertise to determine if your damages are being caused by carpenter ants or another type of pest. Since carpenter ants have remote and satellite colonies that need to be eliminated to solve the entire infestation, they are very difficult to get rid of. These ants will keep coming back for more, causing you to spend increasing amounts of money on damage repairs. The best way to ensure complete eradication of carpenter ants in South Portland is to give Big Blue Bug Solutions a call today! We will work closely with you and explain how our carpenter ant solutions program works and help rid your home of this troublesome pest.