Carpenter Ants In Elk Grove: An Extensive Guide To Prevention And Control

Welcome to our guide to carpenter ant pest control in the Elk Grove area. Carpenter ants are easily one of the most troublesome pests you can come across here, and preventing infestations is crucial to the health of your home.

Control refers to the management of current problems, and prevention describes keeping pests out. Both of these components are incredibly important. When combined, carpenter ant control and prevention can keep your house ant-free for months and years to come.

Join us for a brief but useful look at carpenter ant identification, problems they can cause, and, of course, prevention and control measures that really work.

Characteristics Of Carpenter Ants: A Guide To Accurate Identification

To begin, we should explainhow to identify carpenter ants. For the average person, it can be difficult to distinguish one type of ant from another, and at least from a distance, carpenter ants don’t have any especially unique features.

These ants can be red, brown, or black, all of which are common ant colors. In terms of size, they are usually between a quarter of an inch and a half inch long.

But the one relatively unique feature you should keep an eye out for is the carpenter ant’s large mandibles (body parts near the mouth that look like pincers). Carpenter ants use these mandibles to chew through wood, and not all ants have them.

Aside from the visual presentation of the ants themselves, you should also try to pay attention to how the ants behave. Carpenter ants are attracted to wood and other building materials. Look for wood damage and signs of ants in the walls of your home.

Carpenter Ant Problems: Health Concerns And Structural Damage

Given that carpenter ants like to chew through wood supports, furniture, and structures, structural damage remains one of the biggest problems these ants can cause.

You may notice squiggly lines in wooden objects or very fine sawdust near wood and openings in walls. This type of damage can also be one of the key signs of carpenter ants.

Over a long period of time, carpenter ants can definitely cause some serious damage to the supporting elements of your home, which can then lead to a slew of other problems and costly repairs.

However, it’s also worth noting that carpenter ants, like other species, are also capable of spreading germs that can cause a number of different illnesses. So, property damage isn’t the only reason you should be eager to remove an infestation.

Carpenter Ant Prevention: How To Remove Attracting Factors

To prevent a carpenter ant infestation in your home, try to stick to the following list of tips:

Reduce the humidity levels in your home, especially in basement and attic spaces.
Repair or replace and moisture damaged wood in and around your home.
Keep firewood far from the outer walls of your home.
Patch or seal small openings around electrical conduits or pipes.
Make sure that tree branches and shrubs are trimmed away from the outer walls of your home.
Regularly check window screens and door screens for damage.

These tips place a special emphasis on eliminating various factors that can attract carpenter ants to homes. With these factors addressed, they’ll be more likely to try someone else’s house instead.

Professional Assistance: Vital To Total Carpenter Ant Control

To eliminatecarpenter ants in your house, you should consider working with a professional pest control service, as these companies know exactly how to handle carpenter ants.

Going it alone may seem like a tempting option to many homeowners, but if you make the wrong choices, you could end up making the situation worse.

To schedule a carpenter ant inspection or to learn more about our home pest control, contact Bell Pest Control today.