Carpenter Ant Damage: Signs & Repair

Although Small, Carpenter Ants Can Cause Serious Wood Damage To Your Home

While carpenter ants may not be the first suspect that comes to mind when you think of structural damage to your home, these tiny pests are capable of causing serious damage to wooden structures.

What makes carpenter ants even more dangerous is that they often go undetected until irreparable damage has already been done. Knowing the warning signs of carpenter ant damage and is essential to properly handling a carpenter ant infestation, before it’s too late.

How Carpenter Ants Damage Wood

Carpenter ant damage often begins when the colony outside your home finds an attractive piece of moist or decaying wood.

Primarily attacking wooden structures, carpenter ants look for damp wood for an access point, later expanding into insulation and wall voids. Damaged wood on the outside of your home, as well as wooden structures that are in direct contact with the ground, are easy targets for carpenter ants.

Able to chew and excavate the damp wood, carpenter ants leave the damaged wood looking smooth and sanded. With destruction not always visible, structural wood can be severely impaired before the homeowners are able to notice an infestation.

Signs of Carpenter Ant Damage & Infestations

If you suspect you could be dealing with carpenter ants — and that they may be targeting the wood in your home — be mindful of these signs:

• Look for small piles of sawdust. Although carpenter ants chew damp or decaying wood, they do not eat the wood. Piles of sawdust that are left behind are often a telltale sign that you’re dealing with carpenter ants.

• Finding carpenter ants in your home is a dead giveaway that they are there for a reason. If you see a carpenter ant, try to follow it back to the source, as there is likely more ants hidden under the affected wooden structure.

• Listen for carpenter ants in your walls. If there is decaying wood exposed in your home, you will likely be able to hear a faint scratching sound within the structure. Regularly checking wood located near water sources is a great way to catch carpenter ant damage before it become a more serious problem.

Carpenter Ant Damage Repair

Particularly difficult to handle alone, carpenter ant infestations require more than just removal. Homes and wooden structures also need to be repaired   whenever there is damaged wood they’ve infested discovered.

Catseye Pest Control’s Carpenter Ant Eradication Program effectively combines both removing and eradicating the colony from your home, as well as repairing any damaged wood caused by carpenter ants. By eliminating and replacing the moisture-damaged wood from your home, we deter carpenter ants from returning in the future.

If you suspect you’re dealing with a carpenter ant infestation, or simply want to learn more about preventing carpenter ant damage, contact our pest professionals today for more information, or to set up your cost-free inspection.