# Carpenter Ants - How long to wait for treatment?



## rchiav (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi everyone and thanks for reading this. I'll try to make this long story as short as possible. 

I've been dealing with carpenter ants in the house for over 2 months now. I've made things progressively better with trimming back a tree, baiting in the house and then spraying along one side of the house where I was still seeing them along with putting borax in the window wells. We were originally seeing ants in an upstairs bathroom and that's where we baited. 

We eventually saw a lot less in the house (1 or 2 every day or every other day), and that's when I started treating the one side where I saw them. After that, I was able to keep them out of the house, but I was still continually seeing them along that side of the house. They were dying, but they were still coming. 

I then had a 60ft. Silver Maple taken down that was half dead. It was on the other side of the house, but I'm sure it was full of ants. That was 4 weeks ago. I still saw ants after that along that one side of the house. I also discovered that there was water and ant damage to a couple of posts that support the roof over my front porch. The worst post is on the corner of the same side where I was seeing ants along the foundation.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I treated around the entire house with Dominion. This included the front porch and support posts. The next day, I saw 5 winged ants on the support posts and railings on the front porch. A week after treating, we had 6 ants in the house. At least 2 of them were moving really slow, 2 were dead and the other two I killed before I could see how they were behaving. 5 were upstairs and 1 downstairs. The next day I retreated with Borax in the window wells, and from then on, I have not seen a single living ant outside the house. Did the nest collapse and that cause a bunch to come in the house?

Last week I had all the support posts replaced on my front porch along with having some siding removed to make sure there wasn't other water/ant damage. 

Last night there was another ant upstairs. 


So with all of that history, my question is.. how long should I expect to wait to know that my issue is resolved? Should I expect straggler carpenter ants around for a while or is that a sign that there's still a nest someplace else? My concern is that there's really no other place on my property for there to be a nest other than in the structure of my house. All the other trees I have are smaller and they're healthy. 


Thanks,
Rich


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## PAbugman (Jun 29, 2010)

When we do a carpenter ant job using Phantom/Termidor we ask the customer to wait 2 weeks before re-assessing the results. If they are seeing dead/dying ants-no problem that is good. If they are seeing mostly healthy ants, like business as usual, then call us for warranty work. It sounds like you are having good results-keep monitoring. Imidacloprid, the active ingregient in Dominion is good for ants, but slow acting. Don’t hesitate to re-treat the exterior as the toxicity is so low that multiple treatments are harmless. Also treat tree trunks up to your height, focusing on splits, cracked bark, etc. 

Any place outside that is exposed to the direct sunlight will lose the residual effects first. Sheltered, shaded areas will last the longest. Sunshine breaks down modern day insecticides.


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## rchiav (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks for the response PAbugman. I definitely think things have improved.. I still haven't seen an ant around the foundation for almost 2 weeks and I'm checking quite a few times a day, but that doesn't mean they're not around. I'd like to get to the point where I don't have to keep borax in the window wells to keep them out of the house. The last 2 times we had ants in the house were when I didn't put more down. 

I now have a bottle of Termidor on the way as well. It should be here next week and I'll treat the following weekend if the weather cooperates. I probably should have just ordered that to begin with.. live and learn I guess.


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## PAbugman (Jun 29, 2010)

You’re doing well. When inspecting for ants, keep in mind that carpenter ants are more active in the evening and after dark. Also inspect and treat tree trunks up to your height with termidor. The main colonies could be in the trees and they split off satellite colonies when the main gets too big.


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## rchiav (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks for the reply again. Unfortunately I'm seeing ants outside again. I haven't seen one up by the front porch, but my wife saw one yesterday along that side by the back of the house and I saw 3 today. 

The basement windows on that side of the house are pretty weathered and I noticed that I could see daylight around them from down in the basement. Today I calked them up and once I know it will be dry, I'll paint them. Hopefully that was where they were getting in and that will keep them out of the house without having to continually put more borax down there. The Termidor also showed up today so I'll have to figure out when I can spray that. We're supposed to have a chance of rain the next 2 days. 

About spraying trees, I have a very large lilac bush on that side of the house along with an some sort of Asian weeping tree. I'll make sure to spray those. I also have about 10 pine trees that are under 20ft tall around the yard. Should I spray those as well? They really aren't close to the house. 

Thanks,
Rich


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## PAbugman (Jun 29, 2010)

Not a bad idea to spray the pines-carpenter ants will nest in living, healthy trees. The concentrate will last a long time so I’d spray the pine trunks now and monitor them in the future. You will learn more as you begin diy treatments and guage your results. You will become more aware of insect activity and patterns now that you are treating.


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## rchiav (Aug 17, 2011)

I feel like I'm already too aware of insect activity. My wife thinks I'm obsessed.  I wouldn't mind so much other than the fact that the last two times we saw ants in the house, one was right outside my daughters room and the other there were a couple in her room. She didn't see them and I'm not sure how should would have reacted if she did. I'd rather not find out, so I'm trying to make sure I keep them out. 

Hopefully this is my last 2 questions.. looks like I'll be able to put down the Termidor tonight.. how long should I expect it to last? It will be on a cinder block foundation up to the edge of vinyl siding, out into rock that's around the house, under and around a deck, painted wooden railings and posts on front porch and in trees?

Also, is this something I should put down again in the spring as preventive maintenance or should I wait until I see activity again?

Thanks,
Rich

EDIT: OK, so I lied.. one more question 

When you said before that Dominion was slow, do you have a time comparison between Termidor and Dominion? 

Thanks again
Rich


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## rchiav (Aug 17, 2011)

Just an update.. This coming Monday will be 3 weeks since I sprayed with Termidor. I haven't seen a carpenter ant in the house in almost 4 weeks. I'm still putting borax on the window ledges in the window wells along the side of the house where they were getting in though. I don't want to chance my 7 year old daughter freaking out if she sees an ant in her room. I also had an outdoor terro bait along that side of the house that I got rid of last weekend. On the rare occasions I have been seeing ants, they've bee around that bait station so I was wondering if I'm attracting them to the house. 

I saw one ant last weekend that wasn't doing well. He was acting like other ants that have gotten into the terro though. He was falling off of things and twitching when he was moving. Today I saw another one that I can't say was sick, but he didn't seem as fast and as sure footed as I've seen ants be. I'm not sure how Termidor effected ants act though. 

I guess I'm just going to leave things the way they are until winter and reassess next spring. There's not enough ant activity for me to see to tell what's going on.


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## NotMechInclined (Feb 5, 2011)

rchiav, What concentration did you use?

I just purchased a bottle of Termidor. I've been seeing a lot of carpenter ants in the backyard lately with quite a few crawling up a large tree. I figured I would spray the perimeter of the house and the trunks of the trees. 

This is my first experience using Termidor so any tips would be appreciated


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## rchiav (Aug 17, 2011)

I used what the instructions called for. It's whatever volume the built in measuring cup has marked to 1 gallon.


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