Carpenter ants are one of the bigger-sized ants, about half an inch to five-eighths of an inch in size. They may be reddish black,  black or brown in colour. Part of the Formicidae family of insects, they are social animals living in colonies. They live both indoors and outdoors. 

As is the case with all kinds of pest infestations, the best method is diligently safeguarding against the entry and presence of pests within the house.

1. Prevention

If one lives in a coastal area or place having warm, damp weather where houses are prone to infestation by carpenter ants, it makes sense to:

• Regular cleaning of the pantry, store and kitchen in particular.
• All food containers should be clean and sealed.
• At all times, pet bowls and surrounding areas should be clean. 
• Waste or trash should be disposed of in closed containers. 
• All cracks and crevices need to be sealed. 
• Unused wooden furniture and equipment, damp rotted wood should be removed from the areas adjoining the house.

2. Locate the nest

Finding and destroying the ant nest seems to be the most efficacious method to get rid of carpenter ants. Ants generally move around 300 feet from the nest. Observe the movement of the ants. Search around susceptible areas near moisture and damaged wood to find their nest.

3. Baking soda and sugar bait 

Make a bait to find the nest. Keep a mixture of sugar and baking soda in a shallow dish. They will be attracted to sugar, while the soda will prove fatal.

4. Eradicate the trail using soap and water

Ants move about from their nest to sources of food, relying on a scent left by their scouts. The worker ants can be trapped by laying baits along this path called a trail. Cleaning trails disrupts and confuses the ants, preventing them from taking food into their colony.

A dishwashing soap and water solution is an effective and non-toxic method of getting rid of the ants and destroying their trail.

5. Using essential oils with a strong odour to disrupt trails

Essential oils such as tea tree oil, lemon oil, cedarwood oil, cinnamon and peppermint oil work best as repellents. When they are used for cleaning surfaces in the house, the strong aroma of the oil disrupts their trail.

6. Using vinegar to get rid of carpenter ants

A mixture of vinegar and water used to wipe floors and surfaces destroys the ants’ pheromone trails, interrupting their food supply and finally killing them.

7. Borax powder and Boric acid

Repeated treatment with non-toxic borax powder or boric acid will destroy the carpenter ants’ nest.

8. Using Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is a well-known natural pesticide. It is made from crushed algal fossils. Spraying it near the carpenter ants’ nests helps kill the ants.

9. Using very hot, boiling water

Throwing boiling water over an outdoor nest of carpenter ants kills them. The addition of nontoxic, water-soluble natural insecticide in hot water, makes it more effective.

10 Using Non-toxic insecticides

Spraying a nontoxic gel or foam into the drilled holes near a carpenter ant nest, gaps, spaces between plumbing or into the tunnels of the ant colony destroys the ant nest. You need to lay a nontoxic insecticide bait on their trails. The ants will carry the fatal bait back to the colony, leading to the extermination of the entire colony. Finally, have the house and surroundings checked professionally to ensure complete destruction of carpenter ant nests. Call the experienced professional “ Top Line Pest Control” at  +1 (604) 551-6504 for a thorough inspection.