Preventing Carpenter Ants From Damaging Your Lewisville Home
Of all the ants that can get into your Lewisville home, there is no ant quite like the carpenter ant. It is a wood-destroying pest that starts by tunneling in rotted wood and spreads to sound hardwood. If you have these insects in your home, you could be in trouble. Over time, they can do a lot of damage. And many homeowners let them do more damage than they should. This is because they lean toward carpenter ant detection rather than carpenter ant prevention. While it is certainly important to know what carpenter ant damage looks like and how to detect the signs of a carpenter ant infestation, it is better to make your home and yard resistant to carpenter ants. That's what we're going to talk about today: How you can prevent carpenter ants from damaging your Lewisville home.
Step 1: Control Moisture
When you have moisture issues, you inevitably have wood rot. Dampness allows fungi, mildew, mold, and other spores to attach to the wood of your home and begin the process of wood decay. As wood decays, it becomes more and more appealing to carpenter ants as a source of harborage. Some ways that the wood of your home can be damaged by moisture are:
- Overflowing gutters
- Broken gutters or downspouts
- Trenches or depressions near your basement walls
- Leaking exterior spigots
- Leaking pipes
- Dense shade caused by a thick tree canopy or dense vegetation
Addressing conditions that promote moisture and wood rot can go a long way in protecting against carpenter ants and other wood-destroying organisms.
Step 2: Remove Harborage Options
If your yard has dead or rotting wood, you're going to lure carpenter ants in. An obvious example of deadwood is an old stump or log in your backyard. These are a playground for carpenter ants. You may quickly recognize an old fence or deck as a potential attractant. One that often goes under the radar is heart rot. When a seemingly healthy tree has heart rot, it can have hundreds or thousands of carpenter ants inside. If a tree with heart rot is near your home, carpenter ants can quickly become a threat to your equity. Do an inspection of your yard and remove any sources of dead or rotting wood.
Step 3: Remove Food Sources
Carpenter ants have a varied diet. Their primary source of food is the honeydew from aphids, scale insects and whiteflies. This honeydew is a sweet liquid that comes from the sap of plants. If you have plant-eating insects in your landscaping, you're going to attract carpenter ants. Reducing unwanted vegetation can help reduce these insects and the sweet honeydew they create.
Step 4: Seal Entry Points
Carpenter ants don't always chew their way into Lewisville homes. Sometimes they find a gap, crack or hole. Once inside, they gravitate to cool, damp areas where there is suitable wood for harborage. Do an inspection of your exterior walls and use a caulking gun to seal things up. For larger holes, you may need an expanding foam of some kind. Cracks in foundation walls can be sealed with a foundation repair kit.
Step 5: Get Some Help
All the above steps can take a lot of hard work. You're going to have to get out there, roll up your sleeves and put some elbow grease into it. But, when you invest in a residential pest control plan, you don't need nearly as much elbow grease. A residential pest control plan gives your exterior what it needs to get control of pests. And if a carpenter ant infestation is beginning or has already begun, your pest professional will be quick to deal with it.
Lewisville TX Pest Control Experts
For carpenter ant control in Lewisville, consider a residential pest control plan from Adams Exterminating. We also offer coverage for subterranean termites, which can be far more destructive than carpenter ants. Choose a program that meets your specific needs and budget. We make it simple to get started. Request a free home estimate and we will send a pest professional right to you. Your pest professional will take a look at your exterior and let you know what pest pressures you're up against. Once this is done, you'll have the information you need to get the right protection for your home. Reach out to us today. We're here to help!
Our FAQ
Have questions? We are here to help. Still have questions or can't find the answer you need? Give us a call at 940-239-9786 today!
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Do you offer pest control to businesses?Yes, we offer both residential and commercial pest control. We will work with the needs of your business to ensure that pests are not a problem. Furthermore, we understand the State of Texas’s Health and Safety Codes when it comes to pesticide use and pest control.
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If your company puts out rodent poison at my house, will a rat die inside?Yes, this is a possibility. Ideally, we prefer to use traps on the inside and in the attic, and then place rodent poison in protected stations on the exterior (which could reduce the likelihood of having a rodent die inside). However, anytime a rodenticide is used, there is always a threat that a rat or mouse could die on the inside. If the dead rodent can be located and removed, this will fix the smell. Otherwise, we sell odor control products to help with unpleasant smells should this unfortunately occur.
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Do you offer any organic/green/low toxic treatments?
We do offer “green” treatments because we understand that though the synthetic pesticides that we typically use are quite safe, some people for various valid reasons prefer a green approach to pest control. In addition to employing completely non-chemical measures such as structural and mechanical alterations (weep-hole exclusions, recommendations on door sweep replacement etc.) and glue traps or other monitoring devices, we have a number of natural and botanical insecticides that we can use to treat your home or business.
We commonly use natural products such as boric acid, diatomaceous earth, and a number of different botanical products (pyrethrum, rosemary oil, cedar oil, etc.). These products can be very effective when used properly. One downside is that they usually don't last as long as synthetic pesticides, so we generally recommend a more frequent treatment cycle, such as monthly, when using these products. Just tell the person you speak with on the phone or the technician who services your property about your preference and we will be happy to accommodate you.
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How many years have you been in business?We are a family owned, locally operated pest control company that has been in business since 1947. For over 75 years, our company has expanded its service area while continuing to provide exceptional customer service.
