AVOIDING CARPENTER ANT DAMAGE FOR UNION COUNTY HOMES
Carpenter ant damage can be destructive and can go on for a long period of time before Union County homeowners become aware. As fall approaches, homeowners might think that the threat of carpenter ants diminishes, but that is not the case. While carpenter ants mate in the early spring and look for places for new colonies, by fall they are well established and the destruction from an infestation has likely already occurred.
Homeowners around Union County should know the warning signs, and where problems usually spring up, so they can be on the lookout for carpenter ants.
Warning Signs of Carpenter Ants
In early spring, if you see flying ants congregating near the outside of your home, it’s a good sign they are looking for a place to establish a new satellite colony after taking flight and leaving the main colony. It may also be a sign that they have already established a colony somewhere in or around your Union County home.
Even if you don’t see the actual ants, they can leave tell-tale signs that they are active inside your walls and wood. These signs may be in the form of discarded wings, dead ants, or small piles of dust that look like wood shavings/sawdust.
In extreme cases, where the colony is well established inside your home, you may hear the sounds of the ants moving about and tunneling in the walls. A colony can contain thousands of ants. You might also notice buckling of floorboards, walls, support beams and the like as the tunneling damages the structural integrity of your home.
Year-Round Pest Protection Can Help Prevent Carpenter Ants
If your Westfield home is warm, carpenter ants will stay busy deep into the fall and sometimes even winter. When the weather turns very cold the queens will go inactive but will reemerge in the spring and continue to do damage as they can live for as many as 20! Their workers will continue to protect them and proceed to do more damage since they do not die off as some other summer pests do when the weather turns cold.
Our technicians can help you with a year-round plan to protect your home from carpenter ants. We will do an inspection to create the best plan for your property. A protective barrier treatment is applied where it will be most effective around the perimeter of your Union county home. Our management reports keep you up-to-date on steps you can take to improve the effectiveness of the treatment and what treatments were done. We are also available for pest emergencies between visits. Call Viking Pest at 800-618-2847 if you suspect a carpenter ant problem, or if you want to be proactive in preventing one in your Union County home.
