Ants are the tiniest troublemaker you’ll ever run into perhaps and once they decide to take up residence in your home, they can be rather difficult to get rid of. Certain species like the plain old “black ant” that you find creating lines to and from sweet things on the sidewalk occasionally find their way into your house and these can be taken care of with a little bit of cleaning solution and a good mop. The big problem ants tend to be carpenter ants. These little guys will turn your wall studs, porch, gazebo or any wooden part of a home into a deluxe apartment for themselves. They’ll chew small tunnels and rooms into it and expand more and more as time goes by. What can you do about these little destructive menaces?
Retrieving Your Home from Ants
We’ve already covered how easy it is to get rid of your basic sweet eating ant but how do you get rid of the ones who have established a comfortable home of their own in your wood? There isn’t an easy answer for this and depending on your situation it could be very expensive, time-consuming, destructive or some combination of all three. All you need to do is to understand how to get rid of ants?
The main thing that will take your hard-earned money away isn’t the actual extermination of the ants but instead is repairing any damage they caused during their stay. If that back deck you built cost about $10000 in time and materials and ants destroyed half of it from the bottom up, you can already see the kind of expenses we’re talking about.
Methods of Control
There are a few tried and true methods to get rid of the nasty ants once and for all. These methods also work on the less harmful smaller black ants and even can take out that pesky red fire ant pile on your property that you accidentally mow over once in a while sending an angry blast of biting bugs across the yard.
The normal method someone will try first to discourage ants from being in their home is to simply find as much of the ant line as probable and liberally spray it with anything you have handy. Bleach, floor cleaner, Windex, even vodka will work as a deterrent for your average ant that’s looking for a sucker your child dropped on the floor. Then the desired sweet object is removed and deeper cleaning takes place. This works for many small ants. If they persist, traps and sprays from the supermarket can knock them down a notch and if you still need help, it’s time for the pest control Brisbane professionals.
Carpenter ants are deeply embedded in your house’s wood structure and it can be very difficult to tell how far they’ve gotten in. Spraying here with average products will kill some but the queen will remain deep inside, untouched. You need to find and use a specialty product here or again, consult a professional Pest Exterminator Brisbane immediately.
Knowing the age and condition of your home can help you a great deal and help you get an idea of how deep carpenter ants may have dug in. Very old homes can sometimes not be worth the repairs needed if they are full of these little monsters and also have other issues like termites or mold. Always make sure you check for signs of insects when purchasing a home but if it’s too late you still have time to take action.
