I am in desperate need of advice. My husband is neither handy or helpful with this problem and I'm going batty with anxietiy over these nasty buggers.
Our house is only 5 years old. We are bordered by woods on two sides. I am seeing winged ants IN the house now - I've read that means an established colony is in the home. I see anywhere from 10-30 ants IN the house per day. I found a trail (possibly 2) in my laundry room. I also think there are some living probably in my garage door jams - other side of house. I killed a nest in my front porch pillar last year - the little buggers took all their eggs out so I knew I got that nest - and I threw them out.
I've heard that i need to find water damage, well my house is only 5 years old. We had a minor flood because our sewage lift broke - actually that happened twice. but the first three feet of wall is cement (unfinished) and in that room (laundry room) the interior walls hardly got wet. My daughter likes to make puddles a lot - so base trim etc will get wet - couple spots that are peeling. We also had a foundation leak in our lower level bathroom, but again - concrete wall involved - shims to drywall - maybe the drywall got damp but no studs involved and the ants aren't trailing near there.
The two trails I found are in the laundry room by an exterior unfinished wall - one goes up and down a stud along the edge of the house - some stop at the concrete wall and go behind the drywall and others continue to the floor to play down there. The other goes from behind the insulation on the other side of the room along a i beam to under the bathtub upstairs. I can see all the sub floor beneath that tub and see nothing indicating damage. There is a hole in the sub floor where the plumbing exits the tub and that is where they are going in. Looks like they have messed with that coating they put under the tub- appears to be pulled away from the tub bottom. Not sure if this is one large nest or two small ones or what. We do have trees near the home but none touch - my husband did trim those back last year.
I just got off the phone with one exterminator and he says they're probably living in wall voids - I'm not seeing frass anywhere. It's gonna cost me around $400 for a year and at this point I'm ready to just pay if it will kill them. I have put out terro and that made them stay out of my kitchen. I just put the terro out by these two trails, but I've had it very nearby for sometime with nothing. I've also had it out in the garage for a long time (I'm pretty sure there are nests in one if not both of the door jams) and it doesn't seem to be doing much there either. Advice?? Do you think I should just pay the vultures to come poison my home? I don't know what to do and my husband is sick of hearing about it - he doesn't' think it's a problem - he's also the epitome of not handy by the way.
Our house is only 5 years old. We are bordered by woods on two sides. I am seeing winged ants IN the house now - I've read that means an established colony is in the home. I see anywhere from 10-30 ants IN the house per day. I found a trail (possibly 2) in my laundry room. I also think there are some living probably in my garage door jams - other side of house. I killed a nest in my front porch pillar last year - the little buggers took all their eggs out so I knew I got that nest - and I threw them out.
I've heard that i need to find water damage, well my house is only 5 years old. We had a minor flood because our sewage lift broke - actually that happened twice. but the first three feet of wall is cement (unfinished) and in that room (laundry room) the interior walls hardly got wet. My daughter likes to make puddles a lot - so base trim etc will get wet - couple spots that are peeling. We also had a foundation leak in our lower level bathroom, but again - concrete wall involved - shims to drywall - maybe the drywall got damp but no studs involved and the ants aren't trailing near there.
The two trails I found are in the laundry room by an exterior unfinished wall - one goes up and down a stud along the edge of the house - some stop at the concrete wall and go behind the drywall and others continue to the floor to play down there. The other goes from behind the insulation on the other side of the room along a i beam to under the bathtub upstairs. I can see all the sub floor beneath that tub and see nothing indicating damage. There is a hole in the sub floor where the plumbing exits the tub and that is where they are going in. Looks like they have messed with that coating they put under the tub- appears to be pulled away from the tub bottom. Not sure if this is one large nest or two small ones or what. We do have trees near the home but none touch - my husband did trim those back last year.
I just got off the phone with one exterminator and he says they're probably living in wall voids - I'm not seeing frass anywhere. It's gonna cost me around $400 for a year and at this point I'm ready to just pay if it will kill them. I have put out terro and that made them stay out of my kitchen. I just put the terro out by these two trails, but I've had it very nearby for sometime with nothing. I've also had it out in the garage for a long time (I'm pretty sure there are nests in one if not both of the door jams) and it doesn't seem to be doing much there either. Advice?? Do you think I should just pay the vultures to come poison my home? I don't know what to do and my husband is sick of hearing about it - he doesn't' think it's a problem - he's also the epitome of not handy by the way.
