Carpenter Ant Treatment That Works
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- čas přidán 1. 01. 2021
- If you have carpenter ants and you want to treat them yourself, then this is the video that you must watch. It's a bit longer than many pest control videos on the web, but this is the one that will show you how to get the job done 100 percent without fail and you can do it safely, effectively, and inexpensively. No shortcuts here. This is how to do it right.
Please note, sometimes I do not always receive posted questions from viewers or I do receive them, but CZcams does not allow me to respond to them. Sometimes I do not receive a question until six months after it was posted. These glitches do not happen often, but they do happen. It is my policy to respond to all questions within 48 hours, so if you do not hear from me in a couple of days, then please email your question to me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Please do try to post questions in the comment section first and only use the email address if you don't hear from me. The reason for this is that other folks may have the same question, so it would be nice for them to learn as well. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Remember... I will always get back to you.
1. Termites vs Carpenter Ants Video: • Who's Eating Your Hous...
2. Termite Identification Video: • How to Identify Termit...
3. Kill the Bugs Before They Get in Your Home Video: • Unbelievable Outside T...
4. DIY Termite Treatment Video: • Unbelievable DIY Termi...
5. Duster: smile.amazon.com/Southern-Hom...
6. D-Fense Dust: www.domyown.com/dfense-deltam...
7. Maxforce Carpenter Ant Bait (Now called Maxforce Fleet): www.domyown.com/maxforce-flee...
8. Advance Carpenter Ant Bait: www.domyown.com/advance-carpe...
9. Ant bait stations: www.domyown.com/bait-plate-st...
10. Termidor foam: www.domyown.com/termidor-foam...
11. Taurus SC: www.domyown.com/taurus-sc-ter...
12. Talstar P: www.domyown.com/talstar-profe...
13. Two gallon handheld sprayer (Any battery operated sprayer will do, but this one is a good choice for a two gallon handheld unit): smile.amazon.com/dp/B08CZBCPM...
14. Three gallon backpack sprayer (Any battery operated sprayer will do, but this one is a good choice for a three gallon backpack unit): smile.amazon.com/Petra-3-Gall...
15. 8 foot extendable wand (Not mentioned in video. This extendable wand will allow you to reach high places, like soffits, easily without a ladder and it only costs about $20. It's a big time saver.): smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B...
As a Orkin trained Ext. I find that your videos are more informed than the training I received. I lasted only a few months because I felt bad about charging someone $60 for 20 min. of work and 25 cents worth of chemical. I did a lot of bedbug work and the cost was embarrassing. As you show, most home owners can do their own for much less, and do a better job. Thank you for your service.
You should not feel badly. people who can afford it are glad to pay someone else.
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Always nice to hear from a fellow pest controller. If you have or get a license, I can turn you on to a nice side hustle that can make you a lot of money. It's super easy and almost nobody is doing it. Just email me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. No charge for the information. I am happy to share for free. I would do it myself, but I'm just too old now. It is so easy that you are going to wonder how you didn't think of it already. Sometimes I wish I was a younger man. Be well my friend.
People with money are VERY happy to pay that so they don't have to. it is a service. People without money and willing and able to do things themselves are glad for videos like this.,
AND THATS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID TO ME. 25 SECONDS OF SPRAYING THE AIR IN THE CRAWL SPACE AND 9 BAITS LATER AT A COST OF 900.00. AWFUL CROOKS.
You just saved myself a
Boat load of money
Thank you for the thorough tutorial on pest control for DIY
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
I’ve watched this video at least 3 times, made notes and ordered my products. Sunday is D day for carpenter ants at my house!✌️
Thank you for such a thorough video!
Thanks for watching. Please let me know if you have any questions. Be well my friend.
What a fantastic video! Thanks for sharing your decades of experience with the CZcams community, Guy! This was the best CZcams video I've watched on this topic.
Thank you so much for those kind words. What a nice thing to say. Made my day.
I think so too.
Can't thank you enough for this GREAT how-to video. Carpenter ants started appearing in my house over the past three days. Following your directions, I found their entrance point in the foundation, as well as where they are getting into a ground floor room through a window frame. The nest is likely in the wall under the window - it had a badly-rotted sill when we bought the house, so likely some soft wood in there. Will buy the chemicals this weekend. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!.
You are very welcome. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'm always happy to help.
This was the best video I've seen yet on carpenter ants. Thank you for putting this together so detailed. I hope you are doing great and have a blessed day.
You are very welcome. Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you so much for your public service and the needed professional grade presentation regarding carpenter ant control.
That is so kind of you to say. Greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'm always happy to help.
Very good video, very detail, best lesson. I need watch a few times to understand and remember what you showed. Have so many people watching your videos, hope CZcams reward you some. Your selfless dedication is worthy of rewards.
Thank you for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, but CZcams did not show me this comment until today. They are really bad about that sometimes. Be well my friend.
This is probably the most comprehensive video regarding carpenter ants and is absolutely worth watching until the end. Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you so much for the detailed and informative info. Perfect timing as we have an ant problem currently. we Appreciate your time and expertise.
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Hi Guy, I watched your videos on ant control and other pests. They are by far outstanding!! Thanks for all your time and knowledge you are sharing with us. Best regards and thanks for your service.
That is so kind of you to say. Your comment gave me a much needed lift today. Greatly appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you VERY informative, the best information about pest control on CZcams! I have just watched all your videos. I feel informed and educated on how to take care of my new home in Florida. As a preventative measure I will be using Taurus SC and Talstar P rotating every 3 months, and Bayer Bio Advanced Termite Killer annualy. I have been using Terro Ant Killer for ghost ants but am going to try Advion Ant Gel. I don't think you know how helpful your videos are, thank you so much for explaining how termites and ants work and how to prevent them. Once again, thank you!
Wow! That is the nicest review anyone has ever done for me. This kind of feedback makes doing these videos very gratifying. As you know, I do the videos for free and your kind words are worth more to me than anything I could ever gotten paid for doing them. I wish you well Nancy. May 2021 be a great year for you. Please always feel free to ask questions and please pass this information along to anyone who you think can use it.
Thank you for your time and expertise. No doubt for DIY applications, using your videos as a resource have the necessary credibility given your former career in pest control compared to nonprofessionals. I appreciate your sharing these methods so thoroughly and providing the specifics needed.
Thank you so much for those kind words. I love doing it. Always my pleasure to help. Be well Dave.
@@GuysPestSolutions Just to clarify, regarding the INTERIOR I need:
(1) "D-Fense" Dust
(2) Sweet bait: "Maxforce Carpenter Ant Bait Gel"
(3) Protein bait: "Advance Carpenter Ant Bait" (granular)
(4) "Termidor" foam
@@BeckVMH That is correct. There are links to all the products in the description. Be well my friend.
Very thorough and clear instructions! Thanks so much for your expertise!
You are very welcome. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated.
You are truly a good neighbor, thank you.
You are very welcome. Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Guy, you're videos are awesome and you are an amazing help. Thank you for you kindness in sharing your knowledge. I received the chemical products you recommended but while looking for battery powered backpack sprayers I came across a 15 gallon 12 volt tank sprayer. It was 100 hundred dollars. Since I need more than even that mixed up and have a riding lawnmower to power it with a little trailer to carry it around, it was cheaper to get that. I do plan double duty for herbicides with it too. Harbor Freight so we will see on the longevity, but Amazon has them starting around the same price. I tried it with water last night and I think it will make this weekends application a breeze. It will definitely solve the problem of not applying enough product.
Wow. That's a great price for a 15 gallon sprayer. I'll bet it comes with a really long hose too, which makes things a lot easier. I will check out Harbor Freight and have a look at it. Thanks for letting me know. Be well my friend.
Your really a great guy. I really appreciate your help & info in this video. I will start on this asap. God bless you.
What a kind comment. It's nice to be appreciated. Thank you so much. Be well my friend.
Love your kindness of helping
Thank you for those kind words. Very appreciated.
Very effective carpenter ants treatment. Thank you so much.
You are very welcome. You have a great channel name. Love it. Thanks for those kind words.
I watched ALL of your video. It 's great Help. Thanks
Wow! Color me impressed. Thank you so much for your faith in me. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my very best not to let you down.
The best video out there for treating carpenter ants! Thanks Guy!!
You are very welcome. Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you for this fantastic video. I like it that you took the time to teach all of us about what to do if we are dealing with carpenter ants. I hope you have a wonderful day. Take good care.
Thank you so much for those kind words. I see you are working on a channel of your own. I checked it out and I subscribed. You have a very nice, easy presentation style. Well done.
I am an Entomologist and I appreciate your thorough and informative videos.
What a nice thing to say. Thank you so much for the words of encouragement and support. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
As a scientist wouldn't you recommend minimizing the outdoor treatment? Don't you think it's a shame to kill "good" insects all around houses like honeybees that may pass the poison to others in the colony or to predators like birds?😢
I really appreciate Guy mentioning that boric acid and diatomaceous earth can be effective. Maybe Guy can do a follow up video that shows less expensive and more environmental methods for home owners willing to spend a little more time and who have homes that aren't severely infested. 🙏
@@martymcflyer8487 I think pesticides are really misunderstood these days. Most people think of pesticides as the same products that we used in the 20th century. The truth is that those products are were all banned in the late 1990's. They don't make them anymore. We are almost 25% through the 21st century and we now have 21st century pesticides. This stuff has come a long way, and we no longer use your dad's pesticides. Modern day pesticides are safe enough for children to play on after they dry. Also, they stay where you put them, so they no longer end up in the storm sewers or contaminating lakes and streams. They are very environmentally friendly. Also, bees do not pollinate grass. It's true. Grass is pollinated by the wind. Bees almost exclusively pollinate flowering plants. Mostly flowers, but they are widely used in farming. So, as long as folks do not apply pesticides directly on their flowers or vegetable gardens, the bees are perfectly safe. Most people grown their own vegetables because they want them pesticide free anyway, so not much of a worry there. I did a video on the truth about pesticides, and I will give you a link to it. Borate products are not very helpful outside. You can have some success treating gardens with diatomaceous earth. You are correct that pesticides do not discriminate. Kind of like using antibiotics. You kill the good with the bad. The military would classify that as collateral damage. Not exactly what I like to do, but I don’t like living with the bad bugs, so I do what I need to do to stay pest free. I do agree that this is the downside of it.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video explaining the truth about pesticides: czcams.com/video/i7nLO6Js_3Q/video.html
Another great video. Thank you so much for doing these.
That is so nice of you to say. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Im back. I did everything on the video.no more carpenter ants.Thank you so much.
Congratulations. Well done. I am so happy that it worked out for you and I appreciate the feedback. Most people never get back to me with the outcome, so I figure that it must have worked or I would definitely be hearing from them. Since you are pleased with the outcome, please pay it forward and show a kindness to others by sharing this channel with others who may also need to save some money on pest control. Be well my friend and, again, thanks for sharing the outcome.
When I first saw this video was going to be over 30 minutes I was thinking, "Oh no." But I'm glad I watched the whole thing. Incredibly informative. I'm ready to tackle this now!
Thank you for those kind words. Every time I do a video I am mindful that a lot of folks like their videos really short and I am always torn between providing a comprehensive explanation that will make the viewer fully competent to carry out the task safely and effectively or cutting out a lot of information so more folks will watch it. It is very hard to pass along years of experience and training in five minutes, so I have now just accepted that it's okay for those who do not want to spend the time learning how to do it right to go elsewhere and I kind of hope, for their sake, that they will return to watch the correct way to do it after they fail. The reason is that I just don't have it in me to do anything less than doing my best to provide all the information everyone needs to get the job done correctly, even if I do sometimes spend more time explaining things than some folks prefer. The good news is that not one person that has watched any of my videos ever wrote back to tell me it didn't work. Well, there was one guy that said my termite treatment didn't work, but after working with him for awhile it became clear that he didn't have termites at all. He had carpenter ants and was treating for the wrong pest. That's when I did the video on Termites vs Carpenter Ants. That experience taught me that not everyone can identify the target pest correctly and so I am now spending more time making sure that folks know what they are looking at. Anyway, I appreciate that you watched the entire video and I can assure you that, if follow the directions correctly, your carpenter ants will be gone. Be well my friend.
This worked to solve my carpenter ant problem! Took two years of consistent baiting and spraying the perimeter but it worked!
I am so sorry that it took that long. I wish you would have told me that you were having problems after a couple of months. I could have given you a way to boost the process. I only offer it for really serious cases because it is more expensive and time consuming to do, and usually isn't needed. So sorry about that. The good news is that you got it done. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are ever having a problem with one of the procedures that I am recommending. Oftentimes I have a trick or two up my sleeve to move things along a bit faster. I am so happy that you got the problem resolved. Thank you so much for sharing. Be well my friend.
Your videos are very informative. I’ve subscribed and liked this video.
Thank you so much for those kind words and for subscribing. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
About to become an expert and do my home for years to come. Thank you very much.
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Mary Kearns .Just to say thank you for all the info on how to get rid of ants etc ,carpenter ants are a problem here in the summer months ,
You are very welcome Mary. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for watching.
Another great video. Much appreciated.
Thank you so much. Sorry for the late response. CZcams did not send me your comment. It was just luck that I happened to find it. Normally they email all responses to me, but they did not do that in your case. So sorry. I don't know why they left this comment hanging. Please let me know if you have any questions. Since I am having trouble getting your messages, please just email me at guysyoutube@mail.com. Please note that it's just "mail" and not "gmail." Be well my friend.
I talked to a pest person. He said to use Termidor SC. Spray around and up 3 ft on trees. And around the house, 3ft up and 3ft out. It worked !
Yes. That will work to kill the ants outside the building. However, it will do nothing to kill off an existing satellite colony that is inside the house. You may or may not have a satellite colony inside the building. If you do, then you must treat it from inside the house.
Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions If you use something like Termidor on perimeter wouldnt they bring that inside to the colony?
@@gaprofitt No. The colony inside the house is just a satellite colony. The main colony is outside somewhere. The ants do not travel from the main colony to the satellite colony on a routine basis. The ants from the main colony will visit at come point, but probably not enough to kill off either colony. They are not like termites that must return to a colony fairly often. So, with carpenter ants you need to kill the satellite colony inside the house and then put up a protective barrier to prevent the main colony ants from reinfesting the home. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Great thorough video.
Thank you so much for that comment. Greatly appreciated. Be well my friend.
Excellent information in this video Guy. In the past I have used Terro liquid bait for sugar ants (borax solution), but I just ordered a pack of the Maxforce gel as well, for additional spot treatment. We have had small black “sugar ants” active in our home this winter whenever the temperature is above about 50 degrees. I suspect they are nesting in the house. Last summer I found a nest or at least a large concentration of dead ants under a storage container in our basement near an entry point that I had baited. Outdoors I find nests with eggs pretty frequently during the summer. Seems like they are everywhere.
If you would like to get rid of the ants once and for all, you can go nuclear on them. It costs more, but it will end the problem. This is the way I do it because, not only does it end the ant problem, but it stops every other pest imaginable from entering my house. If this would be of interest to you, then just email me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Just tell me that you want my nuclear option for treating ants. I do not share this information publicly. Just so you know, an average size property costs about $15 a month to treat and you need to do it every 60 days. So, each treatment costs about $30 or so, depending upon how much area you need to treat. My property takes about two hours to do. I used to be a lot faster at it, but I'm 73 and I have slowed down a bit over the years. This treatment ends ants, spiders, American roaches, mosquitoes, wasps, and virtually everything that can get in your house from the outside. It even reduces or eliminates things like snakes over time. I used to have a lot of snakes on my property. I have not seen one for the past couple of years. When you kill all the bugs, you break the food chain, and the larger critters eventually just move on to another area. You can't help but love that. Just let me know if you want the secret. Be well my friend.
fantastic video, thank you very much.
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions Hey! - that's my saying! - "Be well". Also - THANKS!
Thanks for another great video!
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I had a big carpenter ant problem and here is what I learned. Big colonies in two unhealthy trees 50' from the house. Removing those trees helped. Checked house for moist wood. It's usually window sills, door sills, bathroom floors, and in my case my deck ledger board had no flashing. Repaired it but still had a nest in house behind sheetrock somewhere. Mixed 2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/8 cup Borax. I put some of the mixture and a silver dollar sized disc of cake in a saucer in my empty dishwasher because that seemed to be their favorite spot to feed. Left the door open a bit so they had easy access. Caution on access if you have pets or young kids. Saucer was covered with ants in a couple of hours. Some died there but some made it back to nest. Two days later, no crazy amount of ants in the house but I still see one or two dead ones or sick ones moving about even two weeks later. So I'm going to try some of your techniques. Finding/treating the outside colonies and finding/repairing moist wood is important. Hope that helps someone.
Most of the time there are two reasons why you have carpenter ants in the first place. As you mentioned, you have wet wood. Carpenter ants love soft, wet wood. So, if you have carpenter ants, there is a good chance that you have water coming in from the outside, you have a leaky pipe, or high humidity in an area, like a crawlspace or attic, that has not been properly vented. The other reason I see carpenter ants is if you also have termites. Carpenter ants love to eat termites. Not only do they provide a great food source, but they conveniently do a lot of the tunneling through the wood, which is a big time saver for the ants. You are also correct that most of the time the ants in your home are a sub-colony. The main colony is usually in a dead tree or something outside. The thing is though that it can take months before ants in the main colony outside decide to visit the sub-colony inside. So, just when you think you've got the problem solved, you start to see carpenter ants again. That is the reason you need to do the exterior treatment every three months. Don't rely on killing off the colonies outside. While you may think you eliminated all the colonies, you may have missed one or you may not have killed off the queens. If a queen survives, then the colony will re-establish and these ladies (They are almost all female) are likely going to visit you again. Doing the exterior treatment every three months is important.
It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it already, so keep up the good work. My only other advice is not to use so much of the homemade bait. Ants don't eat that much and it's safer to use less. Try using something more the size of a penny or maybe even smaller than that. It's better to place these around different areas of the house where you are seeing activity, rather than just baiting one area. If you limit the size of the bait stations, then they will not be very hazardous to ingest and will present much less risk to people and pets. You can also purchase tamperproof bait stations inexpensively that will make it much safer. I prefer to use gel baits because it sticks to surfaces, so pets and kids cannot get it off. Also, it's very safe and a child or pet would need to ingest a lot of it to get sick. You would never use anywhere near enough of it for that to be of a concern. Just keep the tubes out of the reach of children. The homemade stuff is way cheaper though and it usually works okay. Either way, baiting is a very good idea.
Good luck with finishing these things off. I suspect that they do not stand a chance against you. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you so much for giving me such detailed advice! I really appreciate your time, kindness and expertise...may it all come back to you ten fold!
@@sptrsttradr4918 Thank you so much for those kind words. Always my pleasure to assist in anyway possible. I am always here to help, so feel free to contact me at anytime for any pest that may be of concern.
Be well my friend.
Am really grateful for your generosity in sharing this information. I'm wondering about toxicity with all of these products though- shouldn't we be wearing a mask and gloves?
The products are all safe enough for kids to play on after they dry, but you should wear PPE when applying them. That includes eye protection, rubber gloves, and a respirator. When spraying outside you should also wear a hat and a long sleeve shirt is a good idea. I routinely get hit with the overspray and it has not caused any ill effect, but you should take a shower and wash your clothes after you are finished. This stuff is really no more hazardous than common laundry detergent, but you wouldn't want that on your skin or in your eyes either, and you certainly would not want to breath in a spray from it. So, just be as careful as you can, but don't worry if you get some of the diluted product on yourself. Just take a shower and you will be just fine. I have even gotten the overspray in my eyes a couple of times when I forgot to put my goggles on. It didn't even sting. I just kept working and my eyes are fine. I would be very careful with the concentrate though. If you get that on your skin, then wash it off immediately with soap and water and do not get that in your eyes. So, this is nothing to be afraid of. Just give it the same respect as you would if you were spray painting with rubber gloves on. I hope that helps. Be well Nancy.
Ive been following Guys advice on spraying my entire home and other buildings on my property using in my case Navigator sc, Ive so far found a brood of dead carpenter ants in several places outside, like 50 of them in one spot. I never knew I had any, never seen them inside. Going forward I'll definitely be treating my house every 3 months with the Termiticide and the Talstar P. thanks Guy
Thank you so much for those kind words. If you would like to save some money, you can use Bifen IT instead of Talstar P. It's the same product, but a bit less expensive. I will give you a link for it. There is a slight odor to it, but not bad. Great for outside use only.
Be well my friend.
Bifen IT: www.solutionsstores.com/bifen-it-insecticide
If you cannot get the Bifen IT from Solutions Pest and Lawn, then try domyown.com: www.domyown.com/bifen-it-p-226.html?sub_id=11662
Thank you for making this video
You are very welcome. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you so much. We have a big Carpenter Ants infestation, used all the insecticides that he recommended,very effective.
Thank you for those kind words. It's always nice to get feedback about how people made out with this stuff. Greatly appreciated.
Good presentation thanks
You are very welcome. I appreciate the comment. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for being so thorough and sharing your knowledge! Following and sharing!
Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
Excellent Video. I was told to only use Taurus sc on the exterior.
Actually, you can do that, but you need to do it every 90 days, which is not consistent with label recommendations. That would not concern me at all, but to keep it legal, you need to alternate products. That being said, using Taurus SC every 90 days would be more effective than alternating products.
Please note that I am on vacation, and I will not be home until after June 11, so I may not be able to answer follow-up questions until I get home. So, please be patient, I will get caught up as quickly as possible.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Excellent video. I learned a lot from your spraying techniques. Any suggestions for treating wooded areas with large pine trees?
Thank you for those kind words. Here's the thing about carpenter ants in wooded areas… They are actually there to serve a very important purpose. That is to say, they are part of the sanitation system of nature. Carpenter ants typically do not mess with healthy trees. Most of the time you will see them in dead stumps, limbs laying around, or even the dead parts of living trees. That's because their job is to help get rid of this dead wood. While they do not eat wood the same way termites do, they do tunnel through it and reduce it to something resembling sawdust. So, you really don't want to get rid of the carpenter ants that are busy doing their job in wooded areas. At the same time, you certainly do not want them attacking your home either. That is why I regard them the same way I do all other living things. As long as something does not regard me as food or does not invade my personal living space, then, as far as I am concerned, I am more than happy if they live out their lives in peace. However, should they decide to invade my home in any way or they decide that I am a tasty meal for them, then they need to die. So, as long as the carpenter ants remain outside in the wooded areas, then I am perfectly happy with them living out their lives without any problems from me. I would recommend that you adopt that same type of strategy. Of course, you could do things like place all sorts of bait around that wooded area or you could apply massive amounts of pesticide, but those sorts of measures are really unnecessary and serve no purpose other than to interrupt the natural workings of nature. If you are seeing carpenter ants that are traveling up and down living pine trees, there is really nothing to worry about. These guys only like nice, soft, dead wood. So, they are just tunneling their way through the parts of the tree that are already dead and it is unlikely that they will do no harm to a living tree.
I hope that answers your question. Be well my friend.
I found stumps and rotten trees near the house with colonies of Black Carpenter Ants (Upstate New York). There are some trees with tell tale frass. How far away do they migrate, the neighbors woods are 60-75 feet from my house. I have removed some trees and stumps and more are on my list. I have had these ants in the house for some years now. I took off the old deck a few weeks ago, found some rot on the sill boards and sprayed with foam, which flushed many out. Now we are killing about 6 a day average of these foragers. I have been using some big box pest products to try to stop these guests, but your video has shown me I need to step up my game. Thanks!
Carpenter ants like soft, wet wood, so you should check your house for leaks and areas of high humidity. Insufficient venting can cause damp wood in the attic what the crawl space. You should always start by repairing this sort of problem. Most likely, you have a satellite colony in your home, and the main colony is located outside the house someplace. There's a pretty good chance that the main colony is in one of those stumps or rotted trees. Just follow the directions in the video to treat the house and then spray all day stumps and rotted trees with Taurus SC. Since you live in New York, you are not going to be able to buy any of the products you need to do the job right, and nobody will ship them to you. New York has the most restrictive pesticide laws in the country. I honestly think that New York is having some sort of competition with California to see who can come up with the stupidest pesticide laws. Anyway, to obtain the pesticides you need, you will need to go out of state. New Jersey is nowhere near as insane as New York when it comes to pesticides, so you can get pretty much anything shipped there. If you know somebody that lives in New Jersey, you can get the pesticide shipped to them. If you do not know anybody in New Jersey, you can rent a box from a UPS store for a month and they will accept packages for you. After your shipment arrives, just go pick it up. I know that New York is a big state and when you say "upsate" that can mean a lot of things. If you live around the Albany area, then it's not such a bad drive to New Jersey. However, if you live someplace like Buffalo, that is an entirely different matter. There are other states were you can do this that may be closer to you, but you should know that Connecticut and Vermont also have restrictive laws.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions Thanks for the recommendation, but Jersey is quite a distance as I live near Utica, NY. I will have to get creative!
Thank you so much. I've ordered all the stuff and will begin treatment as soon as it gets here. Also, to I didn't know that ants are night foragers. I'll go out and look for their activity this evening. Maybe I'll be able to tell where they are concentrated. Your generous heart is appreciated! Thank you for freely sharing your knowledge and experience. I do the same with my personal expertise.
Thank you for those kind words. It is greatly appreciated. I am delighted that you are of the same mind. I heard it said once that, "The only things you can possess forever are the things you give away. Of these, the most valuable are your time and your love." Be well my friend and good luck with your treatment. You can do this. Thanks for watching.
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you. All the things should get here in 3-6 days. Meanwhile, I put out the borax and sugar syrup on waffles in bait stations and I'll also put out EcoLogic insect killer. It is a bait as well. I listened to my exterior wall and can hear the crunching. I'll also stay up tonight and look for night activity I didn't know they footage for food at night. I see them love all day outside and once on a while inside.. Last night there was one in my new bathroom when I got up to relieve myself. They must be destroying my home...
@@marielynn3802 I didn't know that EcoLogic made a bait, so I don't know how well it works. Most baits are generally pretty good though. Try not to worry too much. Carpenter ants do not eat wood like termites do. They just tunnel through it, so the damage can take some time to become serious. If you are hearing them in the wall though, at least you know a good place to start treating. If you do all the treatments in the video, then this will be a very short lived problem and you will have control of it a few days after treatment. So, my guess is that your home is not quite as destroyed as you may think.
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you, but I used some kind of killer or bait last year with no good results. The good news is that my order is on its way and I'll watch your video for a third time and apply exactly as you say. Looking forward to seeing NO ANTS moving around my house soon. I went out last night and saw WAY TOO MANY!!! Couldn't sleep last night after seeing them at night. Makes my skin crawl! Also, we cut down a 42 year old Sequoia about 40 feet from our house a few years ago, so I'm thinking the main nest is in that huge stump.
@@marielynn3802 These gals really do come out at night, don't they? They are all females. It is very creepy and these things can bite. It's not like a wasp sting that hurts for a long time, because there is no venom, but it does hurt for a few seconds. It's kind of like getting jabbed hard with a sewing needle. It hurts a lot for a few seconds and then the pain passes quickly. Generally, they only bite when threatened. They are not typically aggressive, so they don't come after you thinking that you are a food source the way some ants can do. Still, you need them gone and this treatment plan will definitely get the job done. You may well be correct that you have these things in that tree stump. Dead tree stumps are an invitation for termites and carpenter ants. By the way, I'm not saying this is the case with you, but carpenter ants like to eat termites and it is not unusual to find both at the same time in a home. You would be wise to inspect for termites. You probably don't have them, but it's worth having a look. Just look around the entire building for mud tubes going from the ground to the wood. You can also find mud tubes in basements and crawlspaces. I can't tell you how many times I have seen carpenter ants infest a building just so they could dine out on termites that are also infesting the building. Also, it makes sense to do a preventative termite treatment every year and it only costs between $50 to $100, depending upon the size of your home. I will place a link below for my video on it. This is a quick, easy, and cheap way to ensure that you never have subterranean termites. It's so easy that a child could do it in about an hour. Just thought you should know.
DIY Termite Treatment: czcams.com/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/video.html
Thank you for your videos. I have watched many of them, even though I didn’t have those pest issues, I think it was a good learning experience and gaining valuable knowledge.
I have a question about ‘acrobat ants’. How do you recommend getting rid of them? Any tips is appreciated, and thanks again!
Thank you so much for watching my videos. You are the first person to ask me about acrobat ants. I suppose that is because they are usually an outside pest and they do not usually invade homes. It does happen though. Most of the time, if you see acrobat ants, then there is a good chance that you may have a water leak someplace. They prefer to infest very wet wood that has already been damaged by water. That is why you often see them around windows and doors that have not been caulked properly. Since they usually hang out on trees, if you have any trees that are touching the house, then that is a convenient place for them to enter. Also, you may find these guys occupying tunnels that were already created by either carpenter ants or termites.
Acrobat ants are fairly easy to spot because they usually have obvious ant trails. So, if you can, follow the ant trails to see where the colony is located. If you find the colony, then you can treat it by injecting a fipronil foam. You can also inject the foam into all cracks and crevices around the areas where you think the colony is located. If the colony is not accessible, then you can spray over the top of it with a non-repellent pesticide. This would be the case for both inside and outside your home. After you treat the inside of the home, then look for these guys outside and treat them there as well. If you see them on trees, fences, and so forth, then treat them with Phantom Termiticide Insecticide. Just lightly spray right over the top of the ant trails. The ants will not recognize this as a poison and they will happily take it back to the colony with them and share it with the other ants. You can do the same thing on the inside of your home as well. Just lightly spray this product directly over the ant trails. You can also follow up with a bait. Never apply a pesticide over the top of a bait. You always want to use the bait last. I recommend using Ant-Trax. Just apply small dots of it along the ant trails about 4 inches apart. Keep in mind that this process can take a couple of weeks to work. If the ants are getting into something or are located in an area where you need them gone immediately, then use Temprid FX, instead of the Phantom for the interior treatment only. Just follow the label directions for the appropriate dilution rates.
Please let me know if Solutions Pest and Lawn will not ship to you and I will give you another supplier.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Fipronil foam: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Phantom: www.solutionsstores.com/phantom-insecticide-chlorfenapyr
Temprid FX: www.solutionsstores.com/temprid-fx
Ant-Trax: www.solutionsstores.com/ant-trax-ant-bait
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge with everyone. Do you have a suggestion for a log home with termite and carpenter ants that you would use use indoors. I have termite holes 24ft up in the vaulted ceilings too. Am I a candidate for tenting or is this something I can treat myself?
How you handle that will depend on the species. Figuring out the species is actually pretty easy and I have a video on how to do that. I will provide you with a link below. After watching this video, you should be able to identify the species. Just get back to me after you watch it and let me know what you found out. At that point, I can tell you exactly what you need to do. Let me know if you have any problems identifying the species, but I do not think that you will. It is much easier than you may imagine. Also, please tell me where you live. Location matters. Be well my friend.
Video on how to identify termite species: czcams.com/video/dIs_a0nfVjg/video.html
very thorough
Thank you for saying that. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you for your very informative, detailed video. I have ants every spring, and this year, they started much earlier, so I’m eager to try all your suggestions. I had already put Terro bait stations in kitchen, BEFORE I found your video. Now, I’ve ordered all your indoor products except Termidor, which I can’t get in NY where I live. Same for Bifen, Fuse, Taurus, and Talstar. Any alternatives for outdoor stuff & Termidor?
New York is the most restrictive state when it comes to pesticides. There is no logical reason for that, but it is what it is. The good news is that I can help you with that, but you need to email me to get the information. I would rather not share it here. My email address is guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. There is almost always a workaround. Please remind me of the problem when you email me. Just let me know that you are the person with ants in New York.
Be well my friend.
Had to subscribe after watching this. Great video! Very comprehensive. I have a question for you- what are your thoughts on the pesticide from big box stores. I won’t name specific names but I’m sure you know the brands I’m talking about. They’re so much cheaper so they’re very attractive. Do they work at all? Or is this stuff really worth the extra cost? Thanks!
The pesticides from the big box stores are pretty much useless. The concentrated ones that you mix with water have very low concentrations of the actual pesticide. That is why they are so cheap. You are basically buying water. You would need to mix it way stronger than the label suggests, to get the same concentration as the professional products. So, using the professional products is not only more effective, but also less expensive too. There are a couple of exceptions, but it involves using amateur products off label. Raid Ant and Roach Killer is a good example. You should never use it on ants and roaches, but it's great for many other pests that are not listed on the label. Check out my video on it. More often than not, the stuff you get from the big box stores will do more harm than good and those products often make an infestation worse. So, if you want to know how to treat a specific pest, the best thing you can do is to ask me. I am always happy to explain how to treat any pest you run into.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Raid Ant and Roach Killer video: czcams.com/video/m7j05DxSj3s/video.html
Thank you so much. I have a carpenter ant infestation in the wall right now, and am trying to take care of it myself. I have almost all the products except for the dust, which I will order now. Very thorough video, much appreciated, and I will subscribe.
Thank you so much Nancy for those kind words. Please do not hesitate to ask questions. I am always here to help. Good luck with it and don't worry. You can do this. Thanks for watching and thanks for subscribing.
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you Guy, I could use some advice. My cottage is almost 100 years old. It is only 550 square feet. Half of it has a very small attic space the other half is a flat roof. I had a new roof put on a week ago. The old one did not leak, it was just time to do it before hurricane season. I now have FL carpenter ants making two small holes in the wall above the fireplace and coming in where the ceiling fan is attached in the bedroom, where the small attic space is. I have vacation renters in there who have decided they want to stay anyway. I have sprayed with Phantom and broadcast Advance bait in the attic. Also put Maxforce Quantum gel in the holes. It has been raining so I can’t spray the outside perimeter with the fipronil. I have ordered dust and Termidor foam from DIY. The ants are probably sealed in the wall due to the new roof. Any advice other than what you have shown in the video? I am worried about the inside of the wall most of all. Thank you!
how did you locate them where they are?
@@nancyeaton731 If you are sure that these are Florida carpenter ants, then you don't have much to worry about. Florida carpenter ants are mostly red with a black thorax. So, if these girls are red heads, then they are most likely Florida carpenter ants. They are all female by the way. Anyway, Florida carpenter ants generally do not tunnel through wood like their black cousins. They have the ability to do it, but typically they will only tunnel through wet wood and they prefer to just hang out in the wall or ceiling voids. It is very common to see them in the ceiling voids and above soffits. Most of the time they do little or no damage at all, but they are a nuisance and they do bite if they feel threatened. The exterior treatment is very important because these gals can often come in and out of the building to forage for food, so you want to do an exterior treatment with Taurus SC as soon as you get a nice day. Flat roofs are often poorly ventilated and can be somewhat damp between the ceiling and the roof underlayment, making this the perfect place for them. If it is so damp that the wood begins to rot or degrade, then the ants very well may tunnel through it. If this is the case though, then the roof structure should be repaired and the ventilation should be improved. Hopefully, the folks who did the roof inspected for this. Anyway, the bottom line is to do everything I show in the video and you should end the problem fairly quickly. Meanwhile, the chances are that they are not doing much damage, so while this is certainly something that you need to deal with, it's nothing to panic about. I hope I understood and answered your question adequately. Please let me know if I misunderstood the question or if I did not provide all the information you need. Thanks.
@@veradowns2736 Locating them can be somewhat tricky, but if you see dead bodies near the walls, then you know that they are not far. They tend to forage for food at night and if you watch you may see where they are active. That being said, they are often colonizing in the ground and just have satellite colonies in your home. So, it is not easy to find where they are. That's why you really need to just treat the entire home, inside and out. I know it sounds like a daunting task, but it really does not take as long you may think and it's the only sure way to get rid of them. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
Great work
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
thank you so much, dont
worry about the lenth
Thank you so much for that comment. Greatly appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thanks!
Thank you so much. That was very thoughtful of you. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Great video! 👍
Thank you. That is very kind of you to say. Greatly appreciated.
Thank you Guy ❤
You are very welcome. Be well Myra.
Thank you for this video, I've watched a few other diy ones (and put out some borax mixed with sugar but it didn't seem to do the trick...then again I think I put way too much borax and they're avoiding it). I have an old box elder tree that they're chewing a hole (or more) into and I'm afraid they will completely destroy it! Haven't had them in the house for more than 10 years now but I'd love to save that tree since it's pretty huge and gives great shade. I know I really have to stay after them for a few weeks but it's worth it.
Hi Roberta. I have some good news for you. Most of the time carpenter ants do not cause significant harm to trees. That is because they are drawn to wet, dead wood. Not always, but typically they are tunneling through parts of the tree that are decayed and they are not disturbing the healthy wood that is still allowing the flow of water and nutrients to the tree. So, I would not panic about carpenter ants in the tree. However, I would still treat for them. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood. Therefore, they often leave the tree to find food. While they may find other insects to eat in or on the tree, it is likely that they will need to leave the tree to forage for food. So, I would provide it for them in the form of a bait. You can use the same baits as in the video and you can place them near where you see the activity on the tree. Also, you can use a fipronil foam and shoot it directly into the holes that you see where the ants are kicking out frass. Just shoot it in the holes for about five seconds. This is not a permanent treatment, so you will need to monitor the tree and retreat whenever you see activity again. Any fipronil based foam will do the job. The best deal I have found on it is FiPro and it is only sold by Solutions Pest and Lawn. I will place a link below. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
@@GuysPestSolutions thank you for your response. I wish I could upload photos of the pile at the bottom of the tree...they have been at it (and it is a declining tree unfortunately). I do have some good news though. I mixed sugar and honey with borax and water until melted and also put a separate mix of PB and borax in various places and I have not seen them since. They were literally jumping down from the hole up the tree with bits of wood in their mouth like little parachutists :) I"m thinking that they got some poison because I do not see any right now. Is Fipronil very toxic for the environment and pets? We get some wildlife and our water table is pretty high. I really appreciate your help :)
@@robertaestrada7447 Borax is deadly to all ants and I know of folks who have had good results mixing their own bait using Borax and some sort of sweet ingredient like sugar or honey. I have never done that myself because it would not be professional, but I suspect that it would be very effective if done properly. If you place the bait where the activity is and you see the ants eating it, then it should do the job. Borax is slow working, but very effective. Fipronil is not harmful to the environment, people, or pets when used properly. It should not be used on plants that attract bees because it will kill of the bee population. However, shooting it into the kick holes in a tree will not do any harm to the environment and will not harm the bee population in any way. However, it will definitely ruin the carpenter ants afternoon. They cannot identify it as a poison and they happily go right through it and bring it back to the colony and share it with the other ants and the queen. Now, the bait you made may do the job all by itself. It's hard to know because some ants do not like sweet baits. They prefer protein instead of sweet and so the queen may not eat the sweet bait. You just never know. Each colony is different. Most of the time they do prefer the sweet bait, so you could be okay just doing what you are doing. As for the tree dying, that may not be due to the carpenter ants at all. They generally do not tunnel through the healthy wood. They prefer to tunnel through the damaged or dead wood and most of the time they are infesting a tree that is already in decline for some other reason. So, even if you eliminate the carpenter ants, the tree may still die from some other cause. Nature intended for carpenter ants to be one of their sanitation workers to clean up dead wood and not healthy wood. That is why all the trees in the forest are not dying from carpenter ant infestations. If this tree is important to you, then you may want to get someone to look at it that knows about trees. There is a good chance that there is something else going on other than the ants. I hope that helps.
Thank you, for sharing well explained, learned a lot, I need the lists of all the pesticides you mentioned pls. for the carpenter ants . God bless,
Thank you for those kind words. Greatly appreciated.
I ordered from Domyown.com , D-fense dust, maxforce carpenter ant bait gel, advance granular ant bait, talstar p, taurus sc. Still fighting my carpenter ants infestation but a lot of ants died already and im positive that i will win this battle with this annoying carpenter ants. Thank you Guy. You really helped me a lot.
@@user-tl5yk9es2t It sounds like you are doing a great job. Please keep in mind that this is a somewhat slow process and can often take a few weeks because you are trying to get the pesticides back to the colonies to kill off the queens. So, it is designed not to be an instant kill sort of thing. However, once the colonies are dead, they are dead, and all you need to do after that is the three month exterior treatments to prevent new infestations. I'm sure these girls will be one soon. Yes, they are all female.
Hi Guy - Your videos are really helpful - thank you! I have carpenter ants in the house, definitely with a nest and now possibly they are spreading as I've seen dozens of winged "swarmers" and plenty of workers foraging. Yikes! I was hoping to get your opinion on a fipronil-based gel product like the Maxforce you recommend versus an indoxacarb-based gel like Advion (from domyown). Are they comparable? The reason I'm asking is I am looking at domyown's NY-permissible indoor kit and they include the Advion.
Also, being in NY, I do not have easy access to Taurus SC or Talstar P. Do you have recommendations for other exterior / perimeter insecticides I can get in NY? I have a bottle of Spectracide "Terminate" ant killer concentrate (mix with water), and looks like the main active ingredient is Lambda-Cyhalothrin - is that any good?
I've been using Terro borax liquid baits inside and the Spectracide outside but I think the ants are laughing at me.
I received you email and I responded to it. Please let me know if you still have questions. Be well David.
Thank you for the video. I have Florida carpenter ants. They remind me of fire ants (which I also have) but MUCH bigger
The good news is that Florida carpenter ants do little or no damage to the building. They can bite though. The fire ants are super easy and cheap to get rid of. Just watch my video on how to get rid of them for about $10. I will place a link below. The product I recommend literally works overnight. If you apply it one day, the ants are totally gone the next day. It's really that fast and effective. In fact, it never fails. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
czcams.com/video/VReLWuT-jcQ/video.html
Thank you for all the great information and instructions, I'm going to try to treat my mother's home which is over 100 years old.
Thanks for watching Mecka and thanks for those kind words. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am always here to help. By the way, I love your first name. I never heard that one before. I really like it. Be well.
Thanks Guy, I wondering if we use the dust, the sweet bait and one of the sprays for outside the home will be enough to kill the carpenter ants on the property? My mother's home is up off of the ground about 4 feet. Also, There's an old oak tree on the property that is falling apart and I'm wondering if that's what attracted the ants initially? I'm sure there must be a nest in that tree as there is a large pile of frass on one side. I wrote down all of your instructions from the video except I'm not sure how often to treat the interior of the home once we get rid of these carpenter ants? Thanks again Guy!
@@Wisdomseeker_777 Great questions. The problem with using dust on the exterior is both weather and finding all the entry points. You can puff it into cracks and crevices, but I don't think it works as well as just using a liquid application because it is very hard to find all the cracks and crevices in the entire building. I mean, you are talking about any cracks in the eves where wood comes together, around windows, doors, pipe penetrations, and so forth. You need to treat them all and any sun or dampness can have a negative effect on them. So, it's a time consuming process and you need to be very thorough. It's way easier to just spray the eves, around windows, doors, penetrations, etc. I have used baits outside, but the problem is that you need to place the bait where the problem is and it is often difficult to pinpoint all the entry points. It's okay if you see an ant trail outside to use a bait, but you would need to replace the bait every day because of the weather. Sun and rain will ruin it. Also, ants like their bait fresh. So, using dusts and baits outside isn't all that practical. Again, it's way easier and more effective to simply spray the exterior with Taurus SC. If the house is high up, you can buy a sprayer that has an extension available to allow you to reach high places. I will place links below for a sprayer and the wand. The only company I know of that makes an extension wand is PetraTools, so it's best to buy one of their sprayers. I was able to retrofit the wand to my existing sprayer that was not made by PetraToos, but you need to be somewhat mechanical to do that sort of thing. The simplest thing to do is just use their brand, albeit somewhat more expensive.
You are probably correct that the problem you are having with carpenter ants is associated with that oak tree. Carpenter ants in the home are almost always satellite colonies and the main colony is almost always in a dead tree stump or something near the home. The best way to treat the tree is to shoot fipronil foam into any kick out holes you see in the tree as far up as you can reach. Shoot it in each hole for about five seconds. I will place a link below for the product. Next, spray the tree all the way around the trunk, from the ground up as far as you can reach, with Taurus SC. Also, spray the Taurus SC around the tree on the ground from the trunk out about two feet and make it really wet, so the ground is nice an soaked. Carpenter ants do not eat wood like termites do. They just tunnel through it. So, they must forage for food and there typically is not enough food in the tree to support them, so they venture out from the tree to find food. When they do, they will cross this barrier that you place on and around the tree. Also, the fipronil foam that you shot into the tree will expand into the tunnels and they will have no choice but to walk through it. Fipronil is a slow acting poison that the ants cannot detect, so they will carry it to the queen and she will die in a few days. Then the entire colony will die as well. Keep in mind that this tree is probably not the only place there are carpenter ants, so when the fipronil is no longer effective in 30 to 90 days, then carpenter ants from another tree may re-infest the one you treated. This is why you must do the exterior treatment on the house every three months. Even if you cut the tree down and get rid of the stump, ants from another colony are likely to invade your home at some point in the future.
Once the infestation inside the house is eliminated, you will never need to retreat, as long as you do the exterior treatment every three months. It's always better to prevent carpenter ants from entering the home in the first place, rather than try to deal with them after they establish a satellite colony inside the home.
I hope that helps. Thanks for the question. Please feel free to ask me anything you like.
Sprayer (Any PetraTools sprayer will work): www.amazon.com/Petra-3-Gallon-Battery-Powered-Backpack/dp/B08B3MKYWD/ref=psdc_492090011_t2_B07W6KS4RJ
Extension wand: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086L5YQH6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Fipronil foam: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Taurus SC: www.solutionsstores.com/taurus-sc-termiticide
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me, I appreciate it. I wasn't clear in my phrasing, what I meant in my question was 'would treating inside of the home with dust & sweet bait along with outdoor sprays (both), do the trick?
Initially I was asking about just one spray outside, but I'm beginning to think in this instance we should use everything you've mentioned, just to be safe. Thanks again Guy!
Thank you
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Great vid thanks.
Thank you so much. Sorry for the late response. CZcams did not send me your comment. It was just luck that I happened to find it. Normally they email all responses to me, but they did not do that in your case. So sorry.
If you follow this to a tee exactly, do you recommend doing the interior first? Should you do it all in one day? Or maybe for example indoors Saturday outdoors Sunday? Or exterior the next weekend. Besides the products you listed which are all great and should be used, do you have any experience with Alpine wsg, another non-repellent?
Hi Matthew. Yes. I would do the interior first and none of it needs to be done in one day. You can certainly do the interior on Saturday and the exterior on Sunday. In fact, you can wait a week to do the exterior treatment. The only thing is that it may take an extra week for the process to work. I have never used Alpine WSG, but it IS labeled for carpenter ants. I suspect that it may not be as good as the Taurus SC because it's labeled for use indoors and outdoors for just about every application you can think of, while the Taurus SC is outdoor use only, except for very limited situations. That would suggest that it is formulated to be a safer alternative to products like Taurus SC or Talstar P. Now, safer does not necessarily mean "not as good", but that may be the case. I just don't know because I have not personally used Alpine WSG. So, if it were me, I would stick with what I know for sure will work because I don't want carpenter ants destroying my home. That being said, I don't discourage anyone from trying something different than what I do and I always like the feed back when that happens, so that I can share results with others. So, I don't think it would hurt to give it a try, other than it may not be as effective and the carpenter ants may still be busy damaging your home if it fails. You would need to decide if it's worth the risk. If you do, then please let me know the results. If it works for you, then I would be happy to share your experience with others. I often learn new things from folks just like you. I hope that helps.
Thanks for the video! Wish there was some links to the products mentioned in the description though. I can pause and search I guess. Thanks again!
You know Jason, I think you are right. I probably should place links in the description for the products mentioned and I am going to try and get that done today. So, give me a couple of hours and check back. After I make the changes to the description, CZcams can take a couple of hours to do the update. Sometimes they get it done really fast and sometimes not so much. I don't know why. Anyway, I will get right on it so that you don't need to go back through the video. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Jason, I just finished making the changes. Hopefully they will appear in the description soon. Thanks for the suggestion. Much appreciated.
Thank you for such a detailed video! What about treating an all wood log home? Gulp!!! Any difference in approach or frequency? Thank you for any additional tips!!!
Right off the top of my head, I don't see any reason to treat a log home any differently than any other type of home. I think you will be fine if you just follow the directions in this video. Great question though. I had to take a minute and think about it. Nobody has ever asked about a log home before. Logically, there should be no difference. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
Thank you so much for your valuable video! The information is very much appreciated. I just moved into my Michigan house 6 months ago and this was not disclosed, a very unpleasant surprise. The house was built only 2 years ago. I am only seeing my carpenter ants coming in under the bathroom baseboard by the tub. This is an outside wall, but on the outside of the wall is my concrete front door step. I think they are coming in from under the concrete step. I will follow your entire video but was wondering if it is worth it to still treat with the Taurus SC since I have no way of drilling through the concrete to treat that area. Or do you have other tips for that situation? If I can't properly treat them under the concrete, are they ever going to go away? Would you also recommend treating the basement ceiling under the bathroom? I have not seen any ants in the basement. Thank you so much for everything. Again, it is very appreciated.
I am so sorry that you're having this problem. It's important to understand that carpenter ants are not at all like termites. While they both destroy the wood in your home, carpenter ants do not actually eat wood and, unlike termites, they can be exposed to the air, while termites cannot. I'm mentioning this because, with Carpenter ants, you actually get to see them because they must forage for food. Also, since they do not mind being exposed to the air, they have the ability come and go on the surface of the ground and on surfaces on and in your home. That means, with carpenter ants you don’t need to worry about treating under the concrete step because the ants do not need to operate under the steps. Also, you should know that, most of the time, the carpenter ants in your house are a sub colony and the actual main colony is probably located somewhere outside of your home in a dead stump, wood pile, or other wood area. That means you absolutely must treat the exterior of the house every three months and it would be a good idea to do the first treatment with the Taurus SC. If you don’t treat every three months, then you will most likely get reinfested by the same main colony after you kill off the ants in your home. If you do everything that I show you in the video, then I can assure you that your carpenter ant problem will be gone fairly quickly. So, there is no need to worry about treating underneath the concrete steps, but you do need to do the three-month treatment on the exterior of the house.
By the way. Most of the time carpenter ants go looking for soft, wet wood. If you are seeing them in your bathroom, that could be an indication that you have some sort of a leak in that area, either a leaking pipe, or perhaps water is getting in from the outside and causing some of the wood to soften and decay. Since this problem seems to be by the bathtub, that would suggest that you may have a leak in a pressurized pipe or a drainpipe. I would recommend removing the baseboard and having a look behind it to see if the drywall is damp. If it is, then you will most likely find a leak either in a pipe or water leaking in from the outside. If this is the case, then it's something that you absolutely must get fixed.
I hope that helps. Be well Elizabeth.
Loved this video. You sent me here from a question i asked you in one of your other videos. I have a manual backpack 4 gallon sprayer and cant spray very high and gets very heavy. Can you recommend a good powered electric sprayer like you use? Thank you very much!
Please watch my video on how to treat the outside of your house. I show you how to do the same basic treatment, but near the end of the video I show you how to do it with a hose end sprayer that you hook to a garden hose. It's lightweight and can reach heights of up to 25 feet, depending upon water pressure. The only thing is that you need to treat with Bifen XTS. It still works for carpenter ants. This product may seem expensive, but it gets mixed at only 1/3 oz per gallon, so it goes three times as far as most other products. So, it's actually less expensive per finished gallon. Just use the tank sprayer you have for easy to reach areas and the hose end sprayer for the higher up places.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to treat the outside of your house: czcams.com/video/Yozv3s-Qwlw/video.html
Guy first let me say thank you for your excellent very detailed video's! So, I just discovered a carpenter ant in my kitchen. I had recently discovered them outside in the fence posts around the house. I've already watched your video's multiple times related to identifying termites vs carpenter ants and how to treat. I have one question please, I already have quite a bit of Drione Dust which I'm sure you know has a different active ingredient. The Drione literature says that it can be used to treat nests, trails, travel routes and voids. My question for you is will it work as well as the D-Fense? Thanks again.
Drione dust works differently than D-Fense dust, but it should still work. Just be sure to wear a respirator. You should do that with all dusts, but especially with Drione dust. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Thank you Guy for the info and videos. I have a bad case of black carpenter ants in my three car garage. I was watching your video and saw that the “borrowed video” showed a product called FiPro Foam. I think you use that to actively kill known ant hives. I also saw a few videos talking about using Bora-Care that you mix with warm/hot water and then spray all the wood areas affected. Was wondering if this is a good solution too or will your two chemical solutions work better and penetrate better as it seems that the Bora-Care seems like a sealant after it dries and maybe cannot add more layers after it fully dries. Thank you
Bora-Care is a wonderful product that will permanently protect any unfinished wood on which it is applied. I highly recommend it. It works for all wood destroying pests. So, this can be a great solution for a garage. FiPro is a fipronil foam that does a great job going into ant tunnels. If you know where the tunnels are, then you can drill holes every 4 inches apart and shoot in the foam for about 5 seconds, or until it comes back out at you or the other holes you drilled. This will effectively take out the ant colony. I will give you links to both products and a video on how to use Bora-Care. Keep in mind that the ants in your garage are just a satellite colony. The main colony is outside somewhere, so it is a good idea to treat the exterior of the home every 60 to 90 days to prevent the ants from attacking another location or finding an areas of the garage where you missed when doing the treatments. You should also know that carpenter ants usually show up for one of two reasons. Either you have wet wood, which would suggest a leak some where, or you have termites. Carpenter ants love to eat termites. So, I would also do an inspection for termites. Please watch my video on how to identify termite species. That video will show you what to look for when inspecting for termites. You need to inspect for frass and mud tubes. If you find anything like that, then please get back to me. You will usually find the mud tubes coming up from the ground around the exterior of the house, but you may also find them in the crawlspace, or even the attic. Frass can be found anywhere in the house or the garage.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Bora-Care: www.solutionsstores.com/bora-care
FiPro: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Video on how to use Bora-Care: czcams.com/video/Rmr_aEodyhg/video.html
Video on how to identify termite species: czcams.com/video/dIs_a0nfVjg/video.html
Hi Guy, what an awesome video. Thank you. While watching I noticed you had a iLot sprayer. Not know which one it was I came back to see your list. Clicking on a link took me to Petra tools and a tank that is no longer available. Can you tell me which model of the iLot you have? Thank you and God bless.
The problem with sprayers is that they come and go all the time. The one that I use is no longer available. It seems like every time I recommend a different sprayer, it gets discontinued. The truth is that you can use any battery operated sprayer you like. The more pressure the sprayer has, the faster it will get the job done, and the higher it will reach. Of course, you get what you pay for. Decent sprayers usually run over $100, and put out over 65 psi, but I am seeing more and more of them that are running under $100, but I have no idea how good they are or how much pressure they have. Let me know if you have areas of the house that are fairly high up. If you do, then I can tell you an easy way to treat these areas, without using a ladder. Just e-mail me if you want to know how to do it. My e-mail is guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. If you e-mail me, please remind me of your CZcams name, so I know who you are. Also tell me you are looking to learn the secret on how to treat high up places on your house quickly and easily, without using a tank sprayer. I have reasons for not talking about it here. Be well my friend.
Thank you for your helpful video. Should I use protection like gloves and mask or goggles while spraying pesticide outside?
Yes. You should always use protective equipment when handling pesticides. I have a video on the subject that you should watch. A lot of folks do wear PPE, but they don't wear the right PPE or they do it incorrectly. Failing to do it right will also expose you to pesticides. I will place a link below for my video and I urge you to take the time to watch it. Great question. Thanks for asking it and thanks for watching. Be well my friend.
czcams.com/video/lOCzjbRlV3Y/video.html
Thank you so much for the info! I was really agonizing the cost of calling professionals...Do you think it is necessary to do the baits if we are treating the outside, using the dust and foam indoors? I have little ones, dogs, and very curious cats. Already feel nervous about the pesticides, but since they will be used inside the walls and outdoors that seems better than laying them around the house with in reach of little hands and paws. Thank you again so much!
I think the baits are essential to getting rid of carpenter ants. The good news is that dogs and cats almost never disturb the baits and even if they did, the baits are not really harmful to them anyway. Besides, we are talking about very small amounts of bait. You don't want to use a lot of bait. Just small dots where you see the activity will do the job. Keep checking the bait every day and keep giving the ants more of it as they eat it. In the unlikely event that your dog or cat decide to eat it, you can just use a bait station that will make it impossible for them to get to the bait. I will place a link below for the bait stations. The pesticides are all nontoxic to humans and pets after they dry. So, just keep the pets away from the pesticides while they are being applied. They usually dry in a matter of minutes. Also, keep in mind that you only need to treat the interior once. If you continue to treat the exterior every three months, then you will never have the problem again. Please trust me. I would not recommend any treatments that would be harmful to people or pets. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
www.domyown.com/bait-plate-stations-p-722.html
Very clear and helpful. My only question is: How long before I can let my dogs out into the yard after spraying?
The products are safe for children and pets to play on after they dry. Just keep the dogs inside while you are applying the products. After everything dries it will be perfectly safe for the dogs. Drying time is usually within 2 hours.
If you have areas on your home that are high up, you can also use Bifen XTS. It works like Talstar P, but you can use it in a hose end sprayer that will shoot the pesticide up to 25 feet above the ground, depending upon water pressure. I have a video on how to do it. The part of the video that shows how to use the hose end sprayer is near to the end of the video. The first part of the video shows how to treat the exterior of your house with Bifen IT and a tank sprayer. Bifen IT is just a less expensive version of Talstar P. It works the exact same way. Using a Bifen XTS with a hose end sprayer saves you from using a ladder when treating areas that are too high up.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to treat your house with Bifen products: czcams.com/video/Yozv3s-Qwlw/video.html
Can talsparP and Taurus SC be used in the same place we put bioadvance for termites? Do they interfere or interact to lose effectiveness?
We are in Northeast with black carpenter ants and subterranean termites. And need to treat for both.
Thank you for all of your great information! You are amazing.
Yes. You can apply any pesticide you like over the top of the termite granules, after they have been watered in. You may want to water them two or three times before applying anything over the top of them. The Taurus SC is the best thing that you can apply over them, because that is also a termiticide and it is non-repellent, but it won't hurt anything if you use Talstar P over it as well. The Taurus SC is also the best thing you can use for the carpenter ants as well. At least for the initial treatment. You may want to do your first treatment with Taurus SC, and then do future treatments with Talstar P. If you really want to go after those carpenter ants, you may want to think about also treating your yard. The ants in your house are most likely a satellite colony. The main colony is outside someplace. You can easily treat your yard with a hose end sprayer. I have a video that will show you how to do it. In the video I tell you to treat up to the house, and up the side of the house, but if you treat with Taurus SC, then do not go over the area that was treated with the Bifen XTS that is used in the hose end sprayer. After your initial treatment with Taurus SC, you can simply use the hose end sprayer to treat both your house and the yard. You are not supposed to treat your house with it because it is not consistent with label directions, but I can tell you from experience that it will not harm you or the environment. Treating your house with the hose end sprayer, is probably five times faster than using a tank sprayer. The Bifen XTS may seem expensive to purchase, but keep in mind that it only gets mixed at 1/3 ounces per gallon of water, instead of the one ounce per gallon that the Talsar P gets mixed at. So, the Bifen XTS goes three times as far. If you divide the cost of the Bifen XTS by three, that will show you the comparative cost to the Talstar P. You will see that the Bifen XTS it's actually cheaper than the Talstar P, per finished gallon. So do not let the price fool you. The active ingredient in the Bifen XTS is exactly the same as what is in Talstar P. It is just much more concentrated, and it has a much thinner viscosity, which allows it to be used in a hose and sprayer. The Talstar P is too thick to be used in this sprayer. The sprayer that I show in the video has a stream setting that will allow you to reach as high as 25 feet, without the use of a ladder. You may still want to treat around windows with a tank sprayer, because the hose end sprayer puts out a lot of product, so it will get all over the glass. That will not hurt anything, but it will make your windows look dirty. You can be a lot more accurate with the tank sprayer. Personally, the dirty looking glass doesn't bother me, so I don't mess with the tank sprayer at all.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to treat your yard with a hose and sprayer: czcams.com/video/wifoTU5dmp0/video.html
Thanks for the info. I use permethrin for wood ticks with good results. Do you think it would do ok for carpenter ants also. I already have it on hand.
No. Pyrethrin has little or no residual properties. You are better off using a product with a good residual. If you like pyrethrin products, try using bifenthrin. This is a 2nd generation pyrethroid that has a good residual action. It is not a fast kill product like the old pyrethrins, but it works great for carpenter ants. I have a video on how to use it and I will give you the link. This is of course for the outside of the house. Be well my friend.
Video on how to use bifenthrin to treat the outside of your house: czcams.com/video/Yozv3s-Qwlw/video.html
Loved your video. Wondering how the process may be different if the carpenter ants are not in our home (at least not yet) but live in a large tree about 15ft from the home. This tree is not dead.
Carpenter ants do not generally infest live wood, so at least part of that tree is probably dying. I recommend spraying your entire yard and the exterior of your house every 60 days. If you just spray the tree about 4 feet up and you spray the ground around the tree about 4 feet out, that will probably take out that colony, but there may be other colonies that you do not know about, so treating the yard on a regular basis is a good idea. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to treat your yard: czcams.com/video/wifoTU5dmp0/video.html
Video on how to treat the exterior of your house: czcams.com/video/Yozv3s-Qwlw/video.html
Hi Guy! I'm really happy I found your videos.....I've been watching a lot on carpenter ants and yours is the most instructive and useful, so thank you!
I believe I may have a carpenter ant issue. I have recently been finding dead carpenter ants (3 - 7) in a windowsill in my bedroom, and maybe just one or two on the carpet below the window (they are definitely more in the windowsill then on the carpet). I clean them out with the vacuum, and then a couple more will reappear. At first I thought they were just ants and getting into the windowsill through a small gap in the screen, so I closed it up with some caulk....but I am still seeing dead ones appear......and after research they are definitely carpenter ants.
My question is where should I start with the bait and dusting? I have yet to see a live carpenter ant. I have been outside at night looking all around the foundation of the house, around the window, etc. and I see not carpenter ants. My house is two stories and there is a soffet a couple feet above the window, so they may be in there? I do not hear any rustling in the walls. This one window in the bedroom (there are two others, but they are on an opposite wall) is the only place I have seen dead ants in the house.
I do have two dogs, and while I do not think they will eat the bait, I am a bit concerned about the dust being around them.
Thank you for any advice you may have!
Carpenter ants around windows is a very common problem. My guess is that you have a colony somewhere near the window. You didn't mention where you live or what type of carpenter ant you have, but it can make a difference on how much damage these ants can cause and the location of the colony. If you are only seeing them on a second story window, then it is possible that they could be in the attic, but they may just be in the wall where the window is located. Now, I know that you are not seeing any outside, but I can assure you that they did enter from the exterior of the home. Now that they are in, they probably established a colony inside the wall or the attic. So, you do need to treat the exterior of the home and it is important to treat the eves and around all windows and doors. I know that treating the eves on a two story home is not easy, but you need to do it. Also, be sure to caulk around the windows. Next, I would take a somewhat conservative approach to the inside treatment. Since you are only seeing them at one location, I would dust all outlets on that one wall only, as I show in my video. Next I would use just the baits in the window sill. Be sure to use both a protein bait and a sweet bait. Carpenter ants do not eat wood like termites do, so they need a food source. So, give them one. Also, they like their bait fresh, so use small amounts of bait every day. The reason you are not seeing them is most likely because they like to feed at night. If they are not eating the food in your home, then they must be getting it outside the home. All living things need food and water. Ants are no exception. There is a good chance that there is a path/trail that they are using to come and go and that is another reason whey the exterior treatment is important. So, if you do the exterior treatment and you only dust in the outlets and bait in the window, then your dogs will be perfectly safe. I hope that helps. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching.
@@GuysPestSolutions Thanks Guy for the quick response! I live in Indiana, and the ants are large and black. I found a dead winged one today in the windowsill. I did go up into the attic to look for any signs of the ants there, however I have a second furnace in the attic with a lot of duct work and a lot of blown installation, and I wasn't comfortable trying to get to where that window was without risking a mistep. I will treat as you mention in your message and let you know how it goes. I appreciate your consideration for my dogs as well. Thank you again for taking the time to respond!
@@Mo-up8hv No problem. I am always happy to help. Unfortunately, you do have the kind of carpenter ants that tunnel through wood. If you go in the attic, look for tiny holes in the wood and what looks a little like sawdust under the holes on the floor or insulation. It's called frass and if you see those tiny holes and the frass, then you can treat by shoot fipronil foam into the holes to help get control. You can also treat the wood with Bora-Care if you find carpenter ants in the attic. Please do let me know how it goes.
Hello I thank you for all the information you share anything for wasps? Thank you again
Actually, if you treat as described in this video you should not have anymore wasps. Most of the time wasps build their nests in places where they are somewhat out of the weather, like under eves, in bushes, in fences, etc. Just treat all those places every three months with the same products and you will not have anymore wasps. That being said, a wasp may fly over from someone else's yard, but there is nothing you can do about that. I hope that helps. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching.
I see lots of carpenter ants in our cabin and hear them munching inside the wall above our French door-I’m quiet certain I will have to replace some of the joists by now-is the foam you recommended a good idea before tearing off molding and part of the wall? Is 12 hours enough time for most of them to die? Trying to avoid them dispersing every which way once I open the void up! If that happens anyway, is a shop vac a good tool to suck them up before they escape?
Here's the thing you need to understand about carpenter ants. They have built a satellite colony in your home. To eliminate that satellite colony, you need to kill them slowly. That is because the place you are seeing them or hearing them, may not exactly be the location of the colony. These guys have been busy tunneling through the wood, but you do not know where the queen is. So, if you just use a quick kill product in the affected area, or if you just remove the wood, you may or may not be eliminating that satellite colony. That is why a fipronil foam, like FiPro or Termidor Foam, will usually take three to four weeks to completely kill the colony. This is assuming that you apply the foam correctly and you hit an area of activity. If you drill a hole into the wood and the foam immediately comes back out at you, then you missed the tunnels. However, if you drill the holes 4 inches apart, and you have foam coming out of the other holes, then you got them. Now, the ants will start to die within a few days after the application, so you may hear little or no noise after a week or so, but keep in mind that you killed the ants in the area you treated. If the colony is located somewhere else, then it may take a while longer for the rest of the ants to die. That's why I say that you should give it about four weeks after application. If you remove the wood before the treatment works, then the satellite colony may go on destroying other parts of your home. If you start to remove the wood and a bunch of ants are running out, that would mean that either you missed the tunnels or you didn't wait long enough for the foam to do its job. If that happens, the best way to deal with it is to have a can of Raid Ant and Roach Killer handy. This is a very quick kill product that you can spray directly on the ants that are running away.
Since the ants in your house are probably coming from a satellite colony within your house, that means the main colony is outside someplace. So, do not forget to do the exterior treatment. You don't want to get reinfested.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions wow thanks so much for the detailed reply! I will report back with updates :)
@@trumpeterchris You are very welcome. I always do my best to provide all the information you need to do the job right the first time. I like to think that is why people call on me for pest control advice. I will always give you a straight answer too. It may not always be what you want to hear, but it will always be the truth and I will always do my best to help solve the problem. Be well my friend.
Hello, thanks for the video. I tried some of the stuff you talked about here and for some reason a lot of bigger carpenter ants with wings started coming out and dying in addition to the small winged ones. Are these the queen? Do you think I am making progress or is it getting worse?
Really appreciate your opinion thanks!
Can you send me a photo of one of them? You can send it to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Please copy and paste this question in your email. Get as close to the ant as you can and keep the photo well in focus. I will send you a link to a short video on how to get a good close-up photo. Also, please tell me exactly how you treated. Did you do everything in the video? I would also like to know if this is happening all over the house or in just one or two rooms. Finally, please tell me where you live. Geographical area matters. Don't worry. We will get to the bottom of it and get it resolved. It sounds like these are swarmers that are dying, but let's make sure of what is really going on. I don't want to give you bad advice.
Be well my friend.
czcams.com/video/lMEtK6GoiFY/video.html
Thank you. I have cedar mulch around my house. Do I soak that with pesticide?
I recommend two treatments for all homes in the US. First, you should always do the exterior treatment outlined in the video and, yes, you should spray down the cedar mulch really well to get the pesticide past the mulch and down to the dirt where the bugs are. You should also treat the entire perimeter of the home with BioAdvanced Termite Killer granules every year. I have a video on that and I will place a link below. Subterranean termites do billions of dollars in damage in the US every year and this $50 annual treatment will stop them cold. While the exterior treatment in the carpenter ant video will prevent drywood termites, it will not prevent subterranean termites, so you need to do the BioAdvanced granules to be safe. When both of these treatments are used, your home becomes pretty much bulletproof to pests. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
czcams.com/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/video.html
Hi Guy. I recnetly found carpenter ants around a corner of rotted wood around a window. I then followed a trail to a nearby healthy maple tree. The ants are living in a crack about 10 feet up. The bark on the tree has been flipping up so I suspect the ants have damaged the tree for a couple of years, and they started a second and maybe third colonoy on the house. Below that window I can see ttunnels in the foam insulation that is behind the wooden siding below that same window. I thought I would put the foam in the insulation tunnels and in the wooden rotten area until that can be replaced. Inside I will drill holes in the drywall and dust that same area. Should I spray the Taurus SC in the crack in the maple tree? What other suggestions would you recommend? Thank you so much.
There really is a lot to talk about here. Let's start with the maple tree. The first thing you should know is that carpenter ants do not damage wood that is alive. Since they only tunnel through dead wood, that means the tree that they are infesting has some sort of disease. So, the truth is that carpenter ants do not kill trees. I think it is unlikely that the ants in the maple tree is the main colony. Both the colonies that are in your house and the tree are most likely satellite colonies. Since the ants in the tree are not causing any damage to the tree, and it is not likely that they represent the main colony, there is no need to worry about treating the tree. However, if you wish to treat the tree, all you really need to do is to spray the trunk of the tree, all the way around, as far up as you can reach, with Taurus SC. Then, spray a band around the entire tree, 18 inches from the base of the tree out. Carpenter ants do not eat wood, so that means they need to forage for food. Since it is unlikely that there is enough food in that tree to support the satellite colony, they are going to have to come and go from the tree to obtain a food supply. When they do, they will cross the Taurus SC and that will result in the demise of the entire satellite colony. Of course, if you do not treat the tree every three months, then it will most likely get reinfested by the main colony at some point.
This brings me to the house. You most likely have at least one satellite colony in your house, but you may have another issue going on there as well. You told me that you are seeing tunnels in the foam insulation. I would like a little more information about these tunnels. Are these tunnels just foam that was excavated, or are you seeing any type of mud tubes in that area? If the tunnels are just hollowed out areas, then the issue is probably limited to the carpenter ants. However, if you are seeing any mud tubes there, then you may also have termites. It is very common to find and both termites and carpenter ants in the exact same area. Therefore, I would be a really bad pest controller if I did not ask that question.
Now let's talk about treatment. You definitely want to use the fipronil foam every place that you see activity. Unfortunately though, if you want to totally eliminate this infestation, then you are going to need to do all the treatments that are listed in the video. After you are finished doing all the interior treatments, then you need to treat the exterior of the house with Taurus SC. Going forward, you are going to need to treat the exterior of the house every three months with Bifen IT. That is because the main colony is still outside someplace and, if you do not treat the exterior of your house every three months, then these guys are going to be back. Believe me when I tell you that everything in the video is done for a reason.
I hope that helps. Please get back to me if you are seeing any mud tubes.
Be well my friend.
Thanks Guy for the infos, I'm wondering shouldn't you wait a bit after placing the baits for the baits to kill the colony before treating all the holes and the exterior of the house?
I see carpenter ants in the kitchen only in the early spring, do you think there's a chance that there is a colony inside or they're just coming from outside scavenging for food? I don't ear any noise from the walls and checked the attic, the walls behind the counter and can't find any nest.
@@simonhoule8601 Most of the time there is a colony outside the house somewhere and also a satellite colony inside the house. To effectively eliminate carpenter ants, you need to eliminate the satellite colony inside the house, and then put up a protective barrier around the house, so you do not get reinfested. The best way to do it is to apply the dust first, to ensure that it does not accidentally get on any of the bait. So, dust first, apply the bait second, and then do the exterior treatment. You should not wait to do the exterior treatment. I can usually do all of this within a couple of hours. It is very possible that the satellite colony is located near the kitchen. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
I really enjoyed the video and the great info.
I bought the Amish-built structure to use as my workshop. However, I am currently facing a problem with ants infesting both the interior and exterior ceiling fascia. It seems like the ants are dropping extremely fine particles, which I suspect might be the blown insulation. I am curious about the possible reasons behind this issue. Could it be that the ants are attracted to the blown insulation, or is it because the Amish used damp wood in the construction?
This sounds more like carpenter ants. Please tell me where you are located. Also, your comment just reached me now. That happens sometimes. Please email me instead at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Remind me of the problem when you email me. I will help you figure it out. Be well Grace.
Thanks for video. Just drilling a hole without taking drywall off, how do you recommend treating walls containing fiber glass batting? Now I try to drill near a the side of a stud, and can sometimes slip a straw past the fiberglass.
Insulated walls are always a challenge to dust. Normally I would use an electric duster that will blow all sorts of dust into the wall void, but they are expensive to purchase. So, for the black carpenter ants, I would probably just go with treating the studs where you think there is activity. To do this, you need to buy a fipronil foam. I will provide links for two products that you can choose from. I like the FiPro the best because it's a little less expensive and I like the applicator tip better, but the Termidor Foam also works very well. The FiPro is not available everywhere. Get a stud finder and locate the stud where it meets the ceiling and drive a small nail into the stud a couple of inches below the ceiling. Attach a weighted string to the nail and that will show you where the stud is. Then drill the holes 4 inches apart along the entire length of the stud, about 3 inches deep. After the holes are drilled, then shoot the foam into each hole for about 5 seconds or until you have foam either coming back out at you or coming out the other holes that you drilled. All the holes should have foam either going into them or coming out of them. This will fill up the tunnels in the wood with foam. The ants won't know that this is harmful to them, so they will happily pass right through it and take it back to the colony. The holes only need to be wide enough for the applicator tip to enter. So, 1/8 inch or less. These are very small holes and can be filled in with some spackling compound on your finger.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Thanks.@@GuysPestSolutions
Thank you much for such a clear and professional explanation. We just discovered carpenter ants borrowing in one of the trees in our back yard.
We definitely need to treat all around our house soon before the ants invade us. Our question is When we treat the outside, will it be dangerous for our Dog and two cats? They are usually out in the backyard.
Hi Kathy. I get this question a lot. These pesticides are perfectly safe for people and pets after they are dry. Just keep the pets inside while you are treating and be sure to wear the protective equipment when applying the products. The products dry quickly and generally you can let the pets out again about a half hour after treatment. I hope that helps.
Ok Thank you 😊
Hello, thanks for the video, I live in Massachusetts and looks like I am not allowed me to purchase Taurus SC . Do you have another recommendation ? Thanks
Yes, but it's expensive. I believe that Fuse is legal for you to use in Massachusetts. You need to mix it 0.6 oz per gallon. I recommend that you just use it for the first application and then do all the other treatments with either Talstar P or Bifen I/T. I will place links below for you. Please let me know if you can't get the Fuse and I will see what I can do.
Be well my friend.
www.solutionsstores.com/fuse-insecticide-termiticide
www.solutionsstores.com/bifen-it-insecticide
www.solutionsstores.com/talstar-pro
are there any non-toxic alternatives?
i'm all for chemicals and pesticides, but i live in Canada where i unfortunately cannot obtain any of the products you mentioned
Canada is very restrictive when it comes to pesticides. Sometimes though you can get around this problem. First, you can use boric acid dust in the outlets and you can lightly dust the ant trails. Boric acid is slow acting, but it will get the job done. I'm not sure, but I think it's still available in Canada. Of course, that does not help with the outside. Other Canadians have told me that sometimes Amazon will ship to them and when that fails you can often buy these products from eBay sellers. If you go with eBay sellers you can expect to pay about twice as much as Amazon. I'm guessing the reason for that is because the sellers are assuming some risk and they want to be compensated for it. Still, it's cheaper than hiring a pest controller. With regard to baits... Some folks have been experimenting with making their own bait with things like boric acid and honey. I have never tried it, but there are CZcams videos that explain how to do it. Other than that I don't know what to tell you. It's a shame that Canada is so restrictive with this stuff. It does not make a lot of sense to me, but it is what it is. I'm sorry that I cannot be of more assistance.
Hi Guy, One other question. The block home I recently purchased has many 1/2 inch what appear to be weep holes around the base of the exterior about an inch above the foundation. I am tempted to seal them but I am concerned they might be providing water drainage. Would you recommend filling them with a pest control product instead or just leave them alone ? I am not having an issue with bugs inside thankfully, although the home is empty and vacant so there are no food sources.
I agree that those are most likely weep holes. I don't think it would be a very good idea to seal them up. It should be okay to just spray across them while you are doing your exterior treatment. However, if you would like to overkill it, then you can shoot some fipronil foam into those holes or you could even puff in in a little bit D-Fense Dust. The D-Fense Dust lasts about 8 months, so it's something that you could just do once or twice a year. Another way to go would be to puff in some diatomaceous earth. This is a permanent product that is all natural and lasts forever. It works on any insect that cleans itself, like ants. The advantage to using this product is that you just need do it once and that's it.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions I am going to take your advice and leave them open but apply the diatomaceous earth. Thanks again !
@@DaveG-qd6ug You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Thank you so much!!!!
Always my pleasure. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am always here to help. Be well Diane.
I have subscribed to your channel..
@@dianesims6241 Thank you so much Diane. That is so kind of you. Greatly appreciated. Please share me with a friend. I love helping people.
Amazing and so interesting!!! My live oak trees and one fruitless mulberry have carpenter ants on them. Do I still only go up a foot or two or do I spray the trees as high as I can with the chemical? Should I also put Advance Granular Carpenter Ant Bait around the bottom of the trees? I also had a swarm of them in my front yard the other evening. They were all over the grass and sidewalks around the house. There were solid black ones, red & black ones and flying ones. I am fixing to sell my home and don't want the new owners to have problems. I called an exterminator and they came that evening and just sprayed the grass and sidewalks. I am still seeing ants here and there both on the ground, house, front door, bathroom. I am so nervous about having them.
You can spray up the tree as far as you like. The higher the better. For maximum effect, I would treat the entire yard. You can do this with a hose end sprayer and Bifen XTS. I have a video on how to do it. You can use this same product to treat the trees and the house. It seems expensive, but you only mix it 1/3 ounce per gallon, so it goes a long way. This will kill any carpenter ants that are in your yard. No need to use a bait. Make sure that those flying ants are really ants and not termites. I have a video on how to tell the difference.
I hope that helps. Be well Junie.
Video on how to treat your yard with a hose end sprayer: czcams.com/video/wifoTU5dmp0/video.html
Video on how to tell carpenter ants from termites: czcams.com/video/enJPS-h70Bs/video.html
Great video. Will be spraying around foundation tomorrow using your system. I do have one complication. There are at least two satellite carpenter ant nests in the walls, accessed from crawlspace. I have used sweet/protein suggestion for bait but still see activity after a week+. I wonder what you think about spraying Taurus in crawlspace (foundation wall, beams, dirt floor). I will be working on sealing the foundation and putting vapor barrier in but would like to get ants out before I do. Would adding more moisture in crawl space be a bad thing? Would spraying in that enclosed space be ok? Thoughts? Thanks for your service to the community.
First, I am so sorry for the delay in answering your question. I live in Florida, and I have a hurricane heading very close to where I live, and so I've spent the last three days getting ready for it. I just got finished a little while ago so I can get back to answering questions now.
It is okay to spray the crawlspace, but I would not spray it with Talstar P. The best thing you can do is to spray all the wood with Bora-Care. I will provide a link below for a video on how to do that and where to get the product as well. This will permanently treat all the wood and it will prevent not only carpenter ants, but termites as well. The other thing that you can do is too spray with a non-repellent pesticide. The Talstar P is a repellent, so you do not want to use that. There are any number of non-repellent pesticides on the market that will do a great job, but I like Temprid FX the best because it is the most cost effective. You can use it to spray absolutely everything in the crawlspace. Just make sure that you wear all your protective equipment.
Carpenter ants love moisture, so if you add moisture, then that will attract them. You would be better off trying to find a way to reduce the moisture and humidity in the crawl space.
I hope that helps. He will my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions Hope you and yours are safe. Ian looks like a monster viewed from here in Seattle. Thoughts and prayers for you, yours and all of Florida.
I really appreciate your quick response to my question. I did not notice a delay! 🙂
I have been trying to kill the satellite colonies in my floor boards but have been frustrated with the results ... I do think there is less activity and I do see a number of ant carcasses below the nests, but the nests are still active after a couple of weeks of using sweet and protein bait (put directly under the nests). The living ants seem to be a lot less interested in the bait ... early on ants would swarm the bait and show immediate interest if I dropped some in their path. That was using sweet only. I have seen no interest in protein bait and lately they seem uninterested in the sweet? Is that normal?
I have started to use Termidor foam and D-fense dust to treat the beam that they seem to use for transit between the two colonies (at opposing corners of the front of my house). All of this from the underside in the crawlspace. I am going to spray the interior foundation walls in the trouble areas using Taurus SC, probably at 1.2% concentration.
I am looking into adding boracare to the arsenal to get the wooden components, although if I keep up maintenance of the exterior insecticide (using your suggested twice a year Taurus SC and twice a year Talstar) do I need to worry about reinfestation of ants in those areas (once I have knocked them out, assuming I can)?
Possibly amusing origin story for my battle: I am an amateur woodworker and I built a couple of bookcases for my wife's pandemic home office. After a year or so, she noticed some adult beetles in her office. We investigated and found frass and new exit holes in the bookcases ... the wood had apparently been infested with powderpost beetles, which I should have noticed (amateur, like I said). A few days after cutting the bookcases into disposable pieces (sniff) my wife was sweeping around the front of the house and noticed frass (which she now knew how to identify) and after a little investigation we found the nests in the crawlspace. So, bookcases proved to be sacrificial offering to potentially save our house (trying to find the positive here 🙂)
@@kentdietz1749 We experienced some minor damage from the storm, but not anything I can't handle. The good news is that we're all safe.
Too bad you didn't tell me about the powderpost beetles in the bookcase. I could have told you how to get rid of them without getting rid of the bookcases. I think we could have gotten rid of them fairly easily.
Treating the crawl space with Taurus SC will definitely get the job done, but it is not really recommended to be spraying it around in a confined space like that. If you do, then be sure to wear a good respirator and eye protection. Take a shower after you are finished treating. Also, you only need to mix it 0.8 oz per gallon. Doubling the concentration is not necessary. I think Temprid FX would be the safer way to go though.
I think it is somewhat unusual that the ants stopped eating the bait, but you can treat the ant trails with PT Alpine. This is a non-repellent pesticide that comes in a spray can. Just spray it along the trails where you would have used the bait. The ants will not know that it's a pesticide and they will happily cross it and bring it back to the colony with them. I will place a link below for it.
Be well my friend.
PT Alpine: Alpine Aerosol, Alpine PT Pressurized Insecticide Aerosol (domyown.com)
Question: Did u say in 1 of your videos that bioadvanced termite killer also kills Carpenter ants? Thank you for all your good information.
No. The termite granules are not effective against carpenter ants because termites travel under ground and carpenter ants travel above ground. The granules melt and seep into the ground, so the ants will not be affected by it. At least, not for long. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
what can I use to kill the termites inside a tree? This beautiful pine tree was without leaves for the lower part of it three years ago, I thought it was lack of sun...now is 45 degrees and I hit the base and found termites, another tree is showing lack of leaves for the lower part and is showing a lot of humidity in the exterior and I found few tiny holes at the base and in other parts around the tree. I think I probably need to make a hole inside the tree and put something inside or I can use another treatment? What can be the more cheap and effective method to eliminate them and avoid to have them in my yard?
How you treat it depends upon the type of termites you are are dealing with. See if you can obtain a specimen. If so, then take it to your county extension office for identification or to a local termite company. Of course, a termite company will want to give you an estimate, but that's okay. Estimates are free and it can't hurt to get one. If you are dealing with drywood termites, and based on the holes you found I suspect that you are, then you can inject fipronil foam into the holes. Shoot enough in so that it is coming out the other holes. Make sure that all the holes are treated. Don't be cheap with the foam. Inject it really well. Then spray the tree really well with Bora-Care, using a pump garden sprayer. Just follow label directions. If you are dealing with subterranean termites, then the colony is not in the tree. They are just eating it and returning to the colony that is actually in the ground somewhere. If this is the case, then you can either apply the BioAdvanced Termite Killer around the trees and water it in or you can place bait stations around the trees. Also, you are correct that you can actually drill a hole into the tree and inject Taurus SC into the hole. If you drill down on a 45 degree angle, the pesticide will run down using gravity. That way you can probably get it injected sufficiently with a garden sprayer. You are going to need a long bit though and you will want it to be at least a half inch in diameter. You should do this close to the base of the tree because that is where most of the damage will be if these are subterranean termites. This method may not work so well for drywood termites, but with drywood termites you will find small holes in the wood that you do not find with subterranean termites. So for drywood termites all you need to do is shoot the fipronil foam into the holes. If you cannot determine what kind of termites you have, then you can do both treatments. Shoot the foam into the holes, spray with Bora-Care, and then use the BioAdvanced around the trees. That way you are covered not matter what species of thermite you are dealing with. Finally, TREAT YOUR HOUSE! If you have termites in the trees, then they will probably attack your home as well. You should use the BioAdvanced around your home and then do the treatment I explain in my DIY General Exterior Pest Control video. That will prevent drywood termites. It will not treat them if you already have them, but it will prevent new ones from entering your home. I will place a link below. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching.
DIY General Exterior Pest Control video: czcams.com/video/3ESGJsn3MLk/video.html
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you to you. We will see results in some time.
Thank you! When framing a basement, I read it's best to pretreat the raw wood with Boracare or Tim-bor. Is it also a good idea to leave Borax (or Tempo dust? or Drione dust?) on top of the bottom sill plate under the insulation before adding the drywall? My rim joists were treated a few years ago with Tim-bor by a pest company. This past spring, I had a significant infestation of odorous house ants on the main level of my home that I think I've fixed. When I sealed my rim joists last month, I found a bunch of dead odorous ants in 2 rim joist sections of insulation. Today, I've just treated my framing with Boracare (1:2 ratio since I haven't seen termites or carpenter ants and was trying to stretch the product) but ran out so will be using Tim-bor to finish up some of the framing. Unfortunately, this also means I would have to use Tim-bor in the plumbing holes when they cut up the concrete floor for the bathroom. Can Tim-bor be used for this purpose? Should I also pour some Borax (or something) down the hole and along the trench line before they patch the concrete? I have had carpenter ants in the past (not in basement) and am holding my breath till spring to see if they become active in my home. I'm spraying outside with Taurus SC and used Tempo dust in all of the wall outlets. Sounds like I should also use the Bayer granules you mentioned in your termite videos as well. Thank you for your patience through these long list of questions. I welcome your advice.
Hi Sue. Let me begin by saying that I am so impressed and blown away by the great job you are doing. You are really taking pests seriously, as you should. I always recommend treating bare wood with Bora-Care. Tim-bor is a similar product, but in my opinion, Bora-Care is better because I think it penetrates much deeper into the wood. My research shows that Tim-bor will only penetrate about 1/4 inch into the wood, while Bora-care will go much deeper and perhaps all the way to the center. As you already know, these products are permanent and never stop working. I like that. The thing is that they are slow acting, but who cares? They still get the job done. That brings me to using Tempo or Drione dust. These products are great for a fast knock down if you have an existing problem, but they do not have that permanent effectiveness that Bora-Care and Tim-bor enjoy. So, if you are looking to permanently protect surfaces anywhere in the structure, then you want to use a dust that is permanent. Tim-bor will work for this, but I personally prefer a boric acid dust. It is also permanent and very cost effective and, just my personal opinion, I find that it works somewhat better. So, if you have an existing infestation, then I would use both Tempo and boric acid. That way you get the quick knock down and the residual action that you want. Otherwise, just use the Tim-bor dust or the boric acid dust. With regard to using Tim-bor in pipe penetrations through concrete, that's fine, but I would use it in dust form. As for placing Borax along a trench line before patching, I'm not sure what you are asking. If you are patching a concrete slab, you probably do not need to place an insecticide over the area being patched. However, if you are sealing a pipe penetration or something like that, then yes. You should use some dust in the opening before sealing it up. My rule of thumb is to apply boric acid dust in every crack, crevice, and penetration in the entire house. It's non toxic to people and pets and it will kill just about any insect that contacts it. So, if you are applying dust in an outlet, why not use something permanent? If there is an existing infestation, then again, I would use both the Tempo and boric acid, so that I would get the fast knock down and the residual effect that I want. If I'm just treating for prevention, then boric acid is definitely the way to go. At least in my humble opinion. I'm sure that there are some pros that would argue the point with me. Finally, you should definitely do the BioAdvanced termite treatment that I suggest in my DIY Termite Treatment video. It's a cheap and effective insurance policy for termites. I have been using it on my home for years. It's one of the best kept secrets in termite treatment. Taurus SC is a wonderful product for treating the exterior of your home. I have a video on the right way to do that. If you have not watched it yet, I suggest that you take a look. Most people do it wrong and then get frustrated because it doesn't work. I have never once seen a CZcams video on treating the exterior of a building that actually explained how to do it correctly. That's the reason I posted mine. See the link below. Now, by label directions you are only supposed to use Taurus SC every six months, but you do need to treat every three months. Some folks just go ahead and use the Taurus SC every three months, but if you want to be strictly legal then you should only use the Taurus SC every six months and then use Talstar P for an in between treatment. So treat every three months, but alternate products to stay legal. I am not going to tell you how I do it. ;-) I hope that I answered all your questions. You are doing a magnificent job. Keep up the good work. Thanks for the questions and thanks for watching. Feel free to ask me any questions you like. I'm always here to help.
DIY General Exterior Pest Control Video: czcams.com/video/3ESGJsn3MLk/video.html
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you so much for your thorough and speedy response! I should say that my home is 30 years old and the basement is underground and an opinion given to me was that the boracare treatment was unnecessary. Instead, I should have redone my rim joists since they were treated with Timbor. I have already sealed them with 2" rigid foam board and picture framed them with spray foam and added back the fiberglass insulation. Do you think I should go ahead and remove the insulation and apply Boracare?
Sounds like the dust is not needed since I treated all the framing with Boracare. When treating the rest of the house, sounds like Boric Acid is the way to go. Does that mean Borax? If not, where can I get boric acid?
I will get the BioAdvanced termite treatment and start that and keep using the Taurus SC. I was really glad to hear you explain about the rocks because I have a 1' rock perimeter, but wasn't spraying there long enough to be effective. I watched a carpenter ant climb the outside of my house all the way to the roof line on the 2nd floor. I don't see any way to treat up that high and hope that the ant will take any residual Taurus up to her friends. I'm anxious to see what spring will bring in terms of ant activity and hope that all these preventative steps will keep my home safe for years to come. Thank you for your honest and thorough videos! You will save people thousands!
@@suek6516 I'm always happy to help and answer questions. I would not tear things apart just to retreat with Bora-Care. Like I said, Tim-bor is not quite as good as Bora-care, but it's still pretty good. Borax and boric acid are not the same thing, but they are often confused because they work in a similar way. You can get boric acid from DoMyOwn.com, Solutions Pest & Lawn, or Amazon. You can also purchase a hand duster from any of those places for about $15, if you don't have one. As you saw in my video, I do treat the eves on the house, but I can understand if the eves are out of reach. The reasons I do it is because carpenter ants can attack from above if you have a tree limb that is touching the roof or high up on the side of the house. Also, treating the eves prevents spiders, drywood termites, wasps, etc. from getting into the attic or building nests in the eves themselves. Still, not everyone can get up there and I can tell you that the pros generally won't do it either. Now, if the carpenter ants are climbing up the side of the house, which is very common, and you treat the sides of the house with Taurus SC, then the ants will have no choice but to cross that barrier and they will die. So, just do the exterior treatment like I show in my video, but leave out the eves and you should still be okay, unless you have overhanging trees that are touching the roof or the side of the house above where you treated. If you do, then have them cut back, so that they do not touch the house. Also, make sure that you don't have any ladders, wood, etc., that is leaned up against the side of the house and be sure to treat any fences that touch the house. The idea is to place the Taurus SC everywhere the ants can possibly get to the house. If you give them any path to enter the house that is not treated, then they may find it. If you treat the perimeter of the house every year with the BioAdvanced Termite Killer, then you will never have subterranean termites. Treating all the exposed wood with Bora-care is a great idea, but the perimeter treatment is the first line of defense. If you do that, then subterranean termites simply cannot enter your home in the first place. I do it every year and I never have a problem with subterranean termites. It's fast, easy, cheap, and effective. What's not to like? You definitely have the right idea Sue. I am so impressed with you. You're amazing.
Holes in wood could also be powder post beetles.
You are correct. Good point. I suppose I should do a video on powderpost beetles. I guess I will have to add that to my list of videos that I need to get done. Thanks.
Thanks, helpful. Add nitrile gloves?
Nitrile glove are fine. Just check them every now and then for tears. Be well my friend.