Carpenter Ants - chemicals to prevent home invasion? Recommendations? Prefer spray outside than than bait.?

Question

Have Carpenter ants all around remote cabin. Every two years I get an infestation. Looking for legally available strong chemicals to use outside around the cabin to deter them in the fall and again in the spring. Get a lot of snow... all will wash away. Also - once in the cabin any recommendations on how to handle? I am already removing any/all damp areas (they are in the bathroom).

Answer 1

Before you nuke the place and turn it into a toxic wasteland, try laying down borate. This is a naturally occurring mineral that does very bad things to ants. The only problem with this is that it is water soluble, which is both good and bad, so you really cannot use it outside where it will get washed away. But you can use it safely inside where you live and not have to deal with nasty insecticide smells. Sprinkle a line of this stuff, it's a white powder, along any place you see the ants. They ingest this stuff and it disrupts the enzymes in their gut and will eventually kill them. It's not like a spray poison where they roll up into a ball and die as soon as it hits them, but I have put this stuff down and two weeks later I notice the ants are gone.

The big advantage of this stuff is that it is very safe to use, non toxic to humans and pets.

Answer 2

I had the problem every spring. I use many things to deter the ants. Boric acid helped some but the still keep coming. Finally I used an exterminator. But they were back the next year. Have to let them go through there process about a month and they disappear.

Answer 3

Try using GRITS. Yes the kind you eat. Put the uncooked grits down and they will carry them back to the nest for the other ants to eat. Once they have eaten them the grits swell when mixed with the ant saliva and they die. This works for fire and those little red and black ants.

Answer 4

ok this really works. buy some powderd gain laundry detergent any scent. sprinkle it on top of the antpiles, they disapear. im not sure if it kills them or just make them go away but it works. i use it to keep ants out of our yard for kids to play a little more safely.
oh you can sprinkle it around your home too and its safe and wont harm animals or your lawn.
i hope you find a quick solution

Answer 5

I agree with strobel10,Ortho Home Defense is what we use every spring around the foundation,windows,and doors. One application seems to work wonders.

Answer 6

Use Ortho's Home Defense outside along your foundation and in your basement (if applicable).