Carpenter ants can invade in your home and build their nest anywhere including on the roof or ceiling. The ants can enter your home through tiny gaps and cracks and have the potential of causing significant damage.
Read also: How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in Trees – Naturally, around Tree Roots
Carpenter ants are known to be aggressive. Their damage is far and wide especially on wooden structures in your home. How do you get rid of carpenter ants in the ceiling? It is quite simple to get rid of carpenter ants in ceiling and on the roof. First, inspect the areas and find their colony. Once you locater their colony, prepare and place the ant bait along the ceiling or crevices of the walls. The ants will eat the ant bait, in the long run it will get rid of the entire colony.
One of the common signs to tell of carpenter ants’ infestation is finding wood shavings and sound of scratching noise in their nests, walls, ceiling or the roof. As indicated, the ants like building their nests in wooden structures and often leave a trail of sawdust or frass.
Termites are quite different from carpenter ants, they cause a damage on wood which if left untreated can be costly to repair. This is why you should strive to get rid of them as fast as you can.
What Attracts Carpenter Ants to Go in My Ceiling or on the Roof?
Carpenter ants will come into your house and the ceiling for some reasons. These ant species are naturally attracted to wooden structures and frames. Always check your ceiling and roof to determine if there are ants or any water leaking in the ceiling. If you know how to deal with these ants in your ceiling, you can avert or reduce the infestation to other areas other than just the ceiling or the roof.
Carpenter ants do not eat wood contrary to what many people think. They only use the wood to establish their colonies. Carpenter ants are generally attracted to sugar and sweet foods. Always keep your house clean and dry all the time. Your kitchen should be dry and clean too. Avoid spilling foods, crumbs or debris to prevent carpenter ants from coming into your house.
Is it dangerous to have an infestation of carpenter ants in ceiling or on the roof?
As put, carpenter ants are generally destructive on wooden structures. Depending on the level of infestation, carpenter ants in your ceiling or the roof can be dangerous especially if you leave the problem untreated.
The longer you take to control and eliminate the ants, the more likely the damage would be. If you don’t eliminate the ants in time, the infestation will spread throughout your house not just your roof or ceiling.
As mentioned earlier, carpenter ants like to chew on wood, this can weaken your ceiling it can be costly trying to repair or replacing the damaged ceiling.
How Did Carpenter Ants Get in Your Ceiling?
Carpenter ants are somehow small, this makes them to easily travel through smallest cracks and holes in ceiling. As soon as you see ants coming from the roof or ceiling, be sure to seal it off properly to avoid them to come in and out.
How do Carpenter Ants create Holes in the ceiling?
If your ceiling is made of wood or insulation panels, then there are chances the carpenter ants will create holes in your ceiling. Carpenter ants are known to chew through soft materials, wood or insulation boards. If you are keen enough you will notice pile of sawdust and sometimes holes in the ceiling. This is usually the first sign of infestation of carpenter ants in your ceiling.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in Ceiling
An infestation of carpenter ants in your ceiling shouldn’t be left untreated. Other than the damage these ants will cause in your ceiling, the infestation can spread throughout your home. It can produce multiple colonies which can be overwhelming to deal with. There are a number of ways to deal with carpenter ants in your ceiling.
Start by checking the condition of your ceiling. If your ceiling is wooden or made from soft materials, make sure that there are no rotting or damping areas in your ceiling, this conditions attract the ants where they are mostly likely to build their nest.
Below here are some of the steps and instructions on how to get rid of carpenter ants in your ceiling or roof.
1. Inspect your ceiling/ roof
This is one of the key step when you want to successfully get rid of carpenter ants in your ceiling. Carefully inspect the ceiling and look for any signs of carpenter ants infestation. Look for signs such as wood shavings, pile of sawdust that may be in or coming from the ceiling.
If you hear rustling sounds coming from your ceiling or roof, this is a clear indication of carpenter ants’ infestation. Also, if the infestation is not large enough, you are likely to see the ants crawling out of holes, cracks or crevices in the ceiling.
2. Applying appropriate insecticides, Ant Baits, Sprays or Gels
Once you locate the carpenter ants in your ceiling or on the roof, you can apply appropriate insecticide, sprays, place ant baits or gels. While doing so, make sure you put on protective equipment. Some of the insecticides can be toxic to your health or pets.
Ant Baits
Ant baits is one of the most commonly used method to get rid of carpenter ants. Most of the ant baits have borax as their active ingredient which kills the ants. Ant baits will start by killing the worker ants before the ants taking the poison back to the colony and once the queen ingest it, which will be the end of the colony.
While using ant baits, make sure there is no other source of food. Carpenter ants can avoid the ant bait and instead go for the food, which can slow the process of eliminating the ants.
Here are some of the recommended ant baits found in a store near or online which you can purchase on amazon:
Ant baits usually are manufactured in different form, but all are effective in getting rid of carpenter ants.
This ant bait can be used for both indoor and outdoor purpose. Carefully inspect the infested area and determine the level of infestation and then apply. Place the ant bait in cracks, crevices and along walls leading to ceiling or roof.
Advion ant gel will consumed by the worker ants before they carry some and share it to the colony where the queen will eat it too marking the end of the colony within a short time.
II) Raid Max Double Control Ant Baits
Just like any other ant bait, raid max double control ant bait, it kills the carpenter ants within a short period. The worker ants will feed on it before sharing it with the queen thus the entire colony will be eliminated within a short period.
III) TERRO T300B Liquid Ant Bait Ant Killer
This is another effective ant bait for carpenter ants especially one that move on the ground.
2. Insecticide Spray
Other than ant baits, you may also go for liquid insecticide. Liquid insecticide sprays work fast enough, almost immediately. All you have to do is spray the insecticide at the entrance of the carpenter ants’ colony and their trails.
Here are some of the liquid insecticide sprays- check on amazon
iv) TERRO T1901-6 Carpenter Ant
Other than just killing carpenter ants, it can also kill other pests such as termites, wood wasps, carpenter bees and other insects. It kills the ants and pests on contact and can continue killing up to 1 month.
V) Hot Shot HG-4480 4480 16 Oz Ant Killer Plus Aerosol
Otherthan just killing the carpenter ants, it also kills Argentine, southern field, Allegheny mound, Florida Carpenter, black carpenter, honey, pavement and nuisance ants. It Kills the ants on contact and keeps on killing the ants for up to 4 months.
Note: please do not use baits with any other form of insecticides precisely in the same area. The insecticides tend to repel the carpenter ants away from the ant bait, which will make it difficult for both the methods to work effectively. But should you decide to use both, use non-repellent insecticide alongside the ant bait.
Do I need to call a pest control exterminator?
Should you find it difficult to personally deal with a carpenter ant infestation or it is quite difficult reaching your ceiling or the roof, it is advisable to call professional pest control exterminator or professional.
Professional pest control exterminators are usually equipped with pesticides and the necessary tools to deal with carpenter ants effectively.
