Carpenter Ants Wood Floor Damage

Carpenter ant at work.

Carpenter ants wood floor damage. Over time the tunnels weaken the wood and the damage to structural wood creates a big problem. The carpenter ant is attracted to water damaged wood. They chew it and push it out. Carpenter ants don t eat wood like termites.

It s important to determine which pest has infiltrated your home in order to chart the proper course of action against the colony. Inside the galleries will appear smooth and free of debris. This is the appearance of sawdust frass underneath the kickout holes that lead into their tunnels. Instead carpenter ant nests have a smooth.

But pavement ants are around of an inch and carpenter ants are around of an inch. Frightening yet easy to detect these ants are large black or black and red in the mid section. Carpenter ants build nests in dead and damp wood by cutting tunnels through the wood for passageways. Carpenter ants damage wood by hollowing it out for nesting.

Carpenter ant wood galleries. Termites are just one of several types of wood boring insects that damage homes. The worker carpenter ants will excavate sawdust like debris around or below the exit holes. Carpenter ants have gotten their name because of the way they damage the wood that makes up your home and furniture.

They tend to burrow into softened wood that has been previously damaged or weakened by water or other pests such as termites. But if your hardwood floors have been damaged due to moisture issues you could be looking at a bigger ant problem. Carpenter ants and certain beetles also devour wood. All carpenter ants produce.

While they don t consume wood the way termites do they chew and excrete it in order to make pathways for themselves and their thousands of friends and family. Carpenter ants are one of the most common insect infestations a home can have. Free pest control estimate. These critters have six legs.

Their bodies span between 6 to 17 mm depending on if it is a worker ant or a queen ant. They burrow into wood to make their nests causing damage to not only your hardwood floors but to the structure of your home as well. As the number of individuals inside a colony grows they continue to expand through the wood which causes further damage. Once carpenter ants establish a nest you may see stage two.

Unlike termites wood damaged by carpenter ants does not contain mud like debris. Although the damage caused by carpenter ants is not as severe as the damage caused by termites carpenter ant nests may cause significant damage over a period of years.