Posted by Nancy H on 22:23:06 7/4/2010 from 76.217.229.10:Hi, John,
I live in the western suburbs of Chicago. When I bought my 20-year-old townhouse two years ago, there was wood rot on 5 windows in the house - three 2nd floor BR windows, and the 1st floor double dining room (DR) window. I had the windows replaced last summer. Over the two years that I have lived here, I discovered maybe a dozen large (1/2") ants in the house -- usually one at a time. They have always been on the 1st floor just walking across the Pergo floor - and they were not near the replaced DR window.
Today, I discovered one of these 1/2" ants crawling on the ceiling of my 2nd floor master bedroom closet - no windows were replaced in the master BR and the closet is an interior room. The attic access is in this closet. A friend of mine told me to search the perimeter of the house for any ants and watch where they enter. I discovered about ten smaller (1/4") ants crawling along the siding about 18" below my DR window and about 2' above the ground. The DR window was replaced last summer. The contractor did not say anything about finding ants when he was working, although I didn't specifically ask him to look for them and I wasn't home when he did the work.
The ants are crawling into a small gap between two planks of the pressed particle board siding. I sprayed First Defense insect repellent into the gap before reading your website. I captured one of the live ants and compared it to pictures on the web - it has the tell-tale heart-shaped head of a carpenter ant.
Do you think there is a nest in the DR wall? I do not see any signs of moisture under the DR window inside or out -- just that small gap in the siding. You mention using traps outside. What do you recommend? Do you sell whatever you recommend? Thank you for any advice you can give me.
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