Posted by John Fasoldt on 8:36:38 1/28/2013 from 173.72.54.253:In reply to: Re: Carpenter Ants posted by MJ on 20:35:07 1/26/2013 from 71.238.15.226:
Well, it's hard to give advice if you don't know all the conditions, but I agree that the problem sounds like the bathroom area. If so, you really need to find (and fix) the moisture problem rather than dosing up on insecticides.
And you DON'T have to have any signs of water to have this problem. I get (probably) 15-25 complaints almost exactly like your every year. Most of them take repairs (sometimes expensive) to solve completely. In cases such as you describe, I recommend another trade (plumber and/or carpenter) to get in on this. Your main thrust should be to solve the moisture problem, not to apply chemicals.
Since you already have an exterminator, I must defer to him, but generally, I almost always use non-repellents for ants, inside and outside. It works so well and is not invasive. I would request a Termidor treatment on the outside, probably 99% of my Termidor treatments are once-per-season treatments, some treatments last even longer. I rarely use baits. Ants are picky eaters, and what worked LAST time, doesn't work THIS time, so with such good efficacy, I hesitate to waste the customer's time and money on "baiting experiments," especially for carpenter ants. And make sure you get an ID from the exterminator too!
----John
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