Carpenter ants party in Michigan home

[rdy4trvl]

My parents have a two-story house in Michigan. They have a carpenter ant (large black ants) problem in-between the first and second floor. A couple weeks ago a plumber was in the second floor bath to replace a leaking toilet seal. When the toilet was removed, a large mass of ants fell out from under the toilet – it was a huge party…drinks and munchies were (on) the house. Evidently, they had crawled up through the rotted area around the toilet drainpipe. A lethal dose of RAID! was administered. The problem – carpenter ants continue to appear on the first floor. Any suggestions on how to extract all the ants without a full house fumigation or removing the first floor ceiling drywall? A small section of drywall on the first floor below the leaking toilet was removed (water damaged), but there are no signs of ants here. (Limitations – my mother has outlawed the further use of RAID or similar chemicals)

[jjl3rd]

Two pieces of good news here. First carpender ants don't munch down on wood as food. They do remove wet and already rotted wood to create their homes. The 2nd good news is that you have already removed their source of water which was the recently repaired leak. But you have an established nest and those ants will go to great lengths to get water ( I once watched a continious line of them removing water from a glass days after I removed the water supply). This may even account for the new occurances of ants in the downstairs. So for starters restrict all sources of water, watch sink drains as the traps contain lots of water also pet dishes. Sections of flooring subjected to periodic wetting, around windows doors and even places where foot traffic can bring in lots of snow or rain can supply the ants. If they still remain I would beg mom to allow limited surgical spraying. Also boric acid powders are availible that are relativly safe to use as they work by clogging the ants airway and not by poisoning ( at least that what I've been told.) good luck John