It's almost fall in Jasper which means that the temperatures are beginning to dip and the leaves are beginning to turn varying shades of orange, yellow, and red. Soon, those colorful leaves will be littered around the foundations of our homes and landing in our gutter systems to clog them. When this happens, pools of standing water can form near your home. It is important to rake up the leaves from around your property and keep them from collecting in your gutters and clogging them as pools of standing water can attract carpenter ants. And when these ants are drawn to our homes, they will find ways to get in and cause damages to your home. Let's look at some of those ways!
Standing water often leads to rotting or water-damaged wood. If your gutters are not functioning properly and allowing water to run down the sides of your home, this can cause the conditions for wood decay. Carpenter ants and other pests will take advantage of soft, rotting wood and begin to create holes in the wood of your home. These pests may attack a basement window or door frame or tunnel into a deck, porch, or some other exterior wooden structure. They may also chew on exposed wood siding. To sum things up, any location that has damp wood has the potential of being targeted by these destructive ants!
Now that we know what attracts these pests to our homes, it is time to learn the common ways that these pests gain access to our homes. When carpenter ants are exploring your foundation walls, they may enter your home through gaps around plumbing, wire conduits, or through cracks in chipped mortar. They may also get in through a damaged window or door screens or squeeze under a garage door seal. If you have entry points in your exterior walls or foundation, these carpenter ants can take advantage of it and establish a satellite colony within the walls of your home.
Another common way carpenter ants enter homes is through vulnerable rooflines. When tree branches touch the roof of a home, it can function as a bridge that these ants can use to get to higher locations that aren't as tightly-sealed as the lower parts of the home. It is important to keep tree branches trimmed back from the exterior of your home to avoid this.
Carpenter ants are very destructive pests. When they invade a home, they will tunnel through the wood of your home in order to create their nests which can cause significant damages to a home. Learn the warning signs of carpenter ant activity and be sure to get professional assistance when these signs appear.
For assistance with carpenter ant inspections or proactive carpenter ant prevention in Jasper, contact Action Pest Control!