Yes, carpenter ants can cause structural damage, though usually more slowly than termites. Over months or years a large or well-established colony can weaken framing, trim, and other wooden parts of a home.
Carpenter ants build with wood. They don’t eat it. That doesn’t mean their presence isn’t a big problem for your home and that you need to take no action, though.
When carpenter ants move inside, they hollow out galleries in the wood, and as the nest expands, so do the tunnels. Established colonies also set up satellite nests in additional spots, spreading the excavation around a structure. Given enough time, that hollowing can compromise the strength of the wood it runs through.
How bad the damage can be depends on the size of the colony and how long it has been there. A small, young colony does little more than cosmetic damage. A large colony, or one that's been active for years, can weaken your home’s structure. It doesn’t help your case that carpenter ants prefer wood that's already moist, damaged, or decaying. That means the damage often shows up where the wood was compromised to begin with, around leaks, damp framing, or rot.
If you see small piles that look like sawdust, that’s frass, and you can often find it near baseboards of affected wood. You might also hear faint rustling in the walls where a big colony is active or see winged swarmers in the spring. Any of those signs is a clear warning. Damp or water-damaged areas are the prime areas to check.
Compared with termites, carpenter ants work more slowly and don't eat the wood, but a long-established infestation is still a genuine structural concern. You’ll want to contact an expert to curtail the infestation before it becomes more serious.
If you're tired of finding sawdust piles and big black ants around the house, Mosquito Squad of Princeton can help. Mosquito Squad offers perimeter treatments that help control carpenter ants and other crawling pests. These are applied by a trained technician alongside the barrier service that can give you an up to 90% reduction in mosquito activity on a 21-day cycle.
