If you’ve heard quiet crackling or faint rustling in your walls, or found strange piles of sawdust near baseboards or windows, you might have carpenter ants, and that’s not something you want to ignore.
Unlike regular ants, carpenter ants don’t just wander into your home looking for crumbs. They dig into your wood, quietly damaging your walls, floors, and even structural beams. And while they don’t eat the wood like termites, they chew through it to build tunnels and nests, causing serious damage over time.
At Phantom Pest Control, we’ve helped many homeowners across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland deal with carpenter ant infestations, and we know how sneaky and destructive these pests can be. If you suspect something’s going on in your walls, here’s why it’s so important to act fast.
1. They Don’t Go Away on Their Own
Some people assume that carpenter ants are just passing through. But if they’ve made it into your walls, it usually means they’ve already built a nest inside your home, or they’re building one now.
They might have come in from outside wood piles or trees, or they may have followed moisture into your home. Once inside, they’re not going to leave on their own. They’ll expand their tunnels and even create satellite nests, especially in areas with water damage or damp wood.
Ignoring them gives them time to grow, and the longer they stay, the worse the damage gets.
2. They Can Weaken the Structure of Your Home
Carpenter ants don’t eat wood, but the damage they cause is still very real. They chew through beams, studs, and joists to create their tunnels. Over time, this can weaken your walls and flooring.
We’ve seen cases where walls needed to be opened up and rebuilt due to carpenter ant damage. In serious infestations, they can even affect the integrity of your home’s structure, and that can lead to expensive repairs.
3. You Might Not See Them Until It’s a Big Problem
Carpenter ants are mostly active at night and do much of their work out of sight, which is why many infestations go unnoticed for months. You might not even see the ants themselves, especially if they’re nesting deep inside the walls or ceilings.
Some signs to watch for:
- Faint rustling or tapping in the walls, especially at night
- Piles of sawdust-like shavings (frass) near baseboards or windows
- Large black ants (especially winged ones) are showing up inside your home
- Hollow-sounding wood when you tap on walls or beams
If you notice any of these signs, it’s time to act fast.
4. DIY Treatments Don’t Work on Hidden Nests
Spraying the ants you see or putting bait stations near doorways might kill a few, but it won’t reach the nest in your walls. Carpenter ants often create multiple satellite nests, which means even if you manage to treat one area, the rest of the colony could still be alive and spreading.
Our professional technicians at Phantom Pest Control use targeted treatments that reach the entire colony, even the ones hidden deep inside walls or under floors. We also look for moisture issues that might be attracting them in the first place.
5. They Keep Coming Back Without Proper Exclusion
Carpenter ants are drawn to moisture-damaged or soft wood, so if your home has any leaks, condensation, or old wood near windows, doors, or basements, they’ll keep coming back.
That’s why pest control isn’t just about removing the ants, it’s also about finding and fixing the conditions that attracted them. We inspect your home, identify entry points, and recommend steps to keep it ant-free for the long haul.
6. Carpenter Ants Can Spread to Other Parts of the House
What starts on one wall can quickly move to:
- Attics
- Crawlspaces
- Behind kitchen or bathroom cabinets
- Inside floorboards
- Around doorframes and windows
These ants are constantly expanding their tunnels and nests. If left alone, the problem can quickly grow into a full-blown infestation that spreads through multiple areas of your home.
Don’t Wait! Let Phantom Pest Control Handle It
If you suspect you have carpenter ants in your walls, don’t wait and hope they go away. These pests are quiet but highly destructive, and the longer they’re left untreated, the more damage they cause.
At Phantom Pest Control, we offer professional carpenter ant removal services for both residential and commercial properties across Vancouver, Burnaby, Maple Ridge, North Vancouver, and Surrey. Our expert team can inspect your home, find the nest, and safely eliminate the infestation without damaging your walls or furniture.
Call Phantom Pest Control today or request an inspection with one of our pest control specialists. Let’s get rid of those ants and protect your home from the inside out.
