I've been "playing" with all sorts of things to get rid of Carpenter Ants and I finally found a poison that will nail them. I have water oaks around my home and if you know those trees they rot from the inside out. That's a Carpenter Ants' dream home. The product is Termidor SC, or, Taurus SC; the Taurus is cheaper and that's what I used. They use the same active ingredient (Fipronil) in the same percentage. Neither are cheap! Amazon has it. You don't spray the ants or the nest, you spray where they travel which is the trunk of the tree in my case. I sprayed about a one foot wide band all around the tree trunks. In three or four days I started seeing dead and dying Carpenter Ants all over the ground; hundreds of them; Bingo. Exterminators use these products for termites. This is some bad poison so if you're a do-it-yourselfer, read ALL label precautions/instructions. You also need to treat again because eggs hatch. Maybe once every month I assume since I'm still working the situation. Good Luck!

Last weekend we found some bugs in the house and I thought they were termites, but it turned out to be winged ants. We called ABC Pest and Lawn to come out to treat the area since we used them for our previous treatment and have a contract with them. They use Termidor. While I was still thinking they were termites, I went outside to look for a tube on the house and found one that ran right up beind where the gutter comes down on the side of our house. It was up about 3 feet! This was a different spot than the area we had treated last year. I checked the nearby termite station and fireants were in there, so termites were present there too since fireants like to eat termites. We had the guy come out from ABC Pest and Lawn and he checked the tube but could not find a spot where they were actually getting into the house - THANK GOODNESS! He also found one of the ants and confirmed it was an ant and not termites. So, they will be back out to treat that area for termites when it dries up (it had rained yesterday morning so it was too wet) next week and I will put bait out for the ants. I had also found where some ants were getting into the weep holes between the bricks on the other side of our house and he suggested that along with the bait that I also use an aspirator (one of those bulb/snot suckers we used for our babies) to suck up some DE and shoot it into each of the weep holes and do a lot of it into the one where the ants are getting into the house. Then he suggested using steel or copper wool to stuff into those holes to discourage the ants from getting in again. It will still allow the house to "breathe", but keeps bugs out.

I suggest that you call a professional home pest control company. They are trained in solving problems like this in the safest method possible. Carpenter ants, by the way, can nest in the home. A professional will be able to figure it out.

Yes, these are 100% carpenter ants. I saved some samples and the pest control co. Confirmed. I have researched it extensively, so understand about how they nest, the queen, and etc. Just nothing has worked including the pest co that just sprayed. The carpenter ant gel and granules did not work either, although they did hit on the granules and take it back to the nest, apparently it did not kill the queen. Please see my response to kimmq concerning wet or rotting wood. Thanks Much!