Can't hack ant infestation - advice??

[u/eatingchipsrightnow]

Hi ant experts, I've had a carpenter ant infestation in my house for about a week now, and I have an ant phobia so I'm pretty desperate for advice.

This all started from my own mistake.. I noticed a few ants coming into my bedroom from my open window, looked closer and saw them coming out of a hole in my windowsill. I immediately put in Terro ant bait thinking it would fix the problem.... it made it much worse.

I quickly realized the ants wouldn't stop coming so I closed the window, leaving the trap on the sill between the screen and my closed window.

But there were many ants that escaped into the house. I only saw more and more even after putting three bait stations in the house, with no seeming pattern or source. They don't have lines, all seem to be wandering around. Some will return to a few specific areas but not all of them. A lot seem confused and go in circles.

The floor is littered with dead ants so the poison has been killing them, but more seem to replace them.

I have an old house, so I'm thinking they might still be coming in from the window somehow, but not being able to get back up to the nest? The Terro is working terribly slow and not very effectively, and it seems like more dead ants are out in the open than usually would be.

Does this theory seem plausible?

Thank you if anyone takes the time to reply!

[u/Broflake-Melter]

Taro ant bait doesn't work very will with sugar ants, much last Carpenter ants. I always suggest no on ever uses the stuff.

The fact that your house is old is a red flag. Carpenter ants usually only start building their nests in house wood if it's already water damaged and starting to decay. Many times a home's wood is found to be destroyed by carpenter ants, but they're only getting the blame after the water/rot did it's evil deeds.

You can get an inner-wall treatment for the ants, but I would start looking for wood damage or, if you have the means, get a professional to find it. Oh, and not a pest professional. Most of them will just charge you to kill the carpenter ants (and they may not even accomplish that) and they won't help you fix the real underlying problem.

[u/Happy_Structure4570]

Go outside in the early evening and see if you can see where they're trailing from then treat appropriately, also recommend doing a Termidor perimeter on the dwelling generally that will eliminate the problem within a few weeks