Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

LVANGEE

Cadet
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
26
Has anybody ever had an issue with carpenter ants eating all the wood in there boat . I have a terrible infestation . I took everybodys advice with starting the floor removal and taking out all the foam . As I was removing all the foam I struck the motherload of ant farms , they are everywhere in this boat . How do I get rid of them? Is it possible ? Yes I know the best thing to do is give up on this boat , but Im very stubborn and not willing to give up my first restoration project . Any advice is much needed . THANKS
 

rayodunne

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 21, 2006
Messages
224
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

Carpenter ants eat rotted wood so when the rotted wood you are removing is gone so will the ants. Buy a couple of cans of RAID and get busy killing and sucking those ants up with your shop vac.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

put a tarp over it and a couple of house bug bombs. i've had the in several resto.
 

Mark42

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
9,334
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

Ya know, they are trainable, and do very go carpentry work. Should really speed the reconstruction phase along.... :D
 

Fingernip

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Messages
96
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

There is a constant war going on in my boat between the carpenter ants, some kind of large red ant and spiders. They battle it out anytime i let the boat sit for a few weeks without working on it.. then i get in and clean up the bodys.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

tent i like is said, they leave eggs.
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

ummmmmm.....am i missing somthing here?

your restoring the boat right?....you are taking out the foam?.....the next thing to look at is the stringers and transom to determine where the rot is....

after you do what td says and kill the little suckers......you will need to replace the rotten wood any how......that way they will never come back......love to see the little insects chew thru a stringer with a fresh wrap or two of 1708 :D
 

Tacklewasher

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
1,588
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

Unless your hull is made of wood, why not leave them to go at it for a couple more months and save yourself the aggravation of removing the wood?????

You gotta pull it all out anyway :)
 

zach103

Commander
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
2,233
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

i agree. less work you have to do .
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

have you ever seen the mess they leave. kill them and get the big pieces out, then the scraper, then the shop vac.
 

LVANGEE

Cadet
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
26
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

Thanx for all the great advice , I am going to try the bug bomb technique first. I think this will be my first level of attack because it will kill the swarms of bees living there also .
 

ebry710

Ensign
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Messages
981
Re: Carpenter Ants In My Boat!!!

Thanx for all the great advice , I am going to try the bug bomb technique first. I think this will be my first level of attack because it will kill the swarms of bees living there also .

Move. Ant and bees attacking my boat, I think I'd move.....or at least move my boat.
 
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