Both damage wood, both show up in spring, and both love Englewood's older homes, but carpenter ants and termites are very different problems. Here is how to tell them apart.
Why it matters which one you have
Englewood's older colonials, Victorians, and prewar homes have exactly the aging, sometimes damp wood that both carpenter ants and subterranean termites look for. Both can damage the structure, and both tend to announce themselves in spring, so it is easy to confuse them. The treatments, though, are completely different, so identifying the pest correctly is the first step.
The short version: termites eat wood, carpenter ants only tunnel through it to nest, and both are signs worth taking seriously in an older home.
How to tell them apart
Carpenter ants are large, usually black, and active at night. They do not eat wood; they excavate galleries in moist or damaged wood to nest, pushing out small piles of what looks like sawdust. Seeing big ants indoors in numbers, especially with faint rustling in a wall, points to a nest in the structure.
Subterranean termites are rarely seen at all. They live in the soil and reach the wood through pencil-width mud tubes on the foundation, eating it from the inside out and leaving the surface intact. In spring, both can produce winged swarmers, but termite swarmers have straight bodies and equal-length wings, while ant swarmers have pinched waists and unequal wings.
The moisture connection
Both pests are drawn to moisture, which is why older homes with damp basements, leaky window frames, gutter overflow, and wood-to-soil contact are at higher risk. Carpenter ants nest in the wood that stays damp; termites need soil moisture and the contact points where wood meets ground.
That is why correcting moisture, fixing leaks, improving drainage, moving soil and mulch off the siding, is part of controlling either one, not just treating the insects.
What to do
If you are seeing large black ants indoors, sawdust piles, or faint rustling in the walls, or if you find mud tubes on the foundation or wood that sounds hollow, it is worth having the home inspected rather than guessing. The sooner either pest is caught, the smaller the damage.
A local exterminator can identify the species, treat the colony or the structure accordingly, and address the moisture conditions that invited it. Call and describe what you are finding, and where.
Call and describe what you are seeing. We will match you with an Englewood-area provider.