• Carpenter Ant Alert!
• Do You Have Carpenter Ants?
• The Evidence, Infestation
• Those Lurking Peske Ants that we see around our  Houses, yards, driveways.
• Lets Begin With Helping You Know If you Have Carpenter Ants

When you see the presence of some foraging ants in your home; 1 or 2 winged “queens” during the swarming season does NOT mean you have an infestation in your home.  Foraging ants have been observed entering homes along phone lines, tree branches and even trails in the ground. This can indicate the house is a nesting area. If ants are coming in, there may be a nest outside the house and eventually there maybe a satellite colonie(s) established at some portion(s) of the house.  It is important to make sure they are not moisture ants, termites or yellow jackets.

The Evidence Of Carpenter Ants:

An occasional ant may scout out looking for food sources, and this may not indicate the presence of a nest, however continuous / numerous ants are a sign of likely nesting that is likely occurring.

Sawdust: when accumulating in piles or caught in spider webbing has a very finely shredded appearance. (IMPORTANT NOTE: Not to be confused with small sawdust from construction activity).

The Common Type Of House That Has Carpenter Ants:

1. Wood Frame
2. Houses with crawlspaces
3. Cedar or plywood siding
4. Moderately to gently sloping roofs
5. Houses from 5-25 years of age
6. Houses with vegetation close and around the house.
7. Houses located near the edge of a forest are more prone, due to already established nests in trees and forest vegetation areas

Most Likely Nests Locations In Order Of Frequency:

• Outside walls and voids-35%
• Attics- 21%
• Ceilings- 19%
• Crawlspaces- 19%

What Do Carpenter Ants Eat?

• Carpenter ants do not eat solid foods, as they have a very small and narrow food pipe.
• Mostly carpenter ants gather aphid honeydew or tree sap.Candy residue, syrup, soda pop, apples, raisins, once soggy.

Managing Carpenter Ants:

• Finding the parent colony in the landscape around the house is critical for BEST control results!!.
• Many Pest Control specialists will drill and inject the entire house, and feel that they can do this at a lower cost than to locate and treat the nest areas.
• Other Pest control specialists are of the opinion they can starve out the ants by spraying only the perimeter, (attic, crawlspace and foundation areas), at monthly intervals for a year.

Information obtained from the National Pest Control Operators Association since 1962 has recommended and continues to recommend that an effort be made to locate and treat the nest areas.

Additionally: The Washington State Pest Control Association also recommends a careful inspection and that a professional attempt be made to penetrate and treat potential nesting areas / sites.

Per Dr. Hansen’s research,” it is evident that a long term success will be greater if the parent colony also is located and destroyed”.

Additionally, The best method for locating colonies is to look for extruded sawdust (very fine), foraging trails,and the presence of foraging ants.

I Hope this is will help you best solve your carpenter ant control /management issues which are the most prevalent wood destroying, damaging insect in the Western Willamette Valley of  Oregon.

Federal Pacific Electrical Company was the number one manufacturer of electrical panels in the 1950s (FPE). There is millions of these panels in homes across the country.

What happens with these panels is the breakers fall out, get loose and can cause arcing which can result in fire. These panels by appearances are working properly during normal operation allowing electricity to flow without problems.

One of the problems however is;  FPE breakers with the double pole 220volt breakers and some single pole 120volt breakers may not operate as intended while overloaded.  A properly functioning breaker will trip / turn off the power to the overloaded circuit and FPE breakers after being tested do not appear to trip everytime when overloaded which can result in a fire.

Additionally what some reports and tests state, is that the FPE two pole 220volt breakers under certain load conditions one leg/pole may attempt to trip the breaker. The result is a circuit that stays live and a breaker that has now been compromised and then is reset will not trip again under an excessive load.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after conducting product testing of the FPE breakers found failure rates that were significant. The Commission’s recommendations is for consumers to avoid overloading circuits as well as turning off and having devices examined that are causing the circuit breakers to trip.  (this is easier said then done, and defeats the purpose for having a breaker).

Federal Pacific Electric’s response, while cautious states;  FPE breakers will trip reliably at MOST overload levels, note: Federal Pacific is not in business anymore.

Aftermarket breakers are available for these panels, however the cost is more than replacing the panel, thus it is typically advised that the Federal Pacific Panel be replaced.

IN SUMMARY:

Federal Pacific electrical panels (FPE) have failed government testing for safety and have been problematic and have failed and caused some fires. Due to this issue, most Electricians and Home Inspectors are recommending complete replacement of these electrical panels. The cost of replacement ranges from $1200-$1800 dollars.

If you have a known federal pacific panel in your home, it is advised that you seek advise from a state licensed home inspector and or electrician.