Carpenter Ant nest in bathroom, what should I do?

Question

I'm still renovating my bathroom (I've recently asked a few questions) and I just found a huge nest (numbering AT LEAST 400) in the rotting plywood underneath the old linoleum by the bath tub and toilet. What should I do? I've sprayed a can of RAID and HOTSHOT (at two different times) and used a liquid directly on the exposed areas of the nest. So far, the nest is covering about 2 sq. ft of plywood, but it seems everywhere I chisel out chunks of plywood, there is a swarm of ants underneath, so dense that I can't even see what is underneath the plywood. How big are normal nests? How far do they expand? Do I need to rip up ALL the plywood in my house or is there another way to ensure that no ants remain? The house is about 18 years old and surrounded by wooded areas. For the past month since I've been home for college, I've been using bait traps because of a few ants I've noticed wandering around, but I've never expected to uncover anything, let along something of this size.

Answer 1

The rotting plywood indicates that there was water getting under the linoleum and to the subfloor.Carpenter ants love a nice moist warm place to nest in.The wet wood makes it easy for them to make their nests...lol As long as you are remodeling anyways Tear up the whole subfloor in the bathroom and spray as much as you can into the space between floors.Once it's dry and stays dry they wont like it there anymore even if you do miss some.Good Luck.