A leak + a hundred (+) carpenter ants!!

[SomersIsles]

Opened our 2007 23b camper for the first time this season... noticed a pool of water on the canvas as I lowered the front bunk. It's been raining all day... thought, uh oh, but as long as I'm careful it'll spill out as we pop open the bunk.

Go inside the place the bar support. TONS AND TONS of huge ants [emoji24][emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]

I'm traumatized.

There is a small hole in the canvas in the center of the canvas "ceiling". It looks like a puncture but maybe was chewed by ants.

But they had to have gotten in through the deal of the bunk door first?? Maybe we didn't spin the lock shut tight enough?? I do feel like I didn't have to turn the wheel too much to release the door. It doesn't look like the leak existed all winter though. Not much damage besides the initial bubbling of the bunk surface. Doesn't appear to have new mold or mildew.... Maybe moving the camper from the backyard storage to the driveway last week is what loosened it??

What would you recommend for next steps??

Ugh

(Learn from my mistake... open the bunks at home before your first trip of the season [emoji24])


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[norty1]

Open it up, kill the ants and sweep/vacuum out the debris for starters.

[RogerR]

Carpenter ants nest in dead damp wood. You may now have them in the frame if the frame is damp. This means eventual rot and you can guess it will get really bad from there.

If you haven't sprayed yet, go in and watch them for a long while. Look to see if they are going into a place they can access the frame or your camper.

If they go outside, watch them if you can and look for a log or maybe one of the boards you use to level your camper. Never use anything to level except concrete, plastic or treated lumber.

If they are in the frame than you need to figure out where the water is getting into the frame or flooring and stop it before damage gets worse. Then treat the wood to kill the residents. Baits will have the ants carry poison back to the queen killing the whole colony is probably the best solution.

[Pittsburgpaul]

I have been dealing with this same problem for the last three months on the hybrid I bought. It was full of ants! I used a lot of baits, I used Tero & raid baits and sprayed demon spray that you can get from local supply stores. Depending how bad they are you will be emptying dead ants out for a while. It is difficult to get to them if they are in the ceiling or wall so I would recommend start aggressive. I didn't have much luck with the bug bombs but I tried that too. Best of luck, there is an end in sight, after three months of constant folllow up I am finally only seeing a few ants. I'm hopeful I'm approaching the end.

[SomersIsles]

So I think I've solved the ant problem ... I've been checking daily and I haven't seen any for a few days. I used boric acid/sugar water on cotton balls and kept replacing daily. The first day I could see the ants path. They would travel from under the wood that is under the bench seating (right above the access panel to the storage compartments underneath...). They would travel up the wall and disappear through a small opening in the wood trim near the ceiling. All right at the entrance to the large bunk.

I'm still confused about where all the water came from.

I do SLIGHTLY remember that when I opened that bunk I felt like I barely spun the locks that keep the bunks closed tight. I'm hoping it was just that the bunk doors were loose and water seeped in.... as opposed to a hole/leak.


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