Ants Damaging Polystyrene Insulation in Garage Annex: How to Prevent?

Hello!

Today an amazing story came to an end. I would like to tell you about it briefly as a warning.

Behind my house I have a double garage with a so-called annex added on the side measuring approx. 4mx4m. There is an attic above the garage and only the ceiling above the annex. Last year we covered the attic with plasterboard. We made an entrance from the side of the annex. We laid frost-resistant ceramic tiles on the ceiling of the annex. We covered the walls of the garage and the annex with polystyrene and plastered them with 2-3 mm mortar.
After the winter we noticed damp patches on the walls in the annex. So we stripped off the old grout from the tiles and gave new grout. We re-grouted the edges. However, after a month the problem returned. We guessed that the tiles were frozen. Having tapped them all-we found that two were holding, but somehow a strange sound reverberated.... We removed the 3 tiles on the garage side and they re-glued and changed a piece of grout.
After the recent "Polish hurricanes", the problem with damp patches and water in the outbuilding started to get worse and worse. Upset by this state of affairs, we decided to tear off all the tiles.... when tearing off the tiles we noticed some ants near the entrance to the attic.... we watched where they were going.... and we found them... they were going into.... styrofoam! What we saw was beyond our imagination!
The ants were able to come from the ground to the ceiling of the extension (about 2.5m), bite into (or perhaps burn through with acid-venom) the polystyrene. This caused water to seep between these channels under the tiles. Some of the tiles froze out. The water poured and poured and hence the stains on the walls and ceiling.
We had to cut out a piece of polystyrene with plaster.

The ant infestation cost us 16m² of tiles to rip off, cut out some of the polystyrene and made the extension damp. The cost of the tiles and polystyrene has to be borne again.... To be honest, I have never heard of a more bizarre effect of "worker" ants....

So if you see more than two ants near any façade.... it's better to welcome them with water and salt or a 6£ agent.... than pay 600£ for repairs....

I don't wish anyone such an adventure

Regards




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Tile breaking


Styrofoam cutting out



Inter-block ant channels


A piece of polystyrene foam treated by ants

I've never seen anything like it before. But why did they insist on your house facade , scary .

Perhaps the Polish equivalent of American fire ants - styrofoam ants?

A strange thing indeed, perhaps a single case (let's hope)

I have a similar problem ( inside the room between the concrete screed and the wall , it is cold and damp there ) but with some vermin ( bigger than ants , they are often found in damp parts of buildings ). The polystyrene is chopped to dust. And what to do?

I came across a story (at a colleague's house) when ants took almost all the sand out from under the paving, he had 20m2 of paving, all to be demolished, re-laid on fine stone.
I guess the ants appreciated the thermal qualities of polystyrene and used it as building material well new technologies have seduced everyone.

This is what the façade of the house I bought looks like

Environmentalists argued that it would take several hundred years to decompose, and here we are.

@Zerwanykon1 .
But here I think it's the polystyrene that's bitten into the insulation.
Someone used the wrong product or even some kind of tar which dissolved the polystyrene.

It was polystyrene but ants had treated it with something, probably ant acid. If you zoom in on the photo of what I tore off the wall, you can see some of the polystyrene that is not completely melted. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture of how it was on the wall and the ants were walking around in these labyrinths.

Hello.
From a chemical point of view formic acid does not react with polystyrene, in several photos you can see "waterlogged" polystyrene, something like that would not be able to be done by formic acid, for that you need something that dissolves the polymer (at least strongly softens it), i.e. organic polar solvents like acetone or toluene, xylene, which are poisonous to living organisms, so it is difficult for them to produce it.
Rather, we have here the effect of the solvent/softener used in the next layer on the polystyrene layer. One colleague noted the effect of insulation (something like tar paper, tar) on the polystyrene, as is the right way to go.
Regards.

I came across a case where ants had 'got hold' of polystyrene laid under the screed on the ground floor of a detached house. He wanted to install underfloor heating. After removing the screed, it turned out that the ants had established a huge colony in the polystyrene. The polystyrene looked strange. In some places it looked as if it had been waterlogged and in other places as if it had been gnawed out. It took several weeks to exterminate the ant colony. A few litres of vinegar helped literally for a few days. The ants stubbornly returned. It was only by using a combination of several measures that the entire colony was exterminated. I wasn't there for this, but if you are interested in what chemistry he used to get rid of the ants in and around his house, let me know. I will make enquiries and send you the names of the preparations.

So ants carried some tar or tar paper there. Especially as the colleague who started this thread also has moldy polystyrene. And this house I bought stood unoccupied for a long time so no one mowed the grass etc. I have ants, slugs and no telling what else everywhere in the backyard.

Added after 2 [hours] 30 [minutes]: .

This is part of a further look at the facade. There certainly wasn't tar paper, tar etc there. So why is it being redone by ants again?

Hello.
This does indeed look "melted", but isn't this just a precision nibbling of the surface by ants, I think the fight may be difficult, it is logical that they will seek a safe insulated or warm place, and these conditions are provided by this elevation with polystyrene.
A sensible option would be to add a layer at the design stage that ants "don't like".
Regards.

nostromo wrote:

Just using a combination of several agents exterminated the entire colony. I wasn't there for this, but if you're interested in what chemistry he used to get rid of the ants in and around his house, let me know. I'll make enquiries and send the names of the preparations.

Let everyone know, as they grind polystyrene everywhere and miss the various preparations.

I have ants in the house every year. In the spring. They are looking for their chance. And a simple ant powder, bought in DIY stores or similar, always helps. It doesn't have an immediate effect, but is carried by them to the nest. And there it finishes them off. After 3 - 4 days there is peace. Until next year.
All because the house is old, without foundations.

Maybe the powder I have is old ?And what bait do you recommend, mine don't go on sugar either , probably too many aphids?

Cake baking powder

Zerwanykon1 wrote:

That is, ants carried some tar or tar paper there. Especially since the colleague who started this thread also has waterlogged polystyrene. And this house I bought stood unoccupied for a long time so no one mowed the grass etc. I have ants, slugs and no telling what else everywhere in the backyard.

Added after 2 [hours] 30 [minutes]: .

This is part of a further look at the facade. There was certainly no tar paper, tar etc there. So why is it being redone by ants again?

Hey, have you managed to chase these ants out? Can you advise with what remedy, and was it necessary to demolish the walls?
I have also just bought a house which has been empty for a long time, overgrown with lush weeds, and after mowing it all down, the ants are crawling all over the façade, some cracks can be seen there too, I wonder how seriously to approach the subject.... After the usual powder they die off and then come back after 24h.
Thanks for any advice!

Give them ordinary baking powder, sprinkle it on their paths. It doesn't act on them as a poison, but if they carry this into their nests it will exterminate the larvae.
This remedy is also very effective .
I use it from time to time on wandering flocks pushing into cracks in paving stones and forming anthills on the lawn.
V.

vorlog wrote:

this remedy is also very effective

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I've used the same thing, just from a different company - with me unfortunately they come back after a day, so I'm afraid the problem under the facade may be hmmm... numerous
currently I've given them egg borax, if it doesn't work I'm thinking about an inspection camera, and in case of a very negative scenario even a warranty, as the house is from the developer....

I don't want to come across as a business owner's accomplice, but try this Bros - at my place, after use, no ant has appeared in the same place before the next season Spare the half a hundred, sprinkle it on, when the vermin die out you should think about preventing them from re-entering where they are not wanted.
V.

Thanks, for now I'm giving the prescribed 3 more days of borax and then I'll go into Bros if still needed, thanks for the advice!

I had wasps nesting in the polystyrene. I had a luxfer wall in the stairwell, knocked that down, gave a hollow block and polystyrene and panelling on the inside. They found a gap under the tin sill and made a nest. When the windows were replaced, it turned out that it was about half a metre by less than a metre. I also knocked out with Bros, a wasp extinguisher.
There is permethrin in the one for ants from Bros, so it should work, just have to wait a few days for the effect.

Aha, watch out for cats, for cats permethrin is harmful !

annajanista wrote:

for now I am still giving the prescribed 3 days of borax,

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Borax does not kill ants (it is not a poison).

Only carried into the nest, it does not allow the new generation (larvae - brood) to develop into their final form.
The adults must die of old age, because if you eradicate them they will not carry an adequate supply and the next generation will come out.

In the case of so-called Pharaoh ants, the this preparation has proven to be very effective:
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I managed to finish them with one bottle in a 60 m apartment². This was, incidentally, their nth attack. This time, however, they were outstanding. In my opinion, it would be worth buying it, pouring it and gradually replacing the elevation.

Zerwanykon1 wrote:

This is what a piece of the facade looks like on the house I bought

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I've just knocked down a piece of polystyrene because I was wondering why the plaster mesh was sagging....this is what 20-year-old polystyrene looks like....

I have another question - what about ants and styrodur? Because I have read somewhere on the forums that in Germany there were cases of ants eating styrodur as well, and in Canada laboratory tests have reportedly confirmed that ants also eat styrodur! So the question is: Does anyone know of any cases of this problem in Poland? I'm thinking of painting the sides of the styrodur foundation slab with Isohane WM and then, if possible, glue/mesh....

romanewas wrote:

I have another question

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Then set up your topic.

Why when there's already this topic and the question is practically the same just slightly different material?

romanewas wrote:

I have another question - what about ants and styrodar??

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In my opinion, ants do not feed on such things. However, I don't see a problem with them chewing through styrodur, let alone styrofoam. They would be very happy to make a nest in something like that.