Carpenter ants

Hi All, I am hoping to get some advice on carpenter ants, that I have seen in my house. I have read a lot of the previous forums, but I have a couple of outstanding questions.
I noticed the ants 3 or 4 weeks ago and didn't originally think they were carpenter ants in my living room and set out some raid traps - I know a mistake. I also then sprayed my foundation with Ortho Home Defense. It seemed that this was working as the ant sightings reduced. However, about a week and half ago, we started to see them again, but in the kitchen. We were probably seeing 10-15 a day just crawling around. I want to say on around 5/23 I started to put out Terro Liquid Bait, which the ants seemed attracted to. As of yesterday, we have only seen two or three ants in total. What is everyone's experience with the Terro Liquid bait (it is the stuff that comes in a squeeze bottle) ? It seems to work, I am still putting it out the terro to be sure I have killed them all off. I also just purchased Taurus SC to spray outside. However, how long do I have to wait till I can spay it, since I sprayed Home Defense a couple of weeks ago.
Unlike others, I don't see a line of ants so its been hard to figure out where they are coming from. I did notice they were coming and going from a gap where my wall meets my fireplace. Its worth noting that I had some water leaking through the fireplace a year or two ago and I am wondering if that is what attracted them.
Am I on the right track to rid myself of these ants? Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks in advance

 

Do a forum search for "carpenter ants". There have been several rather lengthy discussions on the topic with really good info already posted by our resident bug experts.

Among other things there are some in-depth discussions of types of chemicals. The Taurus and it's cousins are well covered in the posts. As I recall you will need to wait a bit to use it effectively after having used the Home Defense type chemicals.

 

The baits that the pros use for carpenter ants are advertised as carpenter ant baits, usually they are gels in a syringe/tube. Terro is more for the smaller ants though there will be results if they accept it, to some extent. I never used baits as the fipronil based sprays: Termidor, Taurus SC, Fuse, etc worked so well and consistently.

I'd wait about 3 weeks from HOme Defense spraying before using the Taurus. Treat ext perimeter about 1-3' out from the house and up. Also treat soffits, eaves, chimney area, etc. If height is a problem, maybe lean out an upstairs window to hit the high spots.

I'd give the previous leak a priority as far as treatment. Also treat nearby mature tree trunks about 3-4' up.