Is it carpent ant frass?

[Peter Louis]

or just dirt? there are ants around.

Cannot tell carpent ants or not. I do not think there is nest inside. But how to address?

Thanks

[wayne soper]

looks like dirt or sand, were there any CARPENTER and bodies in there?
you don't need to see FRASS to have ants, just the ants crawlnig on the house.
If you see a few ants on the house, call it, and have it treated.

[Rick Cantrell]

ALWAYS recommend a WDO (termite) inspection by a pest control company.

[Peter Louis]

Thanks.

Do we really need to recommend PC inspection unless saw swarmer?

[Garry Blankenship]

My relatively weak recollection is that Carpenter Ant frass looks more like saw dust than sand. There are little red ants, ( specie ? ), in my hood that live underground and mine the earth / sand / dirt for their U/G homes, but they eat other bugs - - - not really a threat to homes. That accumulation of sand deserves some band-width in your report.

[Rick Cantrell]

Thanks.

Do we really need to recommend PC inspection unless saw swarmer?

Yes
Unless YOU are qualified (you are not) as a Pest Control Operator)
then you should ALWAYS recommend a WDO Inspection.
Why?
Because you have not been trained to recognize WDO.
Therefore recommend someone that has been trained (and licensed).

Why ALWAYS?
Because, in your opinion, a buyer should ALWAYS have a WDO inspection performed on any home they plan to purchase, except maybe an igloo.

[Trent Tarter]

Just looks like typical dirt that ants bring in. Quite common to see this around garage doors, or at any joint, crack, or seam near concrete slab. By the way I am a licensed structural pest inspector.

[Rick Cantrell]

InterNachi has a very big course on WDO and is one of the most hardest I have had to go through.
I also went through the one required in NY but we don't need it where I am.

So what are you saying?

[Rick Cantrell]

NY needs a license.
NY-06-14983

I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Do you (basically) agree with what I said in post #6
or disagree?
If you disagree
Why?

[Jerry Peck]

Thanks.

Do we really need to recommend PC inspection unless saw swarmer?


Yes
Unless YOU are qualified (you are not) as a Pest Control Operator)
then you should ALWAYS recommend a WDO Inspection.
Why?
Because you have not been trained to recognize WDO.
Therefore recommend someone that has been trained (and licensed).

Why ALWAYS?
Because, in your opinion, a buyer should ALWAYS have a WDO inspection performed on any home they plan to purchase, except maybe an igloo.

As Rick said - YES and ALWAYS and LICENSED (if your state has licensing for pest control operators, inspectors, applicators, etc.) - and, if the person is not licensed where licensing is required ... *it does not matter how much training or how good someone thinks the training is -> the training does not cut it, they must be licensed where licensing is required or their inspection is meaningless.

Some will likely contest that a trained person is sufficient even if not licensed where licensing is required ... but ... would you want an unlicensed driver, no matter how good, to drive your inspection vehicle for you? I doubt that you would have *any* insurance coverage for *anything* which happens to/with/or because of your vehicle.

[Matt Kiefer]

This does not appear to be frass...

[Garry Blankenship]

Just looks like typical dirt that ants bring in. Quite common to see this around garage doors, or at any joint, crack, or seam near concrete slab. By the way I am a licensed structural pest inspector.

I too am a WA St licensed Structural Pest Inspector. SPI licenses were in play in WA long before Home Inspector licenses and were the only government acknowledged credentials carried by most all WA St home inspectors, if any. The SPI license allows us to identify WDOs only. Treatment / remediation requires a PCO, ( Pest Control Operator ), license. That said, specie frass identification is not so easy via photos. Close ups or magnification help a lot, but your photo does not look like frass.

[Raymond Wand]

Is NG a licensed in order to write this article or is it a a case of NG once again needing to espose his expertise on a subject to make himself look qualified/important, like so many of the self proclaimed certificates he promotes?

In my opinion tha t is not grass, but dirt fines.

[Jerry Peck]

In my opinion tha t is not grass, but dirt fines.

As a retired CPCO ... :) ... and from the resolution of the photos ... I agree (I was one of them too).

[Nick Ostrowski]

I see this quite often in rim joist areas of the basement ceiling when the exterior grading is either sloped back towards the house or is too high against the foundation. From my experience, this signage is almost always seen in conjunction with some type of moisture penetration issue. I just saw it again at my inspection this morning.