I have small sand-like piles on my floor...

Sorry, but I think it’s termites. I believe (I’m really sorry) that what you’re finding is termite feces—which is really just sawdust since all they’re eating is wood. The same thing baffled me for weeks until i finally called pest-control.

I thought it might be ants . I had somthing like that and it was ants. I hope its not what aielee said but who wants any of it.

Carpenter ants leave piles of sawdust material below their runs/holes. Of course this requires a solid wood area, like the beams in a garage or an attic. If a plasterboard ceiling oe adobe like material, then it isn’t termites or carpenter ants.

I have had similar piles of reddish sawdust that accumulated below and under vertical cedar siding. They were caused by carpenter ants. We reglued siding and sealed up openings. That was last summer; I am now being vigilant. They are nasty bug(gers) as are termites.

I am told that saucers of borax mixed w. honey is a good non-toxic solution. The ants are attracted to the honey and then drag the borax (which is lethal) back to anthill.

Yikes, that doesn’t sound good. You might want to look up too. I found small piles of white dust and it was the construction above me poking holes into my ceiling. Go figure.

Good advice: to look up. I discovered little pyramids of real sawdust on the driveway apron, next to garage doors. I looked up and found dozens of perfectly round (3/8”) holes caused by borer bees (aka carpenter bees) that drill into the cedar in order to lay their eggs and nourish the larvae.

Then the larvae make small rustling noises and the local flickers and sapsuckers rip the horizontal cedar overhang into shreds in order to eat the larvae. Solutions were Draconian; and the bees would simply find another spot on my cedar house.. So it’s live and let live…I have a different attitude about the termites and ants; however. They will drill all over/or cart your house away.

Also check under your window framings and moldings, as they are usually solid wood also. Last winter I found similar looking piles of dust in that area, and I found little holes on the bottom of the window framing where the ants were entering and exiting.

I ended up spraying my favorite perfume up the holes – I think the alcohol did the trick because the piles stopped forming and I didn’t see anymore ants.

carpenter ants

^^^ Question is 5½ years old.

I have the same problem my son said I had not cleaned up as he thought it was soil I said that’s funny had the same grit like stuff last week, I pulled the wood away from the skirting board and found lots of ants sprayed them with ant killer and put powder down, I bought the borax last year seemed to do the trick, can only buy off line so will be ordering it again….