cleet, if you still have ants you should try a few tubes of the combat-brand gel, a bunch of traps and some boric acid powder. raid is more likely to kill you than a colony, the stuff i listed is cheap and available at home depot.

the most important thing i've learned that most people don't consider is that ants are just as likely to be in places like dishwashers, around washing machines, and any place you see bare piping than they are what you'd normally guess like trash cans. if you see one ant, there are thousands more within a small radius. you may see a big concentration around a food spill or trashcan, but they don't LIVE there--they're just out to get food for the colony. Ants choose the site of the colony based upon their preferences of high moisture levels and lack of direct lighting. use the gel around your disposal, under sinks, and where pipes enter the room---it's the same stuff as in the traps but more effective and just as safe. boric acid is super-cheap and safe compared to raid, just shoot the powder around the perimiter of your house or around baseboards. that's the best solution short of hiring someone and you don't inhale poison to kill the ants you see, which are the tip of the iceberg. the insecticides are useful if you know exactly where the colony is, like on a tree or something.

i grew up in a really old victorian surrounded by lots of trees and every summer was about ethnic cleansing of carpenter ants. i fucking hate the things and i'd easily go without birds if we could get rid of them and mosquitoes. good luck man, i'm rooting for you.