i had issues with ants (we call them immits here) and those little carpenters and get undee the mats... but after I adopted my female kitty, she takes care of those little pests and often eats them... this year all I see are little corpses on the floor, but at lease she is killing them off...

I can also vouch for the stuff Eleo suggested. My family always makes it a point to sprinkle the stuff around the perimeter of the house before winter ends.

Another neat trick I learned is to grab some talcum powder (or baby powder) and sprinkle it where they are coming into your home, or wherever you see them as long as you don't mind having white powder on visible surfaces. I assume the don't like rolling around in the stuff, and learn not to come near it ever again.
Just wipe the powder away a couple of days later with a damp cloth.