Getting Rid of Ants - thoughts?

[Finaddict]

So I moved into a new place at the end of last summer - house built within two years of when I moved in - it's an apartment on the basement level.

About two months ago, carpenter ants started showing up - I was killing about 2 dozen a day manually - ant traps not working, the owner of the building sprayed something on the outside - they started to taper off to about three to four a day that I killed - away for the weekend, going to throw out my trash - filled with the ants.

I don't care about them, but my three year old daughter is scared of them walking around ... I don't want to use poison in the apartment - but what other choice do I have? There must be a nest somewhere in one of the walls in my area ...

... any of you guys have thoughts on solutions? As referenced above, I don't really want to be spraying poison, especially as my daughter visits with me at least twice a week and I'd rather get rid of these pest.

Thanks for your ideas.