Everything You Need to Know About Ants in Your Home

Ants can be a huge problem, especially if you’re in an area that tends to struggle with ant issues in general. If you’re having problems with ants, it’s a good idea to educate yourself a little bit and learn more about your ant options. Here’s what you need to know about ants in your home and how you can fix the problem.

Basic Ant Facts


Before you start eradicating the ants in your home, you may want to learn a bit more about ants, including why and how they enter your home.

It’s good to know that there are more than 700 types of ants in the United States. If you have a serious infestation, you might want to call an exterminator instead of trying a DIY solution. Once your home is ant-free, you can institute these fixes to keep them out.

Ants typically come into your home through holes and cracks. If you have cracks in your walls or foundation, even very thin ones, ants may be able to get through. This is even true if the cracks are underground because ants can burrow.

Where Are Ants Most Likely to Hide?

Most of the time, there are a few places an ant infestation will start. Here are the top places where ants are most likely to come inside.

  • Kitchens

Kitchens tend to have plenty of food, which is one of the reasons ants will come into your home in the first place. That’s why kitchens are the most common places for ant infestations to start. You can help avoid these infestations by keeping your kitchen clean and making sure you put away food as soon as you’re done with it.

  • Bathrooms

Even though kitchens have a lot of food, they tend not to have as much water, which is another important resource for ants. Bathrooms, on the other hand, have water in abundance, and are more likely to have standing water. That’s one reason ants tend to gravitate toward bathrooms, even if you do a great job making your kitchen inhospitable to ants.

  • Basements

If you have a significant ant problem, you might not realize the ant problem actually started in the basement. Many people don’t enter their basement very frequently, which can be a problem because basements sometimes have foundation cracks. Ants can come inside those foundation cracks, even if they’re very small, and set up shop in your basement.

Simple Tips and Tricks to Prevent Ants From Coming Inside

With all this information about how ants regularly come inside the home, what can you do to really fix the problem? There are a few tips and tricks you can implement that will help you avoid ants in your home.

  • Seal cracks and holes in walls
  • Caulk around your AC and heating units
  • Fix leaky pipes and faucets
  • Put food in airtight containers
  • Wipe down kitchen counters after using them
  • Empty trash frequently
  • Water indoor plants appropriately
  • Repair cracks in the pavement and foundations

Some of these steps are easier to do than others; however, they can all be important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to removing ants from your home. It’s a good idea to put effort into these tips and tricks, even the ones that are more difficult, if you’re serious about getting rid of an ant problem.

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s no “silver bullet” that will stop ant invasions for good. However, by just taking a few steps, you can definitely avoid issues with ants that can make your home a miserable place to be. Whether it’s simple, like taking your trash out more frequently, or more complicated, like contacting an expert for foundation repairs, you should know that you can take steps to reduce your ant problems.