How Can I Get Rid Of Ants In My House

Ants and other creepy crawlers are a staple of summertime, and you'll inevitably come across them marching up and down the hot pavement. You might even find one or ii in your kitchen this season. Just let's be honest: Discovering a colony of ants in your house isn't on your summer wish list (fifty-fifty if information technology would continue the kids entertained).

If yous're eagerly seeking a style to evict these unwelcome guests, let your search finish here.

TODAY Habitation spoke with the pros to figure out why ants make their way indoors and how to get rid of them for good. Nosotros've also institute a few DIY ways to blackball ants from your house entirely without calling the exterminator.

Ants crawling over dirty dishes in a sink — Ants are most oftentimes in search of food and wet. Getty Images

Why do ants come within?

Everyone gets the occasional emmet in their business firm — it's simply natural! Insects tin sneak in through open up doors or windows, and then you're never going to forbid bugs enitrely. A sudden ant invasion, though, doesn't simply happen randomly. Ants are constantly on the chase for food and water (moisture, in general) for their colonies, so your kitchen and bathroom are the most common spots to find ants.

"Ants accept a sweet tooth, just like many of united states of america, which leaves our kitchens especially vulnerable to an infestation. In add-on to the crumbs and spills we leave behind, our sinks provide a h2o source, which ants demand to survive," said Dr. Michael Bentley, an entomologist and director of training and education for the National Pest Direction Association (NPMA).

Luckily, y'all can accept a few simple preventative measures in your house to discourage unwelcome guests similar ants.

Promptly make clean up nutrient spills before ants discover them
Store ripe fruit in the fridge and all other nutrient in airtight containers
Make clean out trash cans (inside and exterior)
Go along pet bowls clean and wipe up whatever spilled food/water effectually them
Inspect indoor potted plants for any insect activity on a frequent ground

But the work doesn't finish there! A crucial part of the process is making it harder for ants to get inside in the first identify.

"Skillful sanitation reduces ant attraction to your home, but you still may need to exclude them from it. Common exclusion practices include caulking whatever gaps nowadays in windows, doors or cracks in the building foundation," said Tim Husen, Orkin entomologist and technical services manager.

Desire to baby-sit your fortress from a colony of ants? Try these outdoor preventative measures:

Use crushed stone or rock around your business firm rather than mulch or pine straw — ants honey to nest under garden bed mulch — and keep a mulch-gratis zone under the perimeter of the business firm
Fix leaking water pipes and maintain proper drainage of water away from your home (clean gutters and landscape drainage systems)
Seal cracks and crevices around your business firm with a silicone-based caulk
Replace atmospheric condition-stripping and repair loose mortar effectually basement foundation and windows
Go on trees and shrubbery trimmed abroad from the exterior of your house
Keep firewood stacked at to the lowest degree 20 feet away from the business firm — ants and other pests love information technology!
Routinely bank check nether sinks for areas of moisture and repair any leaky pipes

If y'all're too belatedly and ants have already started making themselves comfy, grab some household cleaner and wash down the surfaces where you've seen them crawling.

"This volition disrupt the trail pheromone ants employ to detect resource. This fashion, if more ants get indoors, they won't have any strong cues to directly them to food or water. This is ofttimes enough to get them out of the house," said professor and extension urban entomologist Michael E. Merchant, PhD, BCE, role of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Young boy holding an ant in his hand — Practice ants pose a danger to your health? Getty Images

Are ants actually dangerous?

Ants are certainly a nuisance, but are they dangerous in whatsoever way? For the virtually function, if you accept a few little ants in the house, it'southward not really a big deal, merely certain types of ants tin cause existent bug if left untreated.

"Ants can contaminate food with bacteria, impairment structures by hollowing out wood for nesting (structural harm is very specific to carpenter ants), and can inflict a painful sting (fire ants)," said Husen.

To help determine if your unwelcome guests are just a nuisance or if they pose a real threat, Merchant recommends checking with your county or regional Extension Service part.

Ants crawling in the house — Do DIY methods really work? Getty Images

Should y'all endeavour DIY ant repellant methods?

If you lot've got kids at abode, yous probably don't like spraying chemical emmet repellent all over your house.

"Conventional pismire repellents are generally considered pesticides, and it'south difficult for consumers to know whether all ingredients in the products — or fifty-fifty the overall chemical formula — are prophylactic," said Sophia Ruan Gushée, author and nontoxic living expert.

If your ant trouble isn't out of control yet, you can endeavor to solve your ant problem using some DIY methods. For starters, cleaning with vinegar and various essential oils (peppermint, tea tree and lemon) can help repel ants in a more than natural way. Sprinkling cayenne pepper around cracks tin can also discourage ants from inbound the business firm.

Some people also merits to have success using lemon juice, java grounds, infant pulverization or orange peels in the area ants are invading. Equally with annihilation, though, results volition vary based on the type of ants in your habitation.

"DIY controls can work sometimes. Liquid ant baits can be quite effective at temporarily reducing foraging ants in the house. Dry baits, Boric acrid dust, diatomaceous world and nearly volatile establish compounds are generally less effective," said Merchant.

If y'all're not seeing results from DIY methods, it'due south time to call in a professional. "You may see a temporary initial improvement (i.due east. a reduction in foraging ants in an area), but DIY solutions often must be reapplied frequently leading to unsightly/smelly and ineffective treatments. These treatments are not eliminating the colony of ants, which are probable to re-invade when weather condition are right over again," said Husen.

While you're debating whether to go DIY or call in the pros to impale ants for you, keep in mind that some DIY methods can actually make the situation worse. "In some cases, if the wrong treatment method is used for certain pismire species, the problem tin really be made worse, causing individual ant colonies to split into multiple colonies spread around the construction," Bentley said.

And if you're worried nearly spraying insecticide in full general, think that it's mostly safe to spray outside. "Outdoor spraying of the soil and foundation around the perimeter of the business firm should not injure many benign organisms," Merchant said.

The bottom line? DIY methods to kill ants do exist simply they're definitely not a be-all, end-all solution.

Exterminator in work wear spraying pesticide with sprayer — At what point should y'all call in a professional to solve your ant problem? Getty Images

When should you phone call a professional person?

I or ii ants isn't cause for alert, but at what point does an ant problem warrant a professional's help?

"Every bit with other pests, everyone has a different tolerance. For some folks a single ant can exist an issue while for others, a few marching across the kitchen are tolerable," Bentley said. "That being said, if homeowners find a few ants marching beyond the kitchen counter, at that place are likely many more hiding out of sight. And, ants can breed very speedily, meaning that a small ant problem can quickly turn into a major infestation if not addressed."

Out of the more than 700 different species of ants throughout the country, merely 25 infest homes, and these types of ants can require unlike treatments to get rid of them in the home. And then more often than not, calling in some backup volition make your life a lot easier!

"A licensed pest control professional will be able to properly place the emmet species, which will influence the type of treatment recommended," Bentley said.

A professional visit will typically expect similar this:

Assess the situation
Inspect the property for ant foraging trails/potential nesting sites
Identify the infesting emmet species
Design a handling strategy — could include further sanitation and physical modifications to the structure to limit ant attraction and/or command production application

Results vary (based on the size of the colony and the methods used past a professional) and aren't typically immediate, but you should ordinarily see a noticeable reduction in the number of ants in vii-10 days.

And don't assume that a business firm call from the exterminator is always a ane-and-done experience. "Ants are one of the nearly difficult pests to care for. Y'all need to know the species; do a full integrated pest management treatment which includes inspecting and identifying earlier treating. Sometimes, you may demand several treatments to keep the ants under control," said Bentley.

Different pismire species require different treatment methods and they're all attracted past different things — some like it salty, and some like it sweet. A colony of ants can sometimes contain upward of thousands of members, so it'due south no wonder that ants are considered one of the nigh difficult pests to control.

At the end of the day, patience is primal, and so try not to permit a few (or a ton) of ants ruin your summer!