No matter the season, an ant infestation is something you can’t always avoid. While it can be hard to seal off your home completely from these tiny insects, knowing why they are entering your home can be a good starting point to keep ant invasions to a minimum. Below, our experts at TriGuard Pest Control discuss five reasons why you’re having ant problems in your home and the best ways to prevent them!
1. You’re Leaving Out Food
Just like you and me, ants need food and water to survive — you might even have similar tastes in snacks. They, too, appreciate easy, convenient food sources, which is why infestations are often in kitchen or eating areas. Crumbs and tasty morsels are one of the main causes of ant infestations, but luckily, this is also one of the easiest issues to remedy!
A tidy home is less attractive to ants. Clean regularly in the kitchen, particularly near floors and walls. Store food in airtight containers, and keep fruits sealed or in the fridge when possible (sugar is like a Bat-Signal for ants). Bay leaves strategically placed in dry goods containers can also deter ants from calling your kitchen home — they find the scent repulsive.
2. You Have Greasy Surfaces
Is your kitchen pretty clean yet you still have ants? We might need to kick things up a notch. Grease and food residue can be hiding on your stove, on the wall and appliances near the stove, and even on top of your cabinets. These greasy surfaces might as well be a Drive-Thru sign as far as the ants are concerned.
Be sure to wipe off honey bottles, syrup containers, jam jars, and anything else that could leave a sticky residue. And make sure to regularly wipe down your stove top after cooking, especially when making foods that splatter, like bacon and sauces. This will help eliminate food sources that could be drawing ants into your home!
3. You Have Sticky Garbage
If you think your home is ready for a white-glove inspection, have you considered how clean your garbage is? It’s easy to forget to rinse out soda bottles, empty food containers, and your garbage bins. Unfortunately, ants have no problem dumpster diving to get to your leftover food scraps — and they are especially drawn to things that contain sugar!
If food and liquids escape the garbage bag, remember to clean your garbage cans. Make sure beverage containers are emptied before you toss them, as they can leave a layer of sugary residue in the bottom of the bin.
4. Your Pipes and Faucets are Leaking
In addition to food, ants usually look for a reliable water source before calling a place home. Make sure you don’t have leaky pipes or faucets, or any type of lingering water or moisture that isn’t supposed to be there.
Inspect your toilets and sinks for leaks, make sure windows are well-sealed and closed during wet weather, and watch out for other sources of excess moisture in your home to make sure that ants aren’t mooching off of your water bill.
5. You Have Decaying Wood Around Your Home
Leaky pipes or wet weather can moisten the wood in and around your home just enough to make it the perfect hideout for a colony of carpenter ants, who make their nests in moist or decaying wood.
Replace rotting wood in your home’s structure, and clear tree stumps and fallen branches from your yard. This can help eliminate possible nesting grounds not only for carpenter ants but for termites as well. It’s also a good idea to store firewood at least 20 feet away from your home!
If Ants Persist, Call the Professionals
Pest-proofing your home can be a good starting point to get an infestation under control, but if ants persist you may need to call in the cavalry! If you need help ridding your home of ants for good, Triguard Pest Control is here for you. We offer fast and effective pest-control services that can get ant infestations under control for good.