Getting Rid of Ants In Your Home

By: Matthew Hersee

Ants are not only creepy crawling across your kitchen counter; they can do serious damage to your home. Ants come indoors in search for food like starches, meats, fats and sweets. The best way to get rid of ants and termites is to prevent them from getting into your house in the first place with the proper ant and termite control. Any ants that do make it into your home will leave scented trails that other ants and critters like termites will follow! So make sure you get help from the right ant and termite control service.

We will discuss the things you can do to automated colony counter keep the ants from marching, one-by-one, into your home:

Take away food sources
Set out ant bait traps
Dealing with carpenter ants
Repel ants in the future

Take away food sources

Sources of food are what draw ants to your house. Make sure that you clean up food crumbs and spills and don’t leave dirty dishes sitting around. Sometimes pet food can attract ants depending on the type of food you use. If kids snack in the bedrooms, that could yield unseen crumbs as well. Stored foods should be kept in tightly sealed containers. It is important to eliminate all other food sources in the area, so that when you set out liquid ant baits, the ants aren’t tempted to eat anything else.

Ants bait traps

Place baits near ant trails or where ants are numerous. The TERRO® Liquid Ant Baits that Koopman Lumber offers are a convenient, easy-to-use option. They are pre-filled, ready-to-use and specifically designed to kill the worker ant in two to three days, giving the foraging ants enough time to share the bait with the rest of the unsuspecting colony.

Initially, after placing the traps, you may see more ants — lots more. Here’s why — as ant foragers look for food, they are attracted to the sweet liquid ant bait. Once foraging worker ants find the liquid ant bait, they consume it and drop what is called a ‘trail pheromone’ back to the nest that lets all the other worker ants know where a food supply has been found. This is why you will initially see more ants when using the liquid ant baits. This slow kill is needed to allow time for the foraging ants to make several trips to the bait and deliver enough bait to the rest of the colony. This is the only way to get rid of both the ants you see and the thousands you don’t.

When necessary, replace with additional bait stations when the first set is depleted. Once your ant problem is under control, replace the bait stations every three months to keep the ants from marching back into your home.

Dealing with carpenter ants

Perhaps a proper name for Carpenter Ants would be “Demolition Ants.” These pests often cause serious structural damage. That’s why it’s crucial to get rid of them at once. Carpenter ant nests can be hard to find, but in general ants prefer damp areas, especially water-damaged wood like baseboards, molding and non-pressure treated framing lumber. Check bathrooms, exterior walls and attics.

When you find the nest, spray it with an insecticide for wood infesting insects, such as Bonide’s Termite & Carpenter Ant Killer. This product comes with a handy Snorkel tube attachment which allows you to spray it directly into holes, nests, wall voids, cracks and crevices. As with any control product, be sure to carefully follow the instructions on the label.

Repel ants in the future

After dealing with the ants that already made their way into your home, the next step is to ensure that more ants won’t be able to get inside your home in the future. Koopman Lumber carries Ortho’s Home Defense Max, a ready-to-use perimeter and indoor insect killer. It is designed for interior and exterior use and features a sprayer for application of the fast-drying, non-staining formula.

On the interior, spray in places where ants enter. Apply a 4″ wide band just enough to wet the surface. On the exterior, spray a 12″ band of outdoor insecticide on the foundation as well as on and under the first course of siding to keep ants out. Once dry, Home Defense Max Insect Killer serves as an invisible barrier that repels ants.

Finally, to eliminate entry points for ants, keep shrubs and trees trimmed at least 6″ back from the house and use the granular version of Ortho Home Defense. For an organic way to combat ants and many other insects, use Diatomaceous Earth or DE. Refer to our blog on DE <HERE>

Wrap Up

Here at Koopman Lumber, we have the knowledge, experience, products and friendly advice to help you with the projects on your to-do list. If you are being invaded by ants and could use some help, Visit us online at www.koopmanlumber.com or stop in and see us at any one of our conveniently located stores. We’ll be glad to help!