Ant Removal: Best Practices for a Pest-Free Home

Scientists estimate that there are about 20 quadrillion ants on the planet, and they can be found in pretty much every environment from deep jungles to your own back yard. One place which we don’t want to see ants is in our homes, creating long trails of insects across our floors, getting into food and generally being an unsightly nuisance. In today’s blog we will be looking at the best practices for having an ant-free home.

Maintain Cleanliness

One of the best ways to deal with an ant infestation is to not have one to begin with. One of the ways you can prevent an ant infestation from occurring is by maintaining the cleanliness of your home. Ants are attracted to food debris and other debris offers them places to hide and move around your home unnoticed therefore it is in your best interest to eliminate that debris from your home.

Seal your Exterior

Ants can make use of the tiniest cracks in the exterior of your home to gain access to its interior so one of the best ways to eliminate the presence of ants in your home is to ensure that those cracks are sealed. Be vigilant around windows and doors as these are some of the areas that are the most likely to serve as an ant entry point. Make use of silicone or caulk to seal cracks and devices like door sweeps to secure your home.

Use Bait Traps

Bait traps can be effective in eliminating an ant problem. By placing them near ant trails or where you have seen ants entering your home the ants will discover the bait and bring it back to the colony, hopefully eliminating it.

Use Homemade Solutions

A simple solution of 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar can be used to disrupt the scent trails that ants use to find their way. You can also use scents that ants aren’t fond of like peppermint, lavender, cinnamon and catnip and spray them on entry points to make them less appealing to invading ants.

Trim Exterior Foliage

Any foliage like bushes, shrubs or trees are a place that ants can use to gain access to your house. Therefor one of the ways you can prevent ants from getting into your home is making sure that any plants are trimmed back so that they don’t touch your home.

Use a Professional Exterminator

If your ant problem is particularly persistent you may want to consider calling a professional pest control service. Pest control professionals have the experience and tools necessary to deal with ant infestations and will be able to provide you with some useful information on how to prevent infestations in the future.

We hope we have been able to provide you with some useful information on how to remove ants from your home and prevent them from infesting your home in the future. If you have any need for professional pest control services, please feel free to contact us.

Gilpin’s Pest Control is a family-owned business operating on the Lower Mainland in Greater Vancouver and the BC Interior including Kamloops, Revelstoke, and Sicamous. After 35 years in the business, we do a stellar job and are proud of our rapid response time. 

If you have any questions about this article or you would like to talk to us about pest control needs, please call us toll-free at (800) 770-2428.