Guide To Household Ant Control

Household Ant Control

Household Ant Control

Professional pest control for household ant control is always the first call. Pest control experts can correctly identify the type of ants you are dealing with. This enables professionals to:

  • draw up a strategy for dealing with them onsite
  • eradicating them from the property
  • Preventing future infestations

Some ants respond well to baiting stations while others do not. Certain ants, like ants, are not actually ants at all and require a rigorous approach to prevent damage to structural elements of your house.

However, dealing with ant colonies yourself is also possible. It will mean that you need to look at your problem and decide at which point it is necessary to bring in a pest control expert. These DIY techniques will keep the ants at bay but they will continue to pop up again and again.

 

Dealing with active odorous house ants

Odorous ants (also called Tapinoma sessile) follow the scent of food. They look for food scraps like fruit, spilt juice, leftovers and even water. They are especially active just before the winter as they start to gather supplies for the cooler months.

Once they find something that smells delicious, they create a pheromone trail which attracts more ants. The result? A spot in the home that is thickly laden with ants. The best way to address this once it has already happened is by wiping away the ants. Use soapy water to ensure you wipe away their trail. Then, dispose of the food that attracted them.

 

Eradicating odorous ants

You can create your own baiting station for odorous house ants. Fortunately, they are not as hazardous to your home as termite, so it’s not a risky idea. This baiting station takes advantage of the fact that ants find sugar irresistible and they can’t really detect Borax.

Borax is fatal to ants. This baiting station won’t just lead the ants away from your home, it can also eradicate the colony. Simply mix one cup of warm water with ½ cup of sugar. Slowly add three tablespoons Borax and make sure everything dissolves. Soak this mixture in cotton balls and place the wet cotton balls near the ant colonies.

Odorous Ants

Carpenter ants: How to treat active infestations

Carpenter ants burrow into moist wood. A sure sign of carpenter ants includes sawdust on the floor. They will only target moist wood which means they’re generally more of a problem outside. If you have carpenter ants indoors, you need to address moisture issues.

Carpenter ants can be a major issue on wooden outdoor furniture, wooden decking, poles, and decorative items made from wood. Due to their burrowing nature, carpenter ants can be tricky to eradicate. It’s not a matter of wiping away active trails, like in the case of odorous ants.

 

Treat carpenter ants in the wood

Fortunately, there is a very effective natural recipe for eradicating carpenter ants inside the wood. This treatment is safe because it utilises diatomaceous earth, a natural compound which is safe for people and animals to ingest (provided you purchase the food grade DE).

In fact, it is a wonderful dewormer for pets, too. It is tasteless and odourless. The DE particles are so tiny that they rub and weaken insects’ exoskeleton, killing them. This is why this compound is so effective.

In order for this to work, you have to use the food-grade DE. ix around 4 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of DE. Add the mixture to a spray bottle and spray the wood liberally, aiming to get the liquid into the ant’s tunnels.

Carpenter Ants

Budget-friendly ant poison

Many household products are highly toxic to ants and pose no danger to humans. Few people are aware of this and often, people purchase special poisons. These poisons are often costly and come at risk for the family of they are not completely non-toxic.

In contrast, dish soap is a safe compound to have in the home and it is highly toxic to ants. Simply mix 1 part water and 1 part dish soap in a spray bottle. You can pour this into ant holes or spray it on them.

 

When to call an expert

Call a pest controller when your infestations are frequent. If you are seeing more and more ants around the property, you may need more aggressive measures. If you see any white ants or termites, you need to call an expert immediately. A licensed professional will also help to prevent ongoing infestations which will result in a more thorough end result.