If you want to get rid of your ant problem, it’s a good idea to know where the ants are actually hiding. So, where do ants hide in your house?
First, it’s important to know why you are suffering from an ant infestation. There are two general reasons why you have an ant problem in your house. It’s either food and water are too accessible or you have not sealed off your house properly – or both.
With these reasons in mind, it becomes easier to know where ants hide in your house.
Bathrooms and kitchens as favorite hiding spots of ants
Bathrooms and kitchens are some of the most favorite hiding spots of ants, and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Bathrooms provide the water ants need to survive. Kitchens are even worse. They provide both food and water for these pests to thrive.
Here are a few tips to get rid of ants in your bathrooms and kitchens.
Bathrooms
We have an entire article tackling ants in the bathroom, but here are some quick tips:
- Make sure that everything is dry. The availability of water attracts ants. Don’t leave stagnant water. Fix draining and leaking issues.
- Close all possible passageways. Cracks on the walls, gaps between pipes and wires, and open windows are the most common passageways of ants in bathrooms. Seal them or always keep them closed.
- Repair structural damage. Broken tiles, rotting wooden doors, and other structural damage around your bathrooms can be the nesting spots for ants. Fix or replace these damages to avoid ant infestations.
Kitchens
If you keep finding ants in your kitchen, it’s not surprising that the ants are hiding in the kitchen itself. Here are some quick tips:
- Store your food properly. The availability of food attracts ants. Store your food in cabinets, containers, or refrigerators to make them less accessible.
- Don’t leave food crumbs and drink spills. Always clean counter tops, tables, floors, and other areas where there may be food crumbs and drink spills. Also avoid leaving dishes in the sink for too long.
- Seal garbage bins tightly. Garbage bins can also be food and water sources for the ants that hide in your house. Make sure to cover or seal them properly.
Other common spots where ants hide in your house
Indeed, bathrooms and kitchens are the most likely places for ants to hide. But this doesn’t mean that ants can’t thrive anywhere else in your house.
Remember that ants are resilient and resourceful. They can thrive in a lot of spots in your house, especially if these spots are near food and water sources and are often undisturbed and warm.
Concrete slabs
Ants can thrive in the concrete slabs in your flooring. One particular species of ants called pavement ants specifically targets concrete slabs. You can find them in your driveway, at the gap between the floor and the wall, and at the corners of the floor. You can also find them on the sidewalk near your house and even under rocks in your yard.
Doors
Doors are not just passageways for ants. They can also be nesting spots. Look for cracks or holes in your doors. Also check the corners that connect to the ceiling or floor. Give particular attention to old doors, especially when they are made of wood or already rotting. They may attract the ants that thrive in wooden structures, such as carpenter ants. Carpenter ants are actually some of the most damaging kinds of ants you can have at your house because they excavate wood.
Floorboards
Ants can also be found in floorboards or subflooring, especially those that are made of wood. These long wooden planks have gaps in them that are small for you but are actually big enough for ants to get through and form a nest beneath them. Floors are not just easily accessible to ants. They are also a good source of food and water if the home owner often drops food crumbs or spills their drinks.
Kitchen cabinets
Ants hide in your house. They don’t just nest in an exposed area where they can be spotted and eliminated immediately. And there is no better spot than the backside of kitchen cabinets. Being in kitchen cabinets, the ants will have easy access to the part of the house with the most food and water. Being in the backside of the kitchen cabinets, the ants will not be easy to spot. The perfect sign that the ants in your house are hiding behind kitchen cabinets is when ants seem to appear quickly out of nowhere when you leave food or water unattended in your kitchen.
Walls
Ants like walls because these have cracks and holes that already serve as protection. The ants won’t need to excavate that much anymore. This is particularly attractive for ants that are not very good at digging, such as Argentine ants. Cracks and holes also serve as passageways for ants, so they can go inside and outside of your house with ease. To prevent ants from thriving in your house’s walls, seal the cracks and holes immediately.
Windows
Windows are great passageways for ants, especially if there are tree branches that connect with them. Ants that thrive on trees such as acrobat ants can start an infestation in your home through the windows. These pests can also nest on the windows, particularly in the corners. If your window frames are made of wood, your chances of getting an ant infestation through your windows increase.
Common ways to get rid of ants in these spots
Now that you know where ants usually hide in your house, how do you actually get rid of them aside from maintaining the cleanliness of your property and fixing problems such as cracks and leaking issues?
- Kill the ant queens by using ant baits. Ant baits are toxic ingredients. Scatter them near the food and water sources of these ants so you can deceive them that the ingredients are edible. Let them take the ant baits to their nests for the queens to consume.
- Kill the ants by using insecticides. These sprays attack the nervous system of the ants and kill the pests. Use the insecticides on the line of ants you see around your house. You can also use them directly on the nest.
- Destroy the nest with boiling water. Ant baits and insecticides may have ingredients that can be harmful to you and your family, so you may want to go natural. There is nothing more natural than boiling water. Destroy the nest and kill the pests by pouring boiling water into them.