Ants inside homes are a year-round problem. Ants are more plentiful in the summer, where they begin to stray from their nests and enter houses looking for food - but they may decide to take up residence, creating ant problems all year. Ants are notoriously difficult to get rid of. Unless you can remove the entire colony, including the queen, they’ll keep coming back.

What Causes Ants in the House?

There are many different species of ants, such as carpenter ants, pavement ants, odorous house ants, acrobat ants, pharaoh ants and plenty more. There are over 12,000 different species of ants in the world - they’re incredibly adept at evolving and creating colonies. Many types of ants defend themselves by biting, making them a nuisance for any residents in the home. Children and pets are especially susceptible to getting bitten by ants. Ants easily find their way into any food in the home. They’re small and make it into everything that isn’t sealed air-tight, and they’ll continue to come back if they find a good food source.

Where Do Ants Hide in a House?

When you spot an ant crawling across your floor or counter, it may already be a sign of a problem. It’s likely that other ants aren’t far behind. If you see multiple ants, it’s probably best to get a professional into the home to track down the ant colony. However, if you’re trying to conduct a home inspection yourself, here are some places ants often hide:

• Cracks in walls
• Molding
• Under/within appliances
• Behind window frames
• Within door frames
• Near moisture, like bathrooms/showers
• Cabinets
• Under floorboards
• Basements
• Stored food (extra bags of rice in the closet, for example)
• Air conditioning/heating units
• Cracks in concrete slabs (like the sidewalk right outside your home)
• Garbage cans

Ants can hide pretty much anywhere in a house. As long as it’s temperate and provides them with food and water, they’ll try to move in. Once they’ve created a colony, it’s incredibly difficult to remove it.

Preventing Seasonal Ant Infestations

There are steps you should take to prevent ants from entering or infesting your home. Regularly cleaning and inspecting your kitchen, bathroom, basement, and heating/cooling units is a good start. Crumbs, pet food, and outdoor eating are all things that attract ants. If you have any cracks in your walls, floors, or cement outside your house you should keep them caulked up so that bugs don’t nest. You can also resort to home remedies to help repel ants. For example, keeping bay leaves in bags of rice and flour may detract ants from invading. Sprinkling cinnamon outside also helps keep bugs like ants at bay. However, none of these are permanent solutions.

If you already have an ant infestation in your home, the best thing to do is call Eagle Pest Services at 1-888-616-8739 and talk to an expert. They’ll be able to find any ant colonies and remove them in a way that’s safe for your pets and children. There are things you can do on your own, but often, home remedies are not enough to get rid of ants. Get professional help and deal with the problem once and for all.