How to Keep Ants Out of Your Home

Practical Ways to Reduce Ant Activity

Ants usually enter a home while searching for food, water or a suitable nesting site. A few workers can establish a trail that brings many more ants to the same source. PreventaPest has prepared these practical steps to help householders prevent common ant problems and recognise when professional pest control may be needed.

Remove accessible food and water

• Wipe up crumbs and sugary spillages promptly.
• Keep dry food and pet food in closed containers.
• Empty food-waste bins regularly and clean away residues.
• Repair dripping taps and avoid leaving standing water around sinks.

Cleaning visible trails can remove some of the scent cues followed by worker ants, but it will not eliminate a nest by itself.

Look for the route

Follow the trail where it is safe to do so. Ants may use gaps beneath doors, cracks around windows, pipe openings or small defects in external walls. Suitable gaps can be sealed, but first make sure that doing so will not conceal an active nest inside the building.

Outside, trim vegetation that touches the property and move stored materials away from external walls where practical. These changes do not guarantee an ant-free home, but they make access and hidden nesting places less convenient.

Avoid unsafe or ineffective treatment

Different ant species and nest locations can require different control methods. Spraying the ants you can see may affect only a small number of workers and can interfere with a properly planned baiting programme. Never mix pest-control products, and always follow the label instructions for any product intended for household use.

When professional pest control can help

Arrange an inspection if trails repeatedly return, ants are emerging from the structure, or activity is affecting a kitchen or commercial food area. PreventaPest will identify the likely species and nesting area before recommending pest control. Treatment may include carefully positioned bait or another targeted method, together with advice about proofing and sanitation.

Arrange an ant inspection

Contact PreventaPest for ant pest control at a home or business in South Wales.

Related PreventaPest service: If you need help with an active problem, see our professional pest control service.