What It Takes to Keep Your House Free of Ants

Despite their size, ants can cause serious headaches and inconvenience for homeowners. They can infest your kitchen or establish colonies in the garden. Such persistent pests can find their way into your living space. 

As a homeowner, you must understand the kind of ants that invade your house and recognize the possible issues that can arise due to their presence. Seeking Saela Pest control services is important, especially if you are dealing with a serious infestation. 

Kinds of Ants that May Infest Your Home

• Carpenter ants: These huge, destructive ants tend to excavate wood to make nests. Then they can cause possible structural damage to houses. 
• Pavement ants. These dark brown or black ants have parallel lines on the thorax. Typically, they live near foundations and pavements. Although they build their nest outdoors, they enter buildings to find food.
• Odorous house ants. These ants can be dark brown or black and secrete a foul smell if crushed. 
• Pharaoh ants. These small light brown or yellow ants are often found in warm, humid indoor places. They can contaminate surfaces and food. 

Issues with Ants

Ants can contaminate food and pose health risks as they transmit bacteria. Pharaoh ants are carriers of harmful bacteria, contaminating surfaces and food they come into contact with. This can result in the spread of diseases. 

Some ants can cause considerable property damage. For example, carpenter ants tunnel through wood, which weakens it and possibly results in expensive repairs. Addressing an ant infestation in your house is important to prevent such issues from occurring or escalating. 

Importance of Professional Ant Control

Although DIY pest control solutions can provide temporary relief, ant control services are a dependable way to eliminate an infestation. Pest control professionals have experience, knowledge, and tools to identify ant species, find their nests, and implement targeted treatments. It is important to contact a pest control company when you first notice a sign of an infestation, so you can prevent the spread of the issue. 

Ant Prevention Tips

To keep your home free of ants, you must stick with your home maintenance routine. Below are some tips to prevent ants from infesting your home:

• Inspect for openings. Check your house for gaps, cracks, and other openings in walls, floors, doors, windows, and foundations. Seal these openings with caulk. 
• Clean the kitchen regularly. Ants are drawn to spills and food crumbs in the kitchen. Keeping this area clean and storing food in airtight containers will deny ants of their much-needed food source. 
• Take out the trash regularly. Empty the trash bins regularly and make sure you cover them with tight-fitting lids. Cleaning the containers is important to get rid of the odors that can draw ants. 
• Trim vegetation. Plants, shrubs, and trees around your house must be trimmed regularly. Branches that touch your house can serve as pathways for ants and other pests. 
• Keep firewood away from your house. Ants can nest in firewood piles. Having these files near your house allows these pests to find their way inside.