Ants are nothing if not a frustrating pest in your home. The good news is that there are many different ways to fix your ant problem. DIY tips are a great way to start — many people can get rid of ants on their own. However, there are instances where you may need to have an expert help you with your ant problem. Here are the top DIY tips for getting rid of ants in the house, as well as an expert option.
DIY Tips
These are all tips that you can do on your own to help avoid ants in your home. Their DIY nature makes them perfect to start out with.
- Fix Leaky Pipes and Faucets
This is probably the most “technical” of these DIY tips. Although some leaky pipes and faucets may require an expert’s help, especially if they’re inside your walls, you can fix many of them on your own. Oftentimes, it’s just about tightening one or more of the valves that transport the water into your pipes and faucets.
- Seal Food in Airtight Containers
Many shelf-stable foods don’t come in airtight containers. Cereal, for example, initially comes in an airtight container, but once you open it, it’s no longer airtight. Ants can very easily notice that cereal, flour, pasta, and other shelf-stable foods aren’t airtight. From there, they’re likely to end up infesting the rest of the home. If you seal these foods into airtight containers, you can avoid ants getting inside.
- Wipe Down Kitchen Counters After Using Them
Even if you don’t see any food or water on your kitchen counters after you use them, it’s still important to wipe down kitchen counters once you use them. Even the smallest crumb can be enough for ants to start infesting your home. Wiping down your kitchen counters helps you avoid ants in the future, but it’s also a good cleanliness habit to get into.
- Empty Trash on a Regular Basis
You should empty the trash whenever it gets full and you should empty the trash directly out to the garbage. The trash can be a lure for ants because it’s full of both water and food. If you don’t take it out very often or you let it sit in your garage for a long time, ants may discover it and start swarming your home.
- Water Indoor Plants Appropriately
It’s important to water your indoor plants enough, but not too much. If you overwater indoor plants, you run the risk of having that water just sit in the plant’s container. Ants can easily discover this and start to swarm the plant, which can cause harm to the plant and create an ant problem in your home at the same time.
- Keep Your Firewood at Least 20 Feet Away From the House
If you have firewood that you use to keep the house warm in winter, try to keep your firewood stack at least 20 feet away from the house. If your firewood stack is very close to the house or even flush up against the house, you run the risk of having ants infest the stack, then move from the firewood stack to the rest of your home.
The 1 Expert Tip: Repair Cracked Pavement and Foundations
You can’t repair cracked pavement or foundations on your own. Unfortunately, cracked pavement and foundations need the help of an expert to remove the cracks, largely because they usually occur due to a secondary foundation concern. It’s important to get an expert in to help you with these cracks because ants can use them to bury down inside the concrete or into your home.
Conclusion
Utilizing both DIY tips and expert tips can be a great way to maximize your home’s use. Try out these DIY tips to avoid ant infestations; if the infestation continues, then it may be a good idea to talk to an expert. That way, you’ll be able to completely eradicate your ant problem for good.