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How Ants Get Into Souderton Homes In The First Place

Ants In Souderton

When you see tiny ants running across your counters, getting into your food, or making a superhighway of activity on your floor, it can make you wonder, "How on earth did those ants get in here?" Sure, the obvious answer is that they found an opening in your exterior walls or foundation, but it is a little more complicated than that.

Ants don't just get in because they can. In fact, you probably have ants going in and out of your Souderton house all the time and just don't know it. Today, we're going to discuss why ants come in and what you can do to keep them out. First, let's start with how they get in.

ants on white plate

How Do Ants Get Into Your Home In The First Place?

Ants are small. It doesn't take much of a hole or crack for an ant to get into your home. They're also mobile insects that have the ability to cling to walls and walk across ceilings. But there are a few common entry points you can consider.

  • Doors and windows usually provide several entry points for ants. If a screen is damaged and an ant can find a gap in a window or sliding glass door frame, they can get right into your wall voids. They'll also slip past gaps in weather stripping and damaged door sweeps. Door and window frames are high moisture points, and prone to rotting. When rotting occurs, ants take quick advantage of openings.

  • Most cracks in your foundation walls are not going to be deep enough to allow an ant into your home, but cracks that develop near basement windows are much more likely to provide a route.

  • If you have a pipe that passes through your foundation wall, it can provide an entry point for ants. Gaps and cracks in the seal around pipes are low to the ground and easily accessible to an ant.

  • When mice, rats, and other pests damage the wood of your home, it can create an entry point for ants. These entry points are often hidden because the fungi that attack wood and lead to wood rot do much better in the shade. You'll need to get under external structures to see these openings that ants use.

The first step in any ant-control strategy is to seal potential entry points. A caulking gun is a good tool for this job. It can seal gaps and fill in holes until you have the money to do a proper repair. In some cases, a caulk seal is all that is needed. No repair is necessary.

Why Do Ants Come In?

Ant workers are always looking for food. This will bring them into your home on a routine basis if you don't take measures to keep them out. When a worker gets in and finds a food or water source, it returns to its nest. Along the way, it lays down a chemical trail. Other workers smell this trail and follow it. When they find the food, they grab it and return to the nest. Every ant that grabs food adds more to the chemical trail, and the scent gets stronger. In no time, there are hundreds of ants going in and out of your home. This is why you find so many all of a sudden. If you remove the food source, most ants will go back out to their nest and leave your home. Some ants won't. There are some species that can create a nest in your walls, or inside the wood of your home. When they do, you'll start to see them appearing inside your home more and more.

How Do I Keep Ants Out?

If you seal your exterior as best you can, and you keep your interior clean and dry, you can keep ants out of your home naturally. If ants continue to find a way in, and they continue to find food or moisture, control products may be required to get control of them. This is where we can help.

At Moyer Pest Control, our team uses EPA-approved treatments, ant baits, and environmentally friendly methods to get control of ants and eliminate ant colonies. We also offer ongoing control for ants (even carpenter ants) as a part of our Exterior, Complete, and Platinum Home Guard programs. Reach out to us today to talk about your options.

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