There are a number of places in your home that ant colonies find appealing. You can find an ant nest by keeping an eye out for common signs, such as ant trails or dirt mounds.
Ants will enter your home through cracks, crevices, and outlets, and gather in areas with easy access to food and water. That naturally means places like your kitchen and bathroom, but it also includes other places you might not think of right away, such as floorboards.
Read on to learn more about where to find ant nests and why they build nests in certain areas from our ant exterminators.
1. The Kitchen
If you really want to nip your ant problem in the bud, then you might want to start looking for them in the kitchen. This is the most likely place in your house where an ant problem will begin.
Let’s face the facts here – ants live for feeding on our spare food and drinking up our stagnant water. So, what better place to find ample water and food supplies than your kitchen? The kitchen is a favorite hangout for ant colonies everywhere.
Pro tip: Want to prevent them from slipping into your pantry? Make sure that you clean up any spills or crumbs immediately. Once crumbs are scattered and food storage containers are left exposed and open, ants see this as an invitation inside your home. Another word of advice is to carefully store sweet items such as syrup and honey. Be sure to remove any leftover, sticky mess from the exterior of the containers as well.
2. The Bathroom
As often as your bathroom gets used, chances are that there’s a buildup of excess water and moisture in your washroom. Naturally, ants are attracted to water. That means ants will be racing to lap up the pooled water and accidental leaks in your restroom.
Pro tip: For those of you who want to stop and colonies in their tracks, be sure to clean up any spilled water after taking a shower or a bath. And here’s another word of advice: Grab a disinfectant to mop down the floor. These chemicals will keep the ants from coming back. Ants are also attracted to leaking or spilled body wash and shampoo. All that you have to do is clean up your mess after bathtub time to make your ant problem go away for good.
3. Pet Food and Water Bowls
Since ant colonies are so intelligent, they’ll be able to find any leftover food that you have around your house, including pet food.
Pro tip: Whenever your cat or dog leaves their chow in their bowl, you can add a bit of petroleum jelly to it. Surprisingly enough, this should deter your ant problem like no other. Be sure to rub the jelly on the rim of the bowl.
Start by flipping your pet’s food or water bowl upside down and dab it around its base to make an extremely slippery barrier. Not only will ants be unable to climb into the bowl, but the petroleum jelly won’t get into your dog or cat food supply either!
4. The Bedroom
Similar to other forms of house pests, ants can thrive both indoors and outdoors. This is especially true in houses that have efficient sources of food for them. Of course, the bedroom is the most ideal place for ants to find crumbs from movie nights and bedside morning breakfasts.
Pro tip: To defeat your ant invasion, the first thing that you should do is find out where and how your ants are coming from. Next, remove their reproductive source or colony from your bedroom. Lastly, call a pest control professional to do the rest!
5. Inside Walls
When it comes to ant control, inspecting the inside of your walls for ant invasions should be one of your first priorities. You might be surprised to find out that damaged or cracked walls provide the perfect crawlspace for ant colonies to populate and nest. Although certain ant species prefer to build outside colonies, inside walls give them the chance to find more sources of food while still remaining inside your home.
Pro tip: For the insides of your walls, it’s actually best to call in the professionals to reduce the risk of damaging your home.
6. The Living Room
Many people host social events in their living rooms. So, it’s no surprise that excess crumbs or spills that have developed on the floor will gather ants immediately. If you can’t stand your ant invasion anymore, no worries. There are tons of poison boxes, sprays, and powder that you can use to alleviate your ant problem.
Pro tip: For those of you who see more than 50 ants in your living room, chances are that their nest is located nearby. It’s best to bring in the experts to identify and remove ant nests.
7. Air Conditioning and Heating Units
Strangely enough, air conditioning and heating units are a great hiding place for ants in your home. If you spot any ants around on your air conditioning unit, be sure to treat their mound with an ant killer product from the store.
Pro tip: Take this opportunity to thoroughly clean out the exterior of your air conditioning unit with water and soap. Since ants are attracted to scents, wiping down this area can remove the smell permanently.
8. Under Concrete Slabs
Have you noticed ants eating dead insects, nuts, pet food, and meat in your home recently? If that’s the case, then looking for them beneath the floor’s foundation might be a smart idea. That’s because they could be living and nesting under the concrete slabs of your house.
Pro tip: To combat this, try baiting them out from beneath the concrete slabs with ant bombs or traps while you’re waiting for your exterminator.
9. Trashcans
Okay, so you might not be too shocked that the trashcan is a common place for ants to hide out. However, just because it’s an easy place for them to access doesn’t mean you should let them live there.
Pro tip: Make sure that you take out the garbage on a regular basis, relocating it to trash bins outside. And if you have rotten fruit inside of your house, remove it immediately – ants love that stuff.
10. Small Holes or Cracks
As we mentioned above, they are more than likely to make a home for themselves inside of your walls if they do get it. So, sealing holes and cracks inside of your floors or walls will keep them from getting inside of them.
Pro tip: Seal any small holes or cracks inside your home — these cracks invite in ants and other annoying pests. By sealing doors and windows with special weather stripping materials, ants won’t even be able to enter your home in the first place. For extra protection, use silicone caulk.
On top of this, calling a professional pest expert will help you prevent future infestations. Since certain species of ants are extremely hard to find, like carpenter ants, contacting a pest management company will be the smartest decision you’ve made yet!
11. Inside Insulation
In spite of the fact that carpenter ants love to live inside of the cavities of your wall, you shouldn’t allow them to chew sawdust and lumber until their nests have taken over your household.
Pro tip: To avoid this, finding their nests and spraying an insecticide directly inside of them is your best solution. And remove them from the foam inside of your walls. If you allow infestations to continue, then they’ll degrade both the insulation and the wood as time goes on.
We’re Your Experts in Ant Nest Identification & Extermination
Need a hand with your ant nest? If you’re wondering how to find ant colony invasions, then you’ve definitely come to the right place. We cannot emphasize this enough: by calling a professional pest control expert, you’ll never have to worry about ants crawling up your sleeves or in your pants again.
Our ant control services include a thorough inspection of your property, followed by a customized plan to exterminate and prevent ants. We’ve been getting rid of ants in Mid-South TN for 25 years with our effective, guaranteed methods.So let’s get you started with a free service quote – just give us a call or fill out a service request here!