How Do I Get Rid Of Ants?

Ants may be small, but that doesn't stop them from being a real problem. If you're suffering from an ant attack, you may think that the only way to get rid of them is to bite the bullet and pay for an extermination service.

In the case of extremely severe infestations, that may be true - but in most cases, there are a number of other things you can do to help.

First of all, do a little pre-preparation, otherwise you're just asking for repeated problems. Make sure your house is really clean, with no spills or crumbs anywhere. If you don't give ants anything to feed on, there'll be no reason for them to come back.

Then you can move on to tackling the ant problem you have right now. Ants have a great sense of smell, so use a mixture of water and vinegar in a 3:1 ratio to spray areas where ants have entered your home from outside.

Once you've done that, you can move on to deal with ants that have already set up home inside your house.

Now it's time to put out some bait - sweet and fatty bait is generally the best bet. A key tip here is not to give up if the number of ants seems to increase as a result. That doesn't mean your strategy isn't working: actually, it means it's working really well.

The bait is attracting the scout ants, who'll carry it back to their nest. That will kill heaps of ants in one go, as opposed to the few you could get rid of by the old-fashioned option of stepping on them!

You also need to have a little patience: it's unlikely that you'll see a major reduction in ant numbers for a few days, so keep going for ten days to two weeks.

A tougher option is to attack the colony directly. This may take a while, but look around anywhere damp, maybe from a leaky piece of plumbing hardware.

Rooms you don't live in, like attics, are a popular place for ants to set up home. It'll take a while, but once you've pinpointed the nest's location, give it a good spray with an effective insecticide containing deltamethrin or permethrin.

If you just can't locate the nest yourself, you may have to call in a professional service for this: it won't be cheap, but nest location is a big part of the pros' job, so they'll know exactly where to look.

Once your ants are out of the house, you need to make sure they don't return. Check there are no holes in window and door frames, and spray the insecticide you used earlier, in a thin layer, around each entry point to your home.

Next up, make sure your yard is clean of anthills. If you have a lawn in your yard, mow it short and put down a full coating of insecticide. You may need to repeat this every month or two for about half a year.

This should deal with most ants, but fire ants are a special problem as they're highly resistant to insecticides. You'll need to look for a specialist product to kill these. Positive Pest Management in NYC is a go-to expert when it comes to getting rid of pests like ants. Then, you can celebrate being ant-free!