Controlling ants on your own may feel like a constant battle, but with the right strategies, Nashville homeowners can keep these persistent pests at bay. The city’s warm climate and frequent rainfall create excellent conditions for ants to thrive, but that doesn’t mean you have to put up with them inside your home. With some targeted do-it-yourself techniques, you can reduce ant populations, prevent new infestations, and maintain a more comfortable, pest-free environment.
1. Identify Their Entry Points
Start by observing where ants are entering your home. They often come in through tiny cracks around windows, gaps under doors, or spaces near utility lines. Once you’ve located these entry points, use caulk, weather-stripping, or sealants to close them off. Even small openings are enough for ants to get through, so be thorough.
2. Keep Your Kitchen Clean
Ants thrive where there’s an easily accessible food supply. To make your home less inviting, wipe down countertops regularly, sweep floors after meals, and promptly seal any spilled sugar, syrup, or honey. Store grains and cereals in airtight containers, and don’t leave ripe fruit sitting out for too long. Pet owners should also pick up pet food bowls after feeding times, as these can become a banquet for ants.
3. Remove Indoor and Outdoor Clutter
Ants often set up satellite nests in piles of clutter. Indoors, reduce stacks of cardboard boxes or paper. Outdoors, keep landscaping neat and trimmed. Move firewood, leaf piles, and other yard debris away from the house. Maintaining a clean perimeter around your home makes it less attractive to pests looking for sheltered nesting spots.
4. Try Natural Remedies
Before turning to chemical solutions, consider some natural options. A mixture of equal parts white vinegar and water can be sprayed along ant trails to disrupt their scent markers. Lemon juice, peppermint oil, and coffee grounds are other substances ants dislike. While these won’t necessarily eliminate an entire colony, they can help deter ants and reduce their presence.
5. Use Over-the-Counter Baits and Traps
If natural methods aren’t enough, consider store-bought ant baits. Place these near ant trails, but out of reach of children and pets. Ants carry the bait back to their colony, helping to reduce the population at its source. Check and replace bait stations as recommended on the product label. For ants that favor sweets, choose a sugar-based bait; for grease-loving ants, a protein-based bait may work better.
6. Be Patient and Persistent
DIY ant control isn’t always a quick fix. It may take a few days or even weeks for baits to work and for populations to decline. Regularly cleaning, sealing entry points, and monitoring the situation are all essential to ensuring that ants don’t return. Consistency is key—once you’ve started a control strategy, stick with it to see the best results.
7. Know When to Seek Professional Help
If your DIY efforts aren’t making a dent or you’re seeing signs of more serious problems—such as carpenter ants damaging wood structures—it might be time to contact a professional. Experienced technicians can identify the species, locate the main colony, and implement targeted treatments to address the problem more thoroughly.
There are a number of DIY methods that can help with ant control. However, there are times when those DIY methods simply are not enough. If you are struggling to keep ants out of your home – or simply do not have the time to employ these DIY methods – reach out for professional help from the pros at All Pest Solutions Inc. We can help you rid your home of ants and protect it going forward.
