Ant Prevention: Prevent Ants from Entering Your Home

Ants are a common household nuisance in New South Wales, particularly after heavy rain or during seasonal changes. They can form large colonies, and wet weather often drives them indoors in search of food, warmth, and dry shelter. Hot or humid conditions can also trigger ant swarms as colonies expand. Therefore, while ants may seem small, an infestation can quickly grow and become challenging to manage. Thankfully, there are simple steps you can take to prevent ants from entering your home.

Foraging ants - entry points

Why Ants Come Indoors After Rain

Flooded nests:

Heavy rain can saturate or destroy outdoor ant colonies, forcing them to relocate.

Food scarcity:

Wet conditions reduce the availability of food outside, prompting ants to forage inside.

Shelter:

Ants search for dry, stable environments, and your home offers exactly that.

Ant Prevention Strategies

1. Sealing entry points is one of the most effective long-term strategies for preventing ants from entering your home.  Start with the biggest, most obvious gaps first. Inspect your home’s foundation, windows, doors, and skirting boards and close off cracks and gaps and install door sweeps to reduce access from under doors.

2. Keep food and surfaces clean by wiping down benches, sweeping floors, and storing food in sealed containers. Empty rubbish bins daily, especially if they contain food scraps. Don't forget to clean pet food bowls and avoid leaving food out overnight.

3. Manage moisture around your home by ensuring gutters and downpipes are clear to prevent pooling water near foundations. Also, fix leaking taps or pipes promptly and avoid overwatering gardens close to the house, as damp soil attracts ants.

4. Trimming back vegetation is often overlooked as a very effective way to reduce the risks of ants entering your home.  Trees, shrubs and vines that touch the walls, roof or windows give ants an easy pathway into your home as they don’t need to cross treated soil or barriers if they can easily climb a branch that leads indoors.

   Keep tree branches and shrubs trimmed back from your house so that they don’t touch your roof, gutters, walls or windows. Ideally, leave a gap of at least 45 cm. Also, maintain lawns and garden beds. Mulch can attract ants, so keep it well aerated and don’t pile it directly against walls. Remove fallen leaves, rotting wood or compost near your home’s perimeter, as these are ideal nesting spots for ants.

5. Use natural deterrents, as ants rely on pheromone trails to find food. Regularly cleaning surfaces with natural deterrents can erase these chemical trails, making it harder for them to return.

   - Vinegar and water solution: Wipe down entry points, benchtops and windowsills with a 50/50 vinegar and water solution. Ants dislike the smell, and it also removes their scent trails.

   - Citrus: Lemon juice or orange peel spray (boiled peels strained into water) works similarly to vinegar. Cinnamon and peppermint oil are also known to deter ants.

Conclusion:

A few lifestyle tweaks can keep ants at bay, but when prevention isn't enough, a licensed pest control operator can step in with solutions that last. After all, your kitchen should be your space, not a five-star destination for ants!