Can ants damage your house? Yes, yes they can, these little creatures might not seem like something to worry about but you should worry. Their small size won’t cause damage like raccoons and squirrels might but they can damage your house in small ways.
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Can ants damage your house?
Ants are a nuisance to say the least, they can make your clean home less desirable to be in, because of their small size many think that they can’t do much but the definitely can. This article shows you how they can damage your home and gives you more information on what to do about the situation
How do they damage the house?
You will see damage in your pieces of wood if you have carpenter ants. This is because they can sometimes nest in pieces of wood. This can be furniture, piles of wood for the fireplace or in your walls or floors. They can eventually cause so much damage in the wood that your internal structure become damaged if unattended to.
They cause this type of damage by digging into the wood to build nests for their colonies. You will find little piles of the sawdust where carpenter ants have been doing damage in your wood.
Are ants in the house dangerous?
It depends on the types of ants in the house. The everyday black ant variety is not a direct danger to the human body. They can still end up contaminating your food if they can get into it. Ants walk all over a variety of things including trash and will leave traces of garbage and faeces where they walk. Ants do not bite so you shouldn’t be worried about them in this regard. They have piercers but don’t worry as these piercers cannot damage human skin.
If you find that you have red ants in the house then you might have a problem on your hands. These ants are the type that bite. Their bites are quite dangerous, they are very painful and can leave you in agony for a long time. Be sure to get rid of them as soon as possible. This link will give you helpful insight as to which products will get rid of them.
Can ants infest a house?
Yes, they can infest a house. Your house is a relatively safe, easy to access food and water abundant place to inhabit when compared to the outside which has more predators and more competition.
Signs of ant infestation in the house
There are a variety of tell-tale signs that you have ants in your house, these can include:
Ant trails: Ants leave an invincible chemical trail leading other ants to sources of food in your house. If you see ants walking in a specific line to a destination that you know has food then you probably have an infestation in the house or close by
Ant nests: This can be found in front of your house or at entrances. Ant nests are small piles of soil or dirt. Ants also make their homes in walls or hard to reach places. This can be in discarded waste, gaps of wood or in walls if need be.
Rustling: You might hear a low rustling in your walls if you have an ant infestation.
How to get rid of the ants in the house?
Prevention:
- Ensure that the ants have no entry into your house. Seal up all possible entrances such as cracks in doors, building foundations, and windows.
- Ants will try to enter your house in search of food. Ensure that all your containers are sealed in airtight containers
- Ensure that all bottles are closed up eg: honey, close them up with their seals or store them in the fridge
- You might accidentally spill anything in your house make sure you clean up the mess immediately. If not this will attract ants.
- If you have foods left out on tables place the legs in containers filled with water, the ants won’t be able to swim through the water to the legs
- Ensure that more ants won’t be drawn to your house by cleaning up all chemical trails using vinegar.
Cure:
A good quick solution that will kill them is by using borax and sprinkling it around your house. If they are not drawn to the borax then mix it up with some powdered sugar to attract them
A good soliton to use is diatomaceous earth to kill them. Mix this is with some powdered sugar and sprinkle it all around the house, this will attract the ants to eat. The diatomaceous earth will cut up the ants insides killing it.
If you just want to know which products to use then follow this link.
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