How to Keep Ants Away in Tallahassee

Ants don’t seem very secretive. They're everywhere, after all–if you step outside, you could likely count dozens on the ground.

But they can still be sneaky! There’s a whole world of ants out there in their colonies in the ground or hidden in the smallest crevices of your home. 

There are a lot of secrets in ant control as well. While some may think it’s as simple as cleaning, there are a lot of other steps involved in the process. 

Keeping ants away in Tallahassee may seem simple, but the process can actually take a lot of trial and error. That’s why we want to make it simple: Here are our top secrets to keeping ants out of your house, approved by experts. 

Don’t Give Ants An Entrance 

You may think this is completely obvious, but you would be surprised by how easy it is to neglect checking your home for all of the ant-sized entry points. Ants can get through the most minor cracks and crevices, so you’ll want to take the time to make the foundation of your home ant proof.

The best product for sealing your home from ants is caulk. Caulk is one of the most important products every pest control technician has on them at all times, and the best part is how easy it is to purchase!  

You can purchase caulk from any home improvement store like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware or Walmart. 

Use the caulk on any cracks around doors and windows, or any other opening you notice. 

 Repel Ants With Your Cleaning Skills 

I know I said it’s not a secret that cleaning is important for ant control, but it’s still valid to discuss, so hear me out! 

A clean kitchen is no fun for ants. No crumbs on the floor? Boring. No leftovers on the counter? Lame. 

Your best ally may be your all-purpose spray, a broom, and some tupperware to keep your kitchen from becoming Disney for ants (aka the happiest place on earth). 

Deter Ants With Your Favorite Scents

While you may love the smell of cinnamon, cloves, peppermint, and bay leaves, these scents are some of ants’ worst nightmares. 

Spreading these around your home can be the perfect recipe to keep ants out your house.

Trim Landscaping

While you might think your landscaping is a barrier to keep away ants, it might be doing the opposite. 

Sometimes ants like to use vegetation as a bridge to your home. If a palm has fronds touching your home, an ant could easily climb the palm and crawl across your home onto the exterior and make it inside through a gap in the window (which emphasizes the importance of closing these gaps). 

Trimming any shrubs, trees and palms that touch your home can make all the difference when it comes to preventing ants in Tallahassee. 

Eliminate the Food Source

Not quite the same thing as number 2–the food source I’m talking about here is the one produced by sap-sucking insects including aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and scale insects. 

Ants help these insects produce honeydew, a sugary substance that many ant species can’t get enough of. 

Eliminating these pests can stop honeydew production, which means far less ants will be drawn to your yard. 

The easiest way to get rid of these is hiring a company that can provide lawn care services, but there are also DIY approaches. You can also try spraying neem oil or another insecticide, or add repelling insects like ladybugs to the infested plants. 

Inspect Plumbing For Leaks 

It’s no secret that ants love food, but you might not know that they’re also attracted to water. Bathrooms are a common place to see ants, sometimes in your shower or sink. 

This could be because of excess moisture in your bathroom or because of plumbing issues. Any leaks are bound to attract ants, so repairing those leaks can be a good first step to prevention. 

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is an organic method of pest control commonly used by eco-friendly and pet friendly pest control companies in Tallahassee. It’s basically ground-up, fossilized organisms. 

It works by drying up the exoskeletons of ants and other pests. So it’s not harmful to humans, but it can cause irritation. 

It’s in the form of a white powder, so you can sprinkle it anywhere you see ants, as well as common entry points. The best places to sprinkle diatomaceous earth are along baseboards, floors, window sills, and wall cracks. 

Keep Pet Food Away

It’s easy to think that pet food doesn’t attract pests like “people food” does. It doesn’t look like our food or smell like it. 

Surprisingly (or not that surprising if you’ve noticed), leaving out pet food is one of the most common ways to attract ants to your home. 

It can be difficult to avoid this as sometimes we have to throw dog food in the pet bowl and then rush out the door, but it can also save your home from an ant infestation. 

Try to put pet food away when your pal isn’t eating it, and keep the food inside. 

Understand How Ants Communicate 

Ants are interesting creatures. They’re incredible communicators with their use of pheromones, which are chemicals that signal to others.

Every living creature uses pheromones and the way ants use them is a reflection of their high intelligence. 

When one ant finds a source of food or water, the ant starts sending pheromone signals to the rest of the colony. Eventually the entire colony senses the message and files into your home and to the source. 

Know How Not to Keep Away Ants

When you type in “how to prevent ants” on Google, you may find yourself with infinite strategies to try, from using coffee grounds to the best ant repellent spray on the market. 

Just remember–a lot of the internet is fake news. 

While coffee grounds may be known as a deterrent for ants, this will most likely not be as effective as you would hope. Coffee grounds won’t kill the ants that are in your home, and if they do have a repellent effect, the ants will likely just find a new hiding spot in an untouched corner of your home. 

As a rule of thumb, you should be careful with using preventative strategies while the ants are still in your home. Trying to repel ants may trigger a process called budding, where instead of leaving your home, the ants just split up into multiple colonies and multiply at an even faster rate. 

This applies to the coffee grounds tip, as well as using essential oils and repellent sprays. Repellent sprays should be fully avoided, while essential oils should be used with caution. Use them only when the ants have left your home as a tool for prevention. 

Chalk: Fact or Myth?

You’ve likely heard about the chalk effect on ants. If you draw a chalk line in your doorway, the ants won’t be able to cross over into your home. 

This is partially true. Chalk will temporarily disrupt the pheromone trail the ants are leaving behind, so they may turn around. If ants get chalk on their feet, they may also have trouble climbing. 

However, the chalk lines will only temporarily stick, so you would have to constantly draw lines around your house for this to work. 

The Best Way To Keep Ants Out Of Your Home in Tallahassee

I’m not going to lie to you, the quickest way to get ants out of your home is pest control. While DIY methods can work, there’s a lot of trial and error involved that you could spend a lot of money purchasing baits, traps, insecticides and everything in between. 

Professional ant control will give you the best quality service so that you can sleep peacefully knowing your ant problem is being taken care of.

At Native Pest Management, we service all kinds of ants in Tallahassee, including: 

• Sugar ants
• Ghost ants
• Fire ants
• Big-headed ants
• White-footed ants 
• Carpenter ants
• Acrobat ants
• Pharaoh ants
• Argentine ants

We provide our ant control services in Tallahassee and the rest of Leon County. If you’re looking for ant control, termite control, rodent control, or mosquito control for your home or business in Tallahassee, Native Pest Management is here to save the day! 

It’s our job and joy to give you back the peace of mind that the pests in your home took from you. And if you’re unsure what kind of ants are in your home or if there are any ants in your home at all, we can still help you! 

We’ll inspect your home, identify the ants, and use preventative ant control measures if your house is already ant free.

If you’re ready to set up professional ant control services in Tallahassee, give us a call to receive a free quote!