Mistakes Homeowners Make To Invite Pavement Ants Inside

Ant Prevention In Massachusetts & Connecticut

If you own a home in our Massachusetts or Connecticut service area, you've probably seen pavement ants. These tiny, ⅛ inch ants with their dark brown to blackish coloration are quite common around man-made structures. The reason for their attraction to our properties can be found in their name. These ants love pavement—more specifically, they love cracks and gaps in pavement. They also love to create nests along the sides of paved driveways and along concrete walkways. They nest in gaps between tiles or slabs. They nest next to rock landscape borders and near foundation walls. While they are technically ground-dwelling ants, they have a preference for being near or under hard objects. It is important to understand this. If you don't, you can accidentally invite an infestation. Today, we're going to give a few examples of how homeowners can make the mistake of inviting pavement ants inside their homes.

Trash

Pavement ants eat pretty much anything. If a scout ant discovers you have food sources sitting in a container within your garage or home, you could find these ants mobilizing in large numbers to bring that food back to their colony. This can happen when trash is left in receptacles that do not have a lid or when a receptacle has organic material on the outside. Drips and spills on your trash can should be cleaned up as quickly as possible to prevent ant invasions. And it is important to seal trash inside a container that has a cover. Another reason your trash can draw pavement ants in is that entry points are available, and the garage is much more susceptible because the seal on a garage door is hard to maintain, especially when you're trying to keep tiny ants out. Ants must work harder to breach your home. If you make sure your door sweeps, weatherstripping, frame seals, and screens are all in good working condition, you can reduce the possibility of an ant invasion. Don't make the mistake of leaving exposed trash in your garage or kitchen or allowing your receptacles to go unwashed.

Rotting Organic Material

Have you ever sat a trash bag down on the floor and had it leave a moist spot? That moist spot is highly attractive to ants. So when you leave trash on the floor of your garage or on a piece of wood near your home, you can lure pavement ants in. If you set trash near your door to be brought outside, this location can become a point of attraction. If a scout ant exploits a gap in a door sweep or some weatherstripping, it won't take it long to get to that spot near your door. Don't make the mistake of setting trash down and leaving dampness.

Entry Points

Pavement ants are drawn to explore for entry points. They're always getting into cracks and gaps. If you have cracks in your foundation wall, it won't take long for these ants to find them. You should use a crack repair kit to seal those cracks.
Gaps around pipes and wire conduit are another trouble area. As these ants explore the grout on brick structures and the hard surface of concrete foundations, they quickly stumble onto damaged seals around pipes and wire conduit. If a pipe is moist from condensation, it is even more attractive.

While pavement ants don't damage the wood of your home, they will take advantage of holes created by carpenter ants and other wood-destroying pests. A caulking gun is a great tool for filling in holes and keeping pavement ants out.

Don't make the mistake of letting ants that are drawn to look for cracks find them in your home.

Landscaping

There is lots of food in your landscaping. Insects feed on your plants and pavement ants feed on insects. They'll also eat the honeydew products by some plant-damaging insects. Don't make the mistake of not having routing residential pest control treatments to reduce pavement ants and the insects they feed on.

While pavement ants are mostly nuisance pests, they can be an issue when they pick harmful bacteria up and carry it to sensitive locations within your home. Keep them out with residential pest control from American Pest Solutions. Get started by requesting a free evaluation.