Many DIY-savvy homeowners invest in numerous ant control products, such as sprays, traps, and baits, in an attempt to handle ant infestations themselves. But did you know that many common items that you already have in your cupboards and pantry are effective in fighting ants as well?

This article explores the various household ingredients that deter ants and what to do when these DIY approaches aren’t enough to handle an ant infestation.

Vinegar

A tip for how to kill ants in the kitchen is to mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water in a spray bottle and then spray it directly onto ants when you see them. Vinegar is also useful for deterring ants from areas where they typically come into a home, such as doorways and windowsills.

Chalk

Chalk is made from calcium carbonate, which ants strongly dislike. Ordinary sticks of chalk can be used around the bases of counters and tables so that ants don’t climb up from the ground onto higher surfaces. However, you will need to apply chalk regularly to get the ant-repellent effects since it wipes off easily with normal household activity.

Dish Soap

Killing fire ants with dawn dish soap is a common at-home remedy for ant problems and works well with ingredients you likely already have at home. Mix one part dish soap with two parts water in a spray bottle and spray it directly onto ants to kill them. You may need to do this for several days in a row until the entire colony is dead.

Borax

Borax is commonly used in cleaning products and is lethal to ants. You can mix borax with water and confectioner’s sugar to create a paste that you put in containers near ant entry points. Worker ants will carry the sweet (yet toxic-to-them) substance back to their nests and be poisoned.

Citrus

Ants also hate citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits. You can put the juice of citrus fruits into a spray bottle to spray on door jams and window sills. Another idea is to puree orange peels with a bit of water and rub the mixture on these areas of a home to deter ants.

Coffee

Coffee grounds work well as an ant-repellant because ants don’t like the smell of coffee or the feeling of the grounds on their feet. Try sprinkling coffee grounds around your plants both inside and outside to keep pesky ants away.

When Household Items Aren’t Enough

While these natural, at-home remedies are certainly worth a try, they aren’t always the fastest, easiest, or most effective ways to get rid of ants. This is especially true if you have a widespread ant infestation that spans multiple areas of your home and property.

The best way to get ants out of your life is to call Precise Termite & Pest Control for a free and professional inspection. We know all of the best tips and tricks for exterminating ants and offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all our services. Residents of Bergen and Passaic counties trust us whenever they have ant problems of any type or size, so call us at 866-971-2847 or contact us online.

Ants typically build nests outdoors and spend the bulk of their time outside in their natural habitat. However, they can also be enticed to come into a home if they find an easy entrance and a food source.

To help you prevent house ants and keep them away, here is some information about what attracts ants in a house.

Types of Ants in House  

Many different types of ants are common in our area and known to seek shelter indoors in certain circumstances. House ants that we are often called out to identify and exterminate include pavement ants, carpenter ants, odorous house ants, thief ants, acrobat ants, and pharaoh ants. This last type, pharaoh ants, are especially known for being very difficult to control if they get indoors. Even fire ants can get inside a house and cause major issues because they bite and sting people and pets.

When Are House Ants a Problem?

Ants in a house are a problem at any time of the year, but we notice the biggest issues during the warm summer months. This is because ants, like many types of insects, are most active in the summer. They often come indoors in search of water and through doors and windows that you leave open to let the fresh air inside.

The Issue of Moisture Around a House

Moisture is one of the biggest things that attract ants inside a home. Ants need water to survive and will look to household sources of water during the dry summer months, especially in places experiencing a drought or where it hasn’t rained in a while. Although you can’t control the weather, you can control lakes around your house. Check pipes and water sources around your house, as well as the roof, to ensure there is no standing moisture to attract ants.

Holes and Cracks as Entry Points

Ants are tiny creatures that are able to squeeze through places you might not expect them to be. One of the best things you can do to prevent ants is to seal up any holes, cracks, and gaps in the exterior of your home. Also, seal up locations where wires and pipes enter your house to close off potential entry points.

Debris and Clutter Around the House

Something else that attracts is debris and clutter left outside and around your house because these make great ant habitats. Remove rock piles, wooden boards, tree stumps, firewood, and fallen logs from the areas close to your house to deter ant activity.

How to Get Rid of Ants Inside the House

If you have noticed ants inside your house, now is the time to call Precise Termite & Pest Control for help. We are highly experienced with ant control and removal for all of the types of ants that get inside homes in Northern New Jersey. We offer free inspections to assess your ant problem, so call us today at 866-971-2847.

Having just a few ants outside around your property is not usually a cause for concern. But what if those ants begin multiplying and making their way inside your house?

When you notice an ant problem, there are many commercial products that you can buy to take a DIY approach. Here are the best ant sprays to try using to curb an infestation next time you notice ants.

1. Terro T401SR Ant Killer Spray

This ant spray kills ants on contact and keeps killing them for up to six weeks. Not only can it be used on ants, but also on cockroaches, crickets, beetles, and other insects. You can use this effective spray inside or outside to control ants, but it does have a strong smell and can be harmful to kids and pets.

2. Raid Ant Killer 26

Raid is a well-known ant spray brand and has multiple options to choose from, including Raid Ant Killer 26. This product has residual action that lasts for up to four weeks and also kills ants on contact. It has no lingering odor and works well with carpenter ants and cockroaches. Although this product has lingering effects, it is not necessarily a long-term solution since you need to keep applying it.

3. EcoSMART Organic Ant Spray

One of the best ant sprays if you want an eco-friendly option is EcoSMART Organic Ant Spray. This is a fast-acting spray that kills on contact and doesn’t stain surfaces. However, this product is costlier than many other ant sprays on the market and is best used or small ant problems rather than widespread infestations.

4. Mdxconcepts Organic Home Pest Control Spray

A family-friendly ant spray to consider for your home is this one that doesn’t contain any chemicals. Instead, it’s made from organic extracts to kill ants instantly for both indoor and outdoor use. This spray does have a slight odor and may leave a filtrate layer behind on some surfaces though.

5. Ortho Home Defense

For longer-lasting results, many homeowners choose Ortho Home Defense for indoor use. It is ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, and basements and can repel ants for up to three months after sprayed. This product is easy to use but it does contain potentially toxic chemicals and is more expensive than other DIY solutions.

When Ant Sprays Aren’t Enough

Using one of these best ant sprays is certainly worth a try when you see ants gathering around your home, but sometimes DIY sprays just aren’t enough to get the job done. This is when it’s time to call Precise Termite and Pest Control for a free inspection and professional extermination. We know all the best tips and tricks for getting stubborn ants out of your house for good based on the specific type of ants you’re dealing with. Call us at 866-971-2847 to learn more!

Discovering any type of pest in the house is unsettling and frustrating, but ants can be particularly tricky to deal with. Ants often invade a home in search of food, but knowing the type of ants you have can be valuable information for getting rid of them.

From the extermination experts at Precise Termite & Pest Control, here are some tips for how to get rid of ants in the house.

Deep Clean Your House

Even the tiniest scraps of food can be big feasts for ants, so one way to get rid of ants is to destroy all potential sources of food in your home. Vacuum the floors daily, take out trash right away, and clean surfaces of any crumbs that remain after meals.

Secure Your Pantry

Ants love discovering open sources of food in kitchens, so another way to get them out of your house is to make sure everything is stored away in airtight containers. It’s also a good idea to wipe down the outside of containers after you use them so that there’s no sticky residue to attract ants.

Commercial Ant Spray

You can purchase ant sprays over-the-counter from local home improvement and hardware stores to kill existing ants in a house. However, these products are not deterrents for new ants entering the home, which means that more ants could easily come in and replace the ones you have sprayed and killed. These chemical-based sprays can also be harmful to kids or pets living in the house.

Powdered Chalk

Some homeowners swear by chalk that contains calcium carbonate to keep ants away as a DIY home remedy. Powdered chalk can be sprayed at ant entry points.

Lemons and Lemon Peels

Some ants are also deterred by lemons, so you can try putting lemon peels or squeezing lemon juice at ant entry points in your home. Cleaning your floors with a mixture of water and lemon juice can have the same effect.

Red or Black Pepper

Ants despise the smell and taste of pepper, so you can sprinkle some red or black pepper in the places where ants are coming in. This won’t kill existing ants in your house, but it may deter new ones from coming in.

Peppermint

Another natural DIY remedy that you can try is peppermint, which is a natural insect repellant for ants and other insects. A dozen or so drops of peppermint essential oil mixed with a couple cups of water can be sprayed around windows and baseboards of a home to deter ants.

Call Precise Terminate & Pest Control

If you have tried one or more of these strategies and been unsuccessful, it’s likely time to call in a professional to look at your ant problem and get rid of them for good. Precise Termite & Pest Control specializes in ant control and removal in Northern New Jersey, and we’re here to get rid of ants in your home now and to also help prevent future infestations. Call us at 866-971-2847 for a free ant inspection today.

It has been estimated that there are around one quadrillion ants living on our planet today, and there are over 12,000 different ant species here as well. Ants live in diverse habitats all over the world, and Northern New Jersey is certainly no exception.

Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about ants to help you better understand these insects and what to do if they start invading your home or yard.

Where Do Ants Live?

Ants are a resilient type of insect and can live nearly anywhere – both outside and inside. Ants are often found living in trees, cracks in the sidewalks, and in kitchens with open containers of food. Kitchen counters, bathroom sinks, behind baseboards, and inside walls are all common ant habitats inside a home. Ants can eat a wide variety of foods and thrive on food scraps left behind, dead animals or insects, and trash.

One particularly troublesome type of ant that we encounter in our area is the fire ant. These ants build large mounds near rotting logs and tree stumps. You’ll often find these ants underneath your home, shed, and other structures on your property.

How Long Do Ants Live?

Different ant species live for different lengths of time. An ant’s location, access to food and shelter, and role in the ant colony also impact how long an ant lives. This is pretty fascinating because it means that ants can live anywhere from a few days to even a few decades!

Male ants generally have the shortest lifespans and only live a few days after mating. Worker ants are nonreproductive female ants that maintain the ant colony and typically live up to a few months. Queen ants can live for several years or even longer under the right conditions.

Those fire ants we mentioned earlier often live for a little over a month. If an ant of any kind has access to food and water, it will live longer and thrive in the environment. Ants that live in warm climates remain active throughout the year, while cool-weather ants can become dormant during the winter to survive the harsh conditions.

Ant Control in New Jersey

We hope this helps satisfy your curiosity about the common questions of “Where do ants live?” and “How long do ants live?” Ants are certainly interesting to learn about, but they aren’t something that you want to deal with on your property or especially inside your home. Precise Termite & Pest Control offers the best ant control and removal services in Northern New Jersey to help you identify, address, and exterminate an ant problem right away.

Ant removal is very tricky, and a DIY approach rarely gets the job done right or for the long-term. Call our team of ant control specialists at the first signs of ant activity or unexplained insect damage and we’ll be happy to come out for a free inspection. Fortunately, ant issues are easily controllable with the right tools and expertise, so don’t delay getting in touch with us online or by phone at 866-971-2847.