How can I figure out if the line of ants is going into -- or coming out of -- my house?

Question

I have ants. There is a stream of them both entering and exiting my house at a point where my siding meets some masonry. I'm afraid they might be nesting inside the house and want to determine if that is indeed the case. Any advice, help, methods of treatment that people can offer is appreciated.

Answer 1

I found this article that appears to address your concerns. Good luck.

Answer 2

With all due respect you answered part of your question in that you suggest you SEE the "stream" They have an amazing social structure, and communications ability in a "GROUP" situation.

In some measure; nesting inside depends on the type of ant. Certainly Poison will help you erradicate, at least temporarily...sigh. The larger issues however are what attracts then, and through what avenue. They also have an amazing capacity to find the most minute residue, that you might believe you've cleaned up.

In my status I guess I'd suggest first...investigate any area where they might have access, and seal it, and or seal everything. ANTS are so much like WATER...they find a way.

Certainly too erradication methods, not so toxic to you or any pets, or children, will help. AS will perhaps monitoring possible or obvious "targets" they go for.

Agreeing that they can be pests, I'd probably want to explore all the possibilities that attract them before filling the environment with more pollutants, but that's just my opinion.

Consider this,,,and I mean this with all due respect to any other answerers. ANYTHING that relates to FOOD for an ANT, even in some invisible residue; is WHY they continue. There are many options, and not any that are FOOD sources laced with poisons or deterants.

Answer 3

Do you have access in your basement to the portion of the house where they're coming in? Most basements have drop ceilings...if you do, grab a flashlight, remove some of the panels and climb up a ladder to investigate.

If not, you could remove some pieces of the siding and look behind it. Chances are good that there's moisture somewhere in the framing of your house that is attracting the ants.

Most home improvement stores have good ant treatment products though. An exterminator can give a good spray, then you could get a maintenance program from the same exterminator that will keep the ants from coming back.

We had ants coming in through our back door, and it turns out that the sill below our back door was rotted out, and ants were living behind it. I used a chisel to get rid of the dead wood, put an oil-based primer over the wood to seal it off, then replaced the rotted board with a new one, also painted with an oil-based paint to prevent future moisture.

Answer 4

Get poison and kill them all!