Ants
Where Ants Nest Behind an Estate House
Garden ants like dry, sun-warmed ground they can dig into undisturbed. The sand and hardcore under a back path or patio suits them, and the strip where paving meets the house wall is a favourite spot because the brick holds the day's heat. A colony can live for years, so a nest under a path laid decades ago may be large. Where ants nest around houses lists the places to look.
The back doorstep
On these houses the back door usually opens directly into the kitchen. The step, the sill and the frame have taken a lot of weather, and a crack between the sill and the old brick, or a gap under a replacement door, is all ants need. A trail that starts at the back door and heads for the bin or the worktop shows where they are coming from. Why ants keep coming into the kitchen explains what draws them.
Lean-to kitchens and extensions
Where the kitchen has been extended or a lean-to added, ants may come up where the newer floor slab meets the old wall, or follow the waste pipe in. Note where the trail disappears indoors, then look at the same spot from outside.
Flying Ants in Burnt Oak Gardens
On a handful of warm, humid days in summer, mature colonies release winged queens and males. If they pour out of a crack by the back step, the nest is right there; if they come up inside the kitchen, it may be under the floor. Why flying ants appear indoors explains what is going on. Insects using one hole in the roof edge day after day for weeks are more likely a wasp nest.
Ants in a Flat Over the Broadway
In the flats above the shops, ants are less likely to be coming from a garden. Very small, pale ants in the warm parts of a flat may be Pharaoh ants, which are rare but nest indoors and travel through buildings; they should not be sprayed, because that can make the colony split. Read Pharaoh ants vs garden ants before trying anything. Small dark insects that scatter when the kitchen light goes on at night are more likely cockroaches.
If you rent your estate house from the council or a housing association, mention the ants to your landlord before booking; a trail coming through a cracked sill or a gap at the extension joint may also be a small repair the landlord would want to hear about. Private tenants should tell the landlord or agent too, since sealing the gap afterwards is work on the building.
Before the visit
- Tell us whether it is a house or a flat and where the ants come in
- Follow the trail outside if you can and note where it vanishes into the paving
- Stop spraying, and wipe the worktop with soapy water so the trail stays visible
- Keep food sealed and lift pet bowls at night
Ants may still be about for a time after the visit, depending on the size and position of the colony; how long ant treatment takes explains why. If activity has not dropped off, call us back and describe what you are seeing.
Keeping Ants Out of the Kitchen
- Seal the gap between the back door sill and the brickwork
- Brush kiln-dried sand into the joints of the path and patio each spring
- Keep plant pots and stored things a little way off the back wall
- Deal with greenfly on roses near the door, as ants farm them for honeydew
- Sweep bird seed and fallen fruit off the paving
Stopping ants entering your home has more, and Ant Control Barnet covers ants across the borough.
