Ants
Ant Nests Under Edgware Driveways
Black garden ants nest in warm, well-drained ground, and the sand under block paving, the joints of an old concrete drive and the edges of the apron in front of a garage all suit them. On a sunny drive, the paving warms quickly and the colony underneath stays dry. Small heaps of fine sand between blocks are often the only sign. Where ants nest around houses covers the other likely spots.
Along the edge of the garage floor
Where a garage floor slab meets the walls or the door threshold, there is usually a joint that has cracked or opened over the years. Ants from under the drive can follow it inside. In a garage that holds bird food, pet food, a crate of fizzy drinks or a forgotten bag of sugar for jam-making, they find something worth a trail.
From the garage into the house
In a house with an attached garage, a trail may carry on through the gap under the internal door or along a pipe run into the utility room or kitchen. Follow the line of ants back the way it came before cleaning it away; it may lead to the garage rather than straight outside. What stored clutter does for pests generally is on Pest Control Edgware.
Flying Ants From the Drive
On a few warm, humid days in summer, established colonies release winged queens and males. Seeing them swarm out of the gaps in a block-paved drive is a clear sign the nest is there. If they come out inside the garage or from the kitchen floor, mention that when you book, as the nest may be under the building. Why flying ants suddenly appear indoors explains more. Insects using one hole day after day for weeks are probably wasps, not ants.
Garden Ants or Something Else?
Pharaoh ants are tiny, pale ants that nest indoors in warm buildings. They are rare in houses, and more likely in heated blocks of flats, but they matter because shop sprays can make their colonies split and spread. Pharaoh ants vs garden ants explains how to tell. Small brown insects running across a kitchen at night are more likely cockroaches than ants.
Before and after the visit
- Tell us whether it is a house or a flat, and where the trail comes in: drive, garage, back door or floor
- Note where the trail disappears into the paving or under the garage door
- Stop spraying and wipe surfaces with warm soapy water, so the trail is still visible
- Move sweet drinks, bird food and pet food in the garage into sealed tubs
Ants may still be seen for a while afterwards, and how long depends on the size and position of the colony. How long ant treatment takes explains what affects it. If activity does not drop off, call us back and tell us what you are seeing.
Keeping Ants Out of the Garage and Kitchen
- Re-point or fill cracks where the garage floor meets the walls and the door threshold
- Brush kiln-dried sand back into the joints of block paving each spring
- Keep anything sweet in the garage in sealed containers
- Fit a seal under the internal door from the garage to the house
- Clear dropped bird seed and fallen fruit from the drive and paths
Ant nests under a drive are part of the garden, so they can never be ruled out completely. What you can control is whether the garage gives foragers a reason to come in, and whether the joints and doors between the drive, the garage and the kitchen let them through.
How to stop ants entering your home has more, and Ant Control Barnet covers the rest of the borough.
