Follow the trail rather than wiping it
Every worker ant that reaches food and returns safely reinforces the same scent trail for the next one, which is why a line seems to thicken the longer it is left alone. Cleaning a trail off just means a new one gets laid, tracing it back is what actually reveals the colony, whether that's near Deptford, where converted dockland warehouses and new-build flats close to Deptford Creek, or elsewhere in the borough.
Step one: find where they enter the room
The best time to watch is a warm, still spell when activity is at its highest, follow the trail with your eyes rather than interrupting it, much as it does near Deptford, where converted dockland warehouses and new-build flats close to Deptford Creek. The usual entry points are a back door threshold, a patio door edge, or a gap around skirting, mark whichever it turns out to be rather than wipe it away, as anyone near Lewisham will recognise, where the town centre and surrounding streets.
Terraced gardens on the hillier streets around Sydenham
The steep gardens attached to the Victorian terraces around Sydenham and Forest Hill often see ants entering at patio doors in warmer months, with a nest settled in the joints of paving that has been laid to level out the slope.
What to leave alone for now
- Spraying the trail, which kills the foragers and leaves the colony intact
- Pouring boiling water into paving, which can damage mortar and rarely reaches the queen
- Filling the entry gap before the nest is dealt with, which sends the ants to a new gap
- Scattering powders along the trail, which can split a colony into several smaller ones
Closing the way in afterwards
With the colony gone, the last step is sealing the exact gaps the ants were exploiting, a threshold, a pipe hole, a mortar crack, and nothing more, just as near Brockley, where well-preserved Victorian terraces and conservation-area streets close to the station. Weep holes and air bricks should stay clear, sealing them shut only traps moisture inside the wall, whether that's near Catford, where victorian terraces and postwar estates spreading out from the town centre and shopping area, or elsewhere in the borough.
Booking ant control in Lewisham
Ant control in Lewisham runs £190 for a flat and £220 for a house, and because around Brockley, where well-preserved Victorian terraces and conservation-area streets close to the station, it helps to say roughly whereabouts in the garden the nest might be when you book ant control, with the rest on the Lewisham ant control page.
