Ant Control

Ants are the number one pest call we get in Central Indiana, and the number one thing homeowners have already tried to fix themselves. Here is what you are probably dealing with, why the spray under your sink is not working, and how we handle it.

The Ants We See Most in Indiana

Odorous House Ants

Small, dark brown to black, and they smell like rotten coconut when crushed. These are the ants trailing across your kitchen counter to the sugar bowl or the dog's dish. Colonies have multiple queens and split easily, which is exactly why spraying them makes the problem spread.

Carpenter Ants

Large, black or red-and-black, sometimes with wings in spring. They nest in damp or decaying wood: window frames, door sills, deck posts, wall voids near a leak. They do not eat the wood, but they excavate it, and a mature colony can do real structural damage over time. Piles of fine sawdust are the giveaway.

Pavement Ants

Small, dark brown, and responsible for the little mounds of dirt between sidewalk cracks and along the driveway. Indoors they show up along foundation walls and under slab floors, often in spring when they first get active.

Signs You Have More Than a Few Ants

• Steady trails along baseboards, counters, or window sills rather than the occasional scout
• Ants appearing in the same spot every day, especially near water sources like sinks and dishwashers
• Fine sawdust or wood shavings below window frames, door frames, or in the basement
• Winged ants indoors in spring, which means a mature colony is nesting inside the structure
• Ants in the walls: a faint rustling in wall voids at night is not your imagination

How We Treat Ants

1. Identify the species. Odorous house ants, carpenter ants, and pavement ants need different products and different placements. We do not guess.
2. Find the trail and the nest. Your technician follows the foragers back to where they are entering and, where possible, where they are nesting: the wall void, the mulch bed, the stump by the fence.
3. Bait and non-repellent treatment. Workers carry bait back to the colony and the queen. Non-repellent products at entry points let ants walk through them and spread the treatment inside the nest instead of scattering the colony.
4. Exterior perimeter. We treat the foundation, entry points, and the landscaping ants use as highways so the next colony has a harder time getting in.
5. Follow up. Baits take days to finish the job. We come back to confirm the trail is gone and re-treat if it is not.

What You Can Do Before We Arrive

• Do not spray the trail. Repellent sprays scatter the colony and make our baits less effective. Wipe up ants with soapy water if you must.
• Note where you see them and when. Morning versus evening, kitchen versus bathroom. That tells us what they are after.
• Look for moisture. Carpenter ants mean damp wood somewhere. Check under sinks, around windows, and anywhere a roof or gutter leaks.
• Keep food sealed and counters wiped so the bait is the most attractive thing in the room.

Keeping Ants Out for Good

Ant pressure in Indiana peaks in spring when colonies wake up and again in late summer when they go looking for water. Trimming shrubs and tree limbs off the house, keeping mulch a few inches from the foundation, sealing gaps around utility lines, and fixing leaks removes most of the reasons ants come inside. For homes that get ants every year, our Comprehensive plan includes a quarterly exterior treatment that keeps the perimeter hostile before the trail ever reaches the kitchen.

Ant Control Questions