An ant infestation in your bathroom can arise due to certain factors. Read on to understand these factors and what steps you can take to mitigate this pest invasion.
Why do I have ants in my bathroom? Ants can invade bathrooms due to their wet environment. Within bathrooms, ants may be present in rotten window ledges or other spaces that are accumulating water. Stagnant water and excessive moisture in your bathroom may lead to an ant infestation.
Find out further details about how you can prevent ants from entering your bathroom and how to eliminate them or drive them away.
Why are ants in my bathroom!?
Ants are commonly found in many homes. They may be found in bathrooms in addition to other areas of the house. Carpenter ants could be responsible for the infestation. Other ants like the Argentine, Pharoah and pavement ants may also be present. These are the most common types of ants found in residences. In addition, there is also a smaller possibility that you may have other kinds of ants.
Ants normally come into homes in search of shelter, water and food. Since water is one of the reasons that ants enter bathrooms, you should try to keep them as dry as possible.
Seeing one or two ants occasionally in your bathroom may not be too problematic. But seeing a large number of ants regularly can be a source of concern. You will then have to get serious about controlling this infestation because it can possibly get worse if not addressed.
Ants can enter your home through:
- Crevices and cracks around foundation walls and windows
- Via air conditioning and heating ducts
- Through ventilation openings located in attics
- Branches, utility lines and shrubs that are directly in contact with your home
If you are going to deal with the infestation on your own, then you will have to locate the source, that is, you must pinpoint the entry points as well as the nest itself. Take a look at all parts of your bathroom to find the location of the colony. There is one thing you can do to make it easier to find the nest. Simply track the ants as they move across your bathroom. You will soon locate the colony.
Stopping ants from entering your home
Ants taking refuge within your bathroom could be coming out of a nest located in a wooden beam or similar structure in your house. The nest may also be located behind the walls or under the flooring. This could possibly be just the satellite nest. The parent nest could be further away from your bathroom than the satellite nest.
You can take several steps to prevent ants from encroaching in your bathroom. This includes blocking entry points, eliminating ant hills within your yard and repairing plumbing leaks in your house. These steps can help to control ant infestations.
There may be different kinds of ants living outside of your property. One such species could be carpenter ants. These ants often build their nest in moist wood, tree stumps, tree roots and rotting trees as well. They may also find a home in boards or logs lying around the ground or buried underneath the soil. Carpenter ants are usually not treated as a nuisance if they are living outside of your home. The problem begins when they begin foraging for food and start building nests within your home. Carpenter ants can cause considerable structural damage to your property while boring holes through wooden structures within your home to construct their nest.
You can implement the following measures to reduce the chances of ant infestations inside your home.
- Repair all sources of leakages within your property. Make sure that you take care of roof leaks, leaking faucets, plumbing issues and water drainage problems
- Replace or repair all wood structure damaged by water or termites. In most cases, ants do not infest wood that has less than 15 percent water content.
- Make sure that there is enough clearance between structural wood and soil
- Ensure sufficient ventilation in your home and attic
- Remove stumps, logs and other wooden debris from areas surrounding your property. Keep firewood away from your house. Make sure that it does not touch the ground.
- Trim all trees and shrubs that are in contact with your home
- Seal all crevices and cracks on your property structure. Seal all holes through which wires and pipes are entering your house.
- Make sure that all door frames and windows are properly sealed
Take all possible steps to prevent ants from being motivated into entering your home. To improve your chances of eliminating the infestation, you should try to figure out which species has invaded your home. This is helpful for getting rid of ants since you can use this information to pinpoint the right treatment.
Getting rid of ants in your bathroom
There are several steps that you can take to reduce the ant population inside your bathroom and home. These steps should be followed after the aforementioned steps have been taken to prevent the entry of further ants inside your home and washroom.
You can utilize several natural remedies to get rid of ants. These natural methods have advantages over harmful pesticides and chemicals since they are safe and non-toxic.
Essential oils
Certain essential oils are good ant repellents such as tea tree oil, citrus oil and peppermint oil. You can make an effective ant repellent spray using the following simple method.
Fill up a clean spray bottle with a quarter cup of water. Add 7 drops of citrus oil, 16 drops of peppermint oil and 16 drops of tea tree oil. Shake the mixture vigorously and then spray the solution around your bathroom. Just make sure that you avoid using this spray in areas where you process edibles like the kitchen. For these areas you can spray a mixture that has 7 drops of lemon oil and 16 drops of peppermint oil.
Vinegar
Vinegar spray is a very effective ant-repellant. Prepare a mixture by pouring equal amount of water and vinegar in a spray bottle and mixing it vigorously before use.
Diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth (or DE) is a popular garden and home product that can kill all sorts of insects without causing any harm to human beings or pets. They are also safe for the environment. DE is made up of rocks that contain tiny fossils known as diatoms. This substance can be crushed into a powder the grains of which have numerous sharp points. These sharp edged grains can cut into insects and eliminate them. You can sprinkle generous amounts of the powder where you see plenty of ants.
Clean out the scent trails
While traversing your property, ants are capable of leaving behind a scent trail. This will guide other ants to food sources and back to the colony just like street signs. Of course, this trail won’t be visible to you. Ants can exit your bathroom to find sources of food such as kitchen garbage bin or cat food bowl. You should eliminate these scent trails simply by washing them off dishwashing liquid.
Fill up a small container with water and squirt some dishwasher liquid inside. Notice the trial along which ants are travelling to and from the colony. Wash off this trail with the mixture that you just prepared. You will have to repeat this step a number of times to fully eliminate the invisible scent trail.
Castille soap spray
This is an old folk remedy that you can employ to finish off ants. You can purchase castile soap from traditional general stores and health stores. Once you buy it, you should crush about a quarter cup of soap in a quart of water. Add in a few drops of peppermint oil. Mix the blend thoroughly and then spray it where ants are to be found to kill them.
One very well known castile soap is Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap. It is one of the best choices for making ant killer liquids.
Traps
Several insect traps are available that are toxin-free. These are very safe to use where you have kids and pets. Traps are lined with pheromones that attract ants and other insects into the box where they get stuck.
Chalk
Chalk is also a useful substance to deter ants. You can purchase chalk from the stationary store and grind it into powder form. If you want, you can also purchase powdered chalk in a bottle from the hardware store.
Aspartame
Although it is not a natural remedy, it is still effective. Aspartame poisons ants that eat it.
Related questions
Why are there ants in my toilet? Ants close to the bathroom can signify they’re interested in your pee. This brings ants to a bathroom. But if you do get ants and you exercise and eat wholesome food, odds are you’ll be just fine. There is a rare condition known as benign glycosuria wherever your body expels sugar together with your pee.
Why are ants coming out of my bathroom sink? Ants come into the toilet seeking outside debris and moisture in that the pipes they can feed on. Pest control steps might kill the ants, however if you can find structural deficiencies on your toilet which are enabling the ants to get inside, they will come back.
How do you get rid of ants in your shower? In the event that you presently have ants on your shower drain, then you can wash out the drain to get rid of those first. Then, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a 1/2 cup of white vinegar down the same drain. The mixture will bubble and foam, cleaning out that the residue that’s lining that the drain pipes.