Keeping Ants Out of Your Home: Easiest, Safest and Cheapest Solutions

Last year it was like we were at war with ants. Normally ants don't bother me, and I never stomped on one; in fact if outside if I ever happen to come across ants busy at work, sometimes I would stop and watch them. They're quite the busy little workers.

However last year instead of working in their usual domain, they somehow set up camp in my home. One ant here and there never bothered me, but this time around it seemed as if we had a whole colony, and when I saw a few this weekend, I knew it was time to start ant proofing my home, especially when my sister told me that she had ants again in full bloom, just like last spring and summer.

First and foremost, those stupid little plastic any bait traps did nothing. In fact, the ants in our home did not even seem phased by them.

I knew in order to keep the ants out of my home, I was going to have to start with the outside of our home. Find means to keeping them out of the house, by stopping them before they even decided to slip under a crack.

I knew I did not want to spray any harsh chemicals in my yard. We have dogs, and we certainly don't want them getting sick because of chemical spraying. I knew that sealing cracks would keep them free from the home. Most ants tend to come up from our basement, and I knew that we had to seal of our cellar doors with some foam insulation. There were way too many cracks and openings in the rusty outdoor cellar door, and I had a good feeling that sealing up these cracks would keep the ant population under control.

Window sills and larger screen doors or window screens are other ways ants find an easy way in. It's pretty hard to not open a window during hotter months to let cool air in, but if you do, you can line your windowsill with either pepper, or bay leaves. Ants hate them and won't bother going near them. It's a nice, safe and effective way to keep ants from crawling in through open windows or doors.

If you already have a mini invasion going on inside your home, steer clear of plastic bait traps, they are not very effective and it won't keep them away. I found that making sure counters and floors were clear of crumbs, there was no longer a food supply for them, and this will hopefully cause them to either perish, or move out!

Keeping your home free of ants is not at all that difficult if you are just willing to spend a bit of time finding the source to their invasion. Likely it's a crack in a cellar door, or an opening wide enough for them to squeeze through. So check around your home, and try and seal off this opening.

Also, like I mentioned, if you plan on leaving windows open, buy a few potted bay leave plants, or line your window sills with pepper. The main reason ants come back season after season is because your home provided a good source of food for them, so make sure your house is free of crumbs from food.
These are the easiest, safest and cheapest methods to keeping your home ant free.