Can Ants Eat Through Caulk? (And What Keeps Them Out?)

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It can be so bothersome to notice ants scurrying about in your house. You might be curious about how the ants are even getting inside the house if you’ve already taken precautions.

If you’ve done a good job of caulking your windows, then you might think that there should be no way that ants should be able to get into the house. Is it possible that ants are eating through the caulk?

Read on to learn whether or not ants can eat through caulk. You’ll also get information about what you should do to try to keep ants at bay.

Getting frustrated by ants is very easy, but you don’t need to fret. This is something that you can take care of so long as you keep a cool head.

Yes, Ants Can Eat Through Caulk

Sadly, it is possible for ants to eat through caulk over time. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy for them to do, though.

If you take the time to caulk your windows and other spots in your house, then it should make things tougher for the ants. Most homeowners report that it takes ants weeks or months to eat through caulk depending on how thick the caulk is.

You might buy yourself a lot of time if you choose to caulk your windows, and that means that caulking isn’t worthless. Of course, people caulk windows for reasons other than trying to keep ants out as well.

Caulking your windows might be primarily motivated by eliminating drafts and trying to keep energy bills as reasonable as possible. Don’t despair if ants seemed to have eaten through your caulk and reopened holes because you can always just caulk the window again.

Caulking Isn’t Always a Solution to Your Ant Problems

The most important thing to recognize is that caulking isn’t always a solution to your ant problems. Some people think that jamming up the entrance that the ants are utilizing will be enough, but this just delays things.

Ants are trying to enter your home for a reason, and you won’t be able to turn things around until you address what is wrong. For instance, your house might not be clean enough, and excess food particles could be attracting ants.

If you want to keep your home safe from ants, then you need to start by doing what you can to make things unappealing to the ants. Do a very thorough job when cleaning your house, and try to ensure that no crumbs and excess food bits are left lying around.

Sometimes it might be necessary to put pet food away when your pets aren’t eating, too. Placing pet food in secure airtight containers will keep the food safe from bugs.

You Might Need to Caulk Other Areas

It’s also very possible that the ants are getting into the house using other holes that you haven’t noticed yet. Caulk can be a good ant deterrent, but ants are crafty enough to find other holes if they exist.

You might have holes in your tile that are allowing ants to get in from somewhere outside. This means that doing a thorough evaluation of your property is the best way to try to keep ants at bay.

Plugging up holes with caulk is a great idea, but you’re going to want to try to get them all. Plugging up one or two holes when there are four or five is only going to do you so much good.

Do what you can to determine where any holes or cracks exist in your home. Common areas that need to be caulked include bathroom and kitchen tiles and windows.

Ant Spray

Ant spray is something that you can use in your home to get rid of ants fast. There are all sorts of different sprays that are designed to kill ants on the market.

Spraying these insecticides will kill ants that come into contact with it. The good thing about many of these commercial products is that the effect will linger for quite some time.

If you know that your area has a particularly bad problem with ants, then you might wish to just spray your house with ant spray from time to time. Some people even go so far as to spray around the perimeter of their homes to try to keep ants as far away from the house as possible.

You could go further and try to find anthills out in the yard. Using ant spray on the anthills should kill many ants, and you can also choose to pour vinegar down the anthills to kill ants.

There are plenty of options to choose from when looking to kill ants. Most people like to utilize simple chemical sprays because you can just point the spray cans in the direction of the ants and get things done.

You’ll also find types of powder that can kill ants as well as other more natural ant-killing products. Just research them and make your choice about what ant-killing products will make the most sense for your home.

Calling Exterminators

Sometimes homes have really bad problems with bugs, and this means that it will be tough to handle things without professional help. If you have an extreme number of ants in your house, then calling an exterminator might be the best idea.

Exterminators can come to your house and assess the situation in a timely fashion. They have years of experience and the right tools to handle the job.

One good thing about calling in professionals is that they can give you advice about what is going on. There could be something that is attracting ants to the area that you didn’t consider before.

The best exterminators will work with you to help you solve your problems. They’ll spray your house and handle things as expected, but they’ll also be good about giving you counsel that you can utilize to keep your ant issue under control when the spray wears off.

Be Vigilant About Cleaning

Once you’ve handled the ants for now, it’s going to be important to avoid resting on your laurels. It’s great to take care of the problem, but it won’t stay taken care of if you don’t take cleaning seriously.

You’re going to want to clean your house as thoroughly as possible to keep ants from wanting to come back. Ant-killing sprays are only going to last so long, and your vigilance about cleaning will play a central role in keeping the ants from coming back.

Caulking is a good idea because it will make your home tougher for ants to get into, but that shouldn’t be your only strategy. Most people do clean, but not everyone cleans as often as they should due to not having the time.

You might be a busy individual who just doesn’t always have the time to do a deep clean each week. Do your best to make time to clean more often if you know that ants are a problem in your area.

Having a strong cleaning strategy is going to make a huge difference over time. You’ll be more likely to be able to enjoy your home without having to deal with ants if you’re keeping things spic and span.

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