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4 Easy Methods to Get Rid of Ants on Your Patio

4 Easy Methods to Get Rid of Ants on Your Patio

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No one wants to feel like their home is infested with bugs and it can be so annoying to have to deal with ants.

Ants are one of the most common types of pests that people have to deal with each day. Depending on where your property is located, you might wind up having to deal with a significant ant problem.

If you’re stepping out on your patio and noticing that there is a small army of ants waiting to greet you, then you might be grossed out.

Don’t worry because it is possible to get rid of ants on your patio effectively. You just need to take the time to learn about your options so that you can move forward.

Read on to learn more about ants on your patio and what you can do to get rid of them. You’ll be able to go through several options that will help you to make things better for your situation.

Once you’ve had the time to consider your options, it’ll be easier to determine the best route to take so that you can enjoy your patio without having to deal with ants.

Find the Ant Nest

Ant Hill In The Lawn

One of the first things that you should try to do is discover where the ant nest is. If you know that the ants are centered around your patio area, then it’s likely that the ant nest is nearby.

In case you aren’t familiar with ants, you should know that ants form hills where they keep their colonies and it’s pretty easy to spot the mounds of soil.

Search the area near your patio to see if you can notice any ant hills so that you can take care of them.

If you manage to spot one, then you can take steps to get rid of it. You just need to know where these ant hills are located or else you’ll have a hard time truly eliminating the ants and taking care of your infestation.

Keep in mind that it isn’t unusual to notice several ant hills, too. You might find two or three anthills if you have a bad ant problem and you shouldn’t panic if this is the case.

You’re going to be able to take some simple steps to eliminate the ant hills safely and everything will be under control.

In addition to your patio area, you may find ants in your grass, in that case, you may also want to see my tips on how to get rid of ants in grass naturally.

Recognize What Type of Ants You’re Dealing with

Red Fire Ant

The type of ants that you’re dealing with can play a role in how you deal with this problem, too.

You see, carpenter ants are the most common and they are generally not going to be hard to deal with. If you’re dealing with fire ants, then you should know that they can be more aggressive and will sting you to defend their territory.

Fire ants have a reddish look to them and you’ll likely be able to tell them apart from typical black or brown ants.

Their reddish-brown bodies are quite distinctive, but it can be harder to find the entrance holes to their anthills. They make mounds that are very visible, but you’ll have a harder time figuring out where the ants are entering and exiting without more observation.

There are various other types of ants as well, but you mostly just want to be wary of fire ants due to the potential of being stung. If you have fire ants, then you’ll want to try to avoid disturbing them without having the proper protection.

Be mindful of what you’re dealing with and you can go from there.

1 – Boiling Water

Pot Of Boiling Water

Boiling water is something that can make short work of anthills if you want to eliminate them.

After finding the ant hills in question, you can get yourself a pan of boiling water or an electric kettle (from amazon) and then carefully carry it to the anthill location. Pour the boiling water in the anthill after raking it open to eliminate the nest.

If you want to make this method even more effective than usual, then you should mix a little bit of liquid soap into your boiling water. It winds up giving your boiling water even more killing power than usual and the ants won’t know what hit them.

Anyone who wants to rid themselves of ants in a timely fashion will like making use of this method.

Just remember to be careful if you’re trying to eliminate a fire ant nest. It might be best to work fast while also wearing protective clothing that is tight to your skin.

Keep your wits about you and try to get the boiling water poured down the nest quickly to avoid any issues.

One potential problem with this idea is that boiling water can be harmful to your lawn and any plants that you have in the area.

If you are worried about harming your lawn, then you might need to find some other method that will work better for you. You just need to know that the boiling water will have an impact in the area where you’re pouring it.

2 – Vinegar and Water

Bottle Of Vinegar

Many people make use of vinegar and water to get rid of ants as well. This method can work just as well as boiling water in many ways, but it carries similar risks to the ones mentioned above. You have to rake the nest open as usual and pour the vinegar and water mixture into the ant nest.

Getting your ant problem taken care of using vinegar and water will be a cost-effective solution. It’s just worth noting that vinegar is harmful to vegetation just like boiling water is.

If you’re looking for something that won’t negatively impact your lawn or plants, then vinegar and water are not going to be completely ideal.

Remember that you can use vinegar to make a barrier between your patio and the lawn as well.

Many people use the vinegar barrier method to keep ants from entering their homes. You can spray vinegar and water around your patio to keep ants from wanting to come near it and this works surprisingly well in most cases.

Just remember that your vinegar and water barrier isn’t going to last for too long outdoors. This works better in an indoor environment, but it can be a good short-term solution to keep ants at bay when you’re just trying to enjoy a summer day on your patio.

Thankfully, there are still more options to explore when it comes to eliminating ants.

3 – Chemical Ant Killers

Chemical ant killers will be an ideal solution for many people who don’t want to have to mess around. You can go to the store and buy some type of pesticide that will work for killing whatever type of ant you’re dealing with.

Some people even take pictures of the ants and then ask experts for advice on which chemical ant killing spray will work best.

You will be able to find many options when looking for chemical sprays to kill ants. Find a good one and then spray your patio with the ant spray to get rid of them.

It’s also going to be a good idea to destroy the nest and use the ant spray to kill the ants so that they won’t keep being a problem.

Using chemical ant killers is very practical and you just need to follow the instructions. You might buy something more complex than just ant spray if you have a major infestation, but it’ll still be easy to use by following the instructions.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from professionals when purchasing products like this.

4 – Calling Exterminators

Exterminator Spraying Pesticide

Finally, calling exterminators is going to be the simplest way to deal with ants on your patio. You can have professionals come out to your home and examine your ant problem thoroughly. They can go through your options and determine the best route to take care of the ants for good.

If you’re worried about dealing with fire ants or if you just can’t be bothered, then calling for help makes a lot of sense. This will likely be more expensive than buying chemical ant killers and handling it yourself, but the professionals will likely eliminate the ants more thoroughly than you could.

If you have the money to spend and you really want the ants gone fast, then this option makes sense for you.

Exterminators are great when it comes to finding ant nests and you might not be able to locate them as easily. Calling exterminators is simple and they will be able to handle your issues swiftly.

Consider whether you’d like to make things easy by just calling for help.

Make Your Decision

Make your decision about what ant removal method is going to work best for you. You can try to take care of the problem yourself or you can go the route of calling in professionals.

Now that you have seen all of your options, it’s going to be much easier to make an informed decision.

Having ants on your patio doesn’t have to be a huge annoyance when you know how to take care of things. You can get rid of ants inexpensively by using boiling water or you can buy more powerful chemical ant killers to handle a big ant infestation.

Either way, you won’t be dealing with ants for much longer.

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