Why is there ants in my bathroom

Since these places are moist, they are a perfect environment for nests. Regular maintenance will prevent the colony from spreading throughout your home. As I have already mentioned, ants choose humid areas for nesting.

Therefore, you should keep your bathroom dry by opening the window after taking a shower. Also, a quality vent system will help you get rid of steam and prevent forming the stagnant puddles of water on the walls and floor.

Never let the puddles of water stay on the floor after taking a bath. By wiping it with an old cloth, you can prevent ants from using your bathroom as a breeding ground. Dripping pipes and leaking faucets cause forming the water puddles. Since puddles are an ideal place for ants to nest, you should solve plumbing issues as soon as possible.

After taking a shower daily, you can expect bathroom drains to clog with hair and skin debris. That sediment is a perfect location for ants to make a nest.

Therefore, regular cleaning and unclogging drains will help you get rid of ants and prevent them from reappearing. If you notice any drainage problem in your shower cabin, call a plumber, and get the problem fixed. That way, you can solve the ant issue in the most practical way possible.

Once you spot ants, the first thing to do is to wipe cupboards, countertops , and walls with a water solution of white vinegar. 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. 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 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 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.

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. 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. This is an old folk remedy that you can employ to finish off ants. Inside of bathrooms, these ants may be found in rotting window ledges and other areas where moisture collects.

Throughout the home, ants can enter via:. Flying ants are not an anomaly. Also known as alates, flying ants are reproductives who are ready to mate. Their wings allow them to leave their colony to begin their search for a mate. Although many ant species reproduce in the spring and summer when the conditions are typically right, swarming ants may also be active during other times of the year.

With proper access from the outside, it's possible to see these flying ants in your bathroom. However, it's important to know the difference between flying ants and termites so that you don't misidentify the pest you're dealing with.

A pest control professional can help with identification. Depending on the species of ant that you've noticed in your bathroom, the nest that the ants are coming from could be inside a wooden beam or other construction component in your home, underneath the flooring or behind your walls. And that may just be a satellite nest.

The parent colony nest could be further away outside. Eliminating entry points, controlling ants which can reduce ant hills in your yard and having a professional repair any plumbing leaks on your property can help in preventing ant infestations in your home.

Outdoors, you may find ants, such as carpenter ants, living in moist wood , including rotting trees, tree roots and stumps, and logs or boards lying on or buried in the ground.

Carpenter ants are not usually considered to be a nuisance until they begin to nest and forage for food in homes. Moisture ants have workers that are yellowish in color and are about 4 to 4. What is the problem with the presence of this ant species?

These ants get its name because of its habit of nesting in various high moisture areas. When these ants nest indoors, it means that wooden floors or foundations may have moisture damage. This is particularly true in bath traps for example. What does this indicate?

The presence of moisture ants can be translated to the presence of plumbing leaks in various areas of your home including crawlspaces. This means that you would have to act immediately to replace the damage wood as well as fix the leak in your home plumbing. Many homeowners attribute the presence of ants in the bathroom to the summer season. Unfortunately, it may also be a sign of something far worse. So, what can you do with this ant problem?

Hot, wet wood will always be an attraction, and you will find this in ample supply in your bathrooms. The water that leaks into the wood may come from the area around the tub or sink. Naturally, you would have to ward off the attraction by sealing all the cracks in your bathroom including those found between tiles as well as the tub rim.

It also helps to keep the shower dry to ensure that moisture is kept in check. When applying caulk, make sure to give it ample time to cure; this means not using the bathroom for at least a day. Clean the showers with cleanser and brush regularly and remove any accumulated hair from the stopper at least once a week. Ants are known to forage for food and water. So keeping your bathroom and home clean would prevent ants from making it a target.