The powerful mandibles of ants make them chew almost everything from wood and plastic to concrete, leading to structural damage to the building and its foundations.
Can Ants Damage House Foundations? Ants can damage house foundations by chewing through concrete or drywall and getting inside the building through narrow spaces within walls and ground. Moreover, they can chew insulation and wirings and cause structural damage. Window caulks, wooden doors, and foamy insulations are not safe from their attack. Furthermore, you can stop ants by restricting their entry inside the house or killing their whole population using bait.
It is a matter of concern when you see ant trails moving up or down the wall or going inside the ground through a crack in the concrete, as they can damage the foundation of the house.
Can ants cause structural damage to the house?
The structural components of a house or its foundation can get severely damaged if ants attack and dig deep down into the ground.
Ants are nuisance pests and cause a big problem for the house if there is a heavy infestation of these insects in the periphery.
Moreover, these can pose a risk to the building as they are responsible for damaging the foundation by attacking the windows, doors, kitchen cabinets, etc.
An infiltration of ants in the area close to the building raises concerns about structural damage as they can chew almost everything using their powerful teeth.
In addition, these can enter your food items and even clothing and create a chaotic situation inside the house.
In the same way, they can form mounds in the outdoor areas and make grass unsuitable for your children to walk and play on the lawns.
They are known for their high resistance to environmental changes as they have managed extinction events when the dinosaurs could not tolerate the changes and became extinct.
So, you have to protect wiring and insulations from these chewing insects as they break apart everything that can be chewed without making any other difference.
Why do ants damage house foundations?
It is essential to know the reasons for the entry of ants inside the house as it is worth noting what makes these insects damage the house foundation and reach inside.
There are only a few factors that can make them cause damage to the foundation, including the presence of plenty of food inside whose smell attracts them.
These insects will manage to reach inside the house at any cost and search for narrow spaces that can become a suitable entry route for these tiny creatures.
Accordingly, they can reach water pipes, electrical lines, and windows to move through holes leading to pipes and wires inside the building.
In addition, moisture can be the reason for causing damage to the foundation as these insects move underground areas close to plants because the roots maintain moisture levels.
Accordingly, these insects build tunnels inside the soil and move along the roots that can sometimes be close to the building, making it weaker.
The building can fall at any time if ants have loosened the soil under it by continuous movement, as it weakens the foundation of the building.
Furthermore, ants prefer to find suitable spots when the weather is not favorable, as they have to reach safe places during rain to avoid the risk of flooding.
So, they begin to chew window caulk to make their way through the house and move inside a warm place to ensure their safety.
How do ants damage house foundations?
You have to know the ways employed by ants to cause damage to the foundation of a house as it helps in devising strategies to get rid of these insects.
The narrow holes around window frames and doors provide a route of entry to these tiny creatures as they can easily manage to pass through these narrow spaces.
In addition, they can cause damage to electrical wires insulation as their mandibles can chew the rubber material and expose the internal lines.
The spaces and gaps in the walls provide suitable hiding spots for these insects as they prefer to live in safe places where they can easily come out and get back to it.
These tiny ants can also chew the foam insulations and drywalls, leading to severe structural damage.
Moreover, the wooden doors, windows, and kitchen cabinets are not safe from attack because they can chew wooden logs, collect sawdust in their mouths, and spit it around their nest.
They can quickly get underneath a concrete slab by making their way through solid concrete to reach underground areas after detecting a good source of moisture or a suitable spot for nesting.
Accordingly, they are efficient at building deep tunnels and can reach almost 20 to 25 meters deep into the ground to live.
So, you can see them moving inside paved areas like driveways if they have found a small crack and dig deep through the solid surface.
It does not take a day or month to cause structural damage to the building, as these tiny creatures work for years to reach underneath the soil.
How to get rid of ants around house foundation?
It is better to identify an ant infestation and get rid of them in time to avoid severe structural damage to the building that can lead to a significant loss.
The presence of trails indoor and outdoor areas and dirty mounds indicate an infestation of these insects as they leave piles of soil on sidewalks or close to the house foundation.
Moreover, you have to make efforts to restrict their entry by sealing all the narrow holes and cracks on the concrete floor.
A clean house is not at much risk of ant infestation compared to one with dirty dishes in the sink, uncleaned clothes in the laundry, and food leftovers on the countertops.
A bait prepared by mixing sugar water and baking soda can be effective as it reacts in their stomach and make them die in a short duration.
In addition, fix all the leaky pipes and faucets to keep floors dry and make bathrooms unattractive for these insects as they are attracted to moist places.
Rotting wood in windows, doors, and furniture attracts these insects as they build tunnels inside the wood and live there, so you have to remove rotting furniture.
Furthermore, some odorous flowers can produce a strong and alluring smell, so these insects will come after the flower scent and build their nests in the garden, so you have to remove vegetation.
What type of ants can damage house foundations?
A few ant species are responsible for making building foundations susceptible to damage, leading to a risk of falling.
Pavement ants are known to damage house foundations as these are household species and are commonly present in the garden and paved surfaces.
Moreover, they are good at moving inside the buildings through tiny gaps within windows and doors and reaching food pantries and kitchens in search of sweet and proteinaceous food items.
They build nests around sidewalks and driveways and get food from inside the building.
In addition, the carpenter ants can cause severe damage to wooden buildings as they make holes within the wood and make it hollow from the inside.
The presence of sawdust in the periphery of the building indicates that carpenter ants have attacked the building and weakened its base.
So, it is better to deal with these insects quickly to avoid costly repairs that cost you more than the professional pest controllers that can efficiently control the infestation.
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