How to Get Rid of Ants in Attic?

Ants can reach every corner of the house to get moisture, food, and a safe space to build a nest and raise their population. It is essential to get control of their population if you do not want to put the building structure at risk, as they are known to cause extreme destruction.

How to Get Rid of Ants in Attic? It is easy to get rid of ants in the attic by identifying species and locating nests. You have to insulate the space, cut hanging branches of trees touching the rooftop, avoid the entry of other pests, use natural repellents, and spray insecticides. Contact pest control services if any other method does not work at your place.

Attics are the perfect spot for these tiny creatures as they can provide a suitable living spot due to warmth and less interference from a human due to low foot traffic.

How do you get rid of ants in the attic?

Infestations usually come out with varying impacts on every house. Therefore, you should deal with these destructive pests to prevent damage to the house structure.

Identify and locate colonies

It is better to identify the colonies of ants invading your attic to devise a suitable method for their permanent removal instead of spraying chemicals randomly.

Every species of these insects needs a slightly different treatment due to physiological and genetic variations.

This identification process involves observation of body color, size, and behavior.

In addition, they locate their nest by following the trail directed toward the garret because it is considered suitable to kill the whole colony instead of a few workers to get rid of them.

Insulation of attic

You can stop these insects from making their heaven in the attic with proper insulation methods to keep your place free of pests. The wood frames are at significant risk of attack by carpenter ants.

Accordingly, you can use loose-fill products like borates that are known to kill these pests quickly, and loose-fill fiberglass can also work well as they can last for 70 to 80 years.

You can also get pest control insulations from pest controllers that are cellulose insulation and pretty effective in controlling the pest population indoors and restricting their entry.

Cut hanging tree branches

Some species prefer to build their nests on trees that can reach their rooftop easily by climbing the trunks and moving through branches.

You can avoid these insects from reaching the storage space in the building close to the roof by pruning the branches touching the rooftop.

Additionally, use duct tape on the tree trunk to avoid their climbing behavior and cut the long tree branches as these preventive measures help control the pest entries.

Avoid dirt and insects

Attics are prone to pests attack because these storage spaces are warm or cozy and accumulate dirt and debris due to lesser maintenance.

It allows rodents and other insects to build their nests and raise the population. Accordingly, it leads to an infestation of ants because these insects usually get attracted to dirty places.

These insects usually reach a garret in search of food, and dirty places can attract more pests due to debris. So, they can get inside the storage space to eat dead bugs and attack living ones.

Furthermore, insects’ bodies are loaded with nutritional elements and rich protein sources that can attract these tiny creatures to consume their bodies and extract nutrients.

Use natural repellents

You can use some natural repellents to deal with the ants’ population humanely instead of massive killing with toxic chemicals. For example, sprinkling peppermint oil sprays can deter these insects.

They prefer to leave places where these insects feel uncomfortable, as the unpleasant odor of coffee powder and basil leaves spread in the attic can force them to go away.

Likewise, you can put cinnamon sticks or peels of cucumber and lemon, as their citric odor can repel them away and make your place free of these destructive pests.

Spray ant-killing solutions

It is better to use killing solutions if you have a large-scale infestation because repellents and cleaning practices cannot help you get rid of them.

These commercial solutions contain active ingredients like permethrin, deltamethrin, and bifenthrin that interfere with the internal processes and kill these insects.

Furthermore, you have to spray these insecticidal solutions on the colonies, as direct spraying at nesting areas effectively stops their colonies from multiplying.

Contact pest control services

You can also schedule a meeting with pest control companies to avail their services and hire professional exterminators to deal with infestations in attics.

A baiting method works well when combined with non-repellent sprays if you have smaller colonies, but toxic chemical sprays can help deal with massive populations.

It is not considered ideal for handling the chemicals while spaying if you do not know how to deal with them because these chemical sprays need careful handling.

These experienced people can solve the problem in a better way as they usually start dealing with natural bait to avoid the use of chemicals and then proceed to pesticide spray.

Why would you get rid of ants in the attic?

It is essential to deal with the infestation because these destructive insects can damage the house’s structure. In addition, the presence of nests in the upper portion of the building can also put other areas at risk.

Most commonly, the attics have wire networks connected to the whole house’s electrical outlets. As a result, these insects get attracted to the electric field and cause damage to electrical wires.

They can chew rubber insulations with their mandibles and cause electrical shocks or short circuits. In the same way, a few species like to chew wood and build tunnels inside to live there.

They get attracted to wooden furniture or floorboards and use their mandibles to create holes and get inside. They can hollow out the wooden beams by chewing the wood from the inside.

Accordingly, it leads to decreased stability of the building and makes it prone to destruction and long-term damage that can lead to the replacement of floorboards.

So, it is better not to ignore a few crawling insects in the garret because these scouting members can attract other fellows after finding a suitable location.

What type of ants can cause damage to attic?

Most commonly, you can find wood ants in the attic, as these areas of the house usually attract these dark brown or yellowish-colored pests.

Some others, like tramp and trail ants, can also reach the rooftop and get inside this space of the house to enjoy warmth in winter, as garrets can provide a cozy environment.

In addition, odorous house ants can invade the attic and enter from the holes and minor leaks in the walls, floors, and door frames.

Technomyrmex difficilis or white-footed ants can also attack the decaying wood and reach there by walking from hanging trees to the rooftop.

However, you have to deal with Camponotus sp., most probably because these insects are the most common species that are drawn toward the space under the roof.

Related Articles:

Start an Ant Colony Without a Queen