There is a reason that ants are known to like picnics, they like food. If you are attracting ants into your home, they are probably scenting food in your house and have gone in to investigate. Ants are also attracted to standing water sources so they have a place to get a drink when they are thirsty, they need water to wash down all that food after all. There are several ways you can prevent ants from invading your home, including three simple solutions that will cost you nothing to implement.

Keep it Clean

Since most ants are attracted to the scent of food, make sure you are keeping your table and counters clean. After food preparation or meals, make sure the dishes are washed or at least rinsed and stacked in your dishwasher. Wipe down your table and counters, making sure that any food crumbs are thrown away and any sticky residue is cleaned up.

Don’t allow your trash to accumulate, instead take it out to your garbage cans when it is full or every night if possible. If you compost food waste, take it out to your compost pile every night so ants, such as sugar ants, don’t get into it when you go to bed. Sweep your floor so you can get all the food crumbs you may have dropped while cleaning up after cooking or eating meals.

Fix Cracks and Broken Seals

Ants, like many other insects and rodents, will see cracks, broken seals along doorways, windows and crevices in your foundation as invitations to enter your home. Inspect your home and plug any crevices that you find in your foundation. Seal around pipes that lead into your house and seal around pipes beneath your sinks as well. Fix cracks in your foundation so no pests can take advantage of them and enter your home.

Make sure that your doors and windows are properly sealed so they cannot sneak in under doorways or around unsealed windows. Use caulk to seal your storm windows to keep out ants. Also caulk around your bathtub and around any place ants have access to from the outside. You can even use chalk to draw a perimeter around your doors and windows that ants will refuse to cross to get into your home.

Eliminate Water Sources

If you have any dripping water outside your home, you will want to fix it to prevent standing water that will attract thirsty ants. Dump out water that might have accumulated from recent rains in empty trash cans, buckets or other containers around your house. Keep water out of your sinks in the kitchen as well so ants don’t go hunting for water there. If you have pets, don’t keep water outside if they have access to a pet door.

If you’ve try these solutions and you still have invading ants, you may have to call in a pest control company to help you get rid of the tiny pests that are living in your home.