What To Do If You Find Ants Coming Through Your Sliding Glass Doors

Few things sour a sunny afternoon like seeing a trail of ants marching through small gaps under your sliding glass doors. Regardless of what type of ant is plaguing your home, these industrious little pests can be drawn to this specific entry point for a few reasons. This is mainly because sliding door tracks can easily accumulate moisture and food crumbs, which attract ants. These tiny gaps also provide an easy entry point for scout ants searching for food. When you first spot the invasion, focus on eliminating the colony — not just wiping away a few scouts, which won't solve the problem.

The most effective first step is to use liquid bait traps. Even though it's tempting to squash the ants on sight, you should actually allow them to carry the sweet-smelling poison back to their colony to eliminate the source of the problem so nothing comes back in. Of course, feel free to call in pest professionals to tackle things for you, too.

If you want more natural ways to get rid of ants, using barrier powders, like diatomaceous earth, is an easy way to deter future ant invaders. Just sprinkle some food-grade diatomaceous earth along the inside of your sliding door's track, and that's it; you don't have to do anything else for this. The powder works by damaging ants' exoskeletons, eventually dehydrating and killing them.

Once you've got the immediate ant infestation under control, the next step is deep cleaning, which means finding a way to clean gunk out of your sliding door tracks. Start by thoroughly vacuuming the sliding door track out to get rid of any dead bugs, dirt, or crumbs that might attract ants. Follow that up by cleaning out the area with soapy water. This step may sound minor, but ants use pheromone trails to travel and explore, so washing the area will disrupt the pheromone trails leading into your home. After, take a moment to inspect your sliding door and the exterior area around it. This is a good time to seal off any entry points, like cracks in your foundation or your old weatherstripping that should probably be replaced.

Your final line of defense is prevention; this means keeping the area around the door, both inside and outside, clean, dry, and uninteresting to ants. You can also try deterring ants with scents like peppermint oil, citrus peels, or cinnamon near your door. With a little targeted maintenance and proactive cleaning, your sliding glass door can stay free of ants. Now you can get back to enjoying your lovely patio view.