Yesterday I cleaned out the areas where I was gonna apply the silicone sealant. The liquid ant bait was a sticky mess but it got removed fairly easily with a bit of isopropyl alcohol and hot water. Underneath the kitchen sink was a tougher area to clean since it had much more piping to work around.
Once the areas were dry and clean, I got to work. The sealant I purchased came in a tube because I didn’t want to buy caulking gun and also I was gonna need to get into some tight spaces where such a gun would have not fit. I cut the tip of the tube off and in hindsight, I probably should have cut more off to get a bigger bead.
I started off in the bathroom because it had more space to work with. Under that sink, I’ve seen the ants get through the gaps along the bottom but not really the vertical ones, so I just sealed off those. The sealant is not as viscous as I’d imagined it to be, so I had to apply lots of force to get it out. That led to the bead being of varying thickness along the gaps. Some of it doesn’t look pretty but I think it covers all the gaps.
After I did the bathroom, I got tired, my blood sugar starting dropping, so I ordered some fried chicken and poutine. After eating, I took a nap, and wanted to play video games, so I left the kitchen for the next day.
This afternoon, I went to seal up the gaps under the kitchen sink. The amount of piping under there made it a major pain in the ass to apply the sealant. It honestly looks terrible in some places and I can’t even be sure the sealant covers all the gaps. For the places I definitely know the ants were emerging from, I did seal those gaps over without any doubt.
I have also being checking out the bathroom area since it was all sealed off. In the last 24 hours, I’ve seen exactly one ant underneath the sink. From it’s behaviour, it appears to be an ant that had been already in the bathroom when I sealed it off. It keeps walking along the corners where a gap would have been. That’s the only ant I’ve witnessed so far and I hope to keep it that way.
It’s too early to tell how well the sealant will work in the kitchen. I’ll be monitoring that area with great interest as well. I can’t say this issue is fully resolved just yet but I hope I’ve made some huge strides this weekend.