It had been over two weeks since I’ve observed any ants in my bathroom, so on Saturday, I made the decision to put back all the crap that was underneath my bathroom sink. Unfortunately, right before I went to do this, I observed three ants milling about just inside the threshold of my bathroom, right near the sink cabinet.
For the next hour, I observed any ants I could see to figure out perhaps where they were coming from and where they were going to. Some of the ants seemed lost, they would initially move purposefully, probably following a scent trail but then they’d just to a point where they didn’t seen to know where to go next. They’d double-back on their trails repeatedly and wind up going nowhere really. I needed an ant to either show me where they were going or to where they came from. Some of the ants didn’t do that, so after a few minutes, I’d just eliminate them.
One ant proved immensely useful. It appeared seemingly out of nowhere, near the doorjamb. I followed him for several minutes as navigated up off the floor, up the wall, and then along the wall, where it met at 90 degrees with the sink cabinet. I had previously sealed this entire corner edge with silicone sealant, so I was expecting this ant to get confused and wander aimlessly. I kept watching it though and to my surprise, it wiggled into the tiniest of gaps where my sealing job was not perfect. It just disappeared into this tiny hole. If I hadn’t seen the ant go into it, I wouldn’t have even noticed it. These ants are quite small, so they’re able to squeeze into the smallest spaces. I immediately sealed off this hole. Are there more of these imperfect areas where I think I’ve sealed it off? Probably.
As for where they’re coming from, another ant gave me a possible lead. I have no definitive proof just yet. This ant seemed confused and there was a chance it was just wandering. It had originally appeared out of nowhere and I had followed it up along the bathroom wall. It double-backed a few times and it seemed like it was wasting my time. Then it climbed down the bathroom wall and then walked along the tile, hugging the doorjamb moudling. It eventually just followed the wall and entered my bedroom. That wall immediately makes a series of 90 degree turns and it winds up being in one of bedroom closets. The vinyl flooring planks in this area also have a bit of a gap between the end of the plank and where the moulding is. This gap is huge for an ant and I saw it walk down into this gap. Is this where the ants are coming from? It’s difficult to say because I did not observe any ants emerging from these gaps. I only saw one ant go in there and it might have been just confused. It’s something I need to observe more.
The good news is that the ants don’t seem to be underneath my bathroom sink anymore. None of the ants I observed this weekend were found there, nor did they seem to want to go there. So based on this, I went through with my plan of moving all my crap back underneath the sink. I also screwed back in the panel I had removed a few weeks back so that I could seal up a long gap.
I feel like I’ve made progress here. If the ants are actually coming up through these gaps between floor planks and the moulding, I’ll have to seal these up too. These gaps are quite big though, so the silicone sealant I’ve been using won’t work. I’ll need to switch to that expanding foam I bought. Using that might be an adventure.