Ants in Sink and Walls

Why ants come out of the sink and the walls

Kitchen and bathroom sinks give ants three things at once: water, a little food, and a hidden highway. The pipes that feed the faucet and carry water away run through holes in the cabinet floor and the wall. Those holes are usually cut bigger than the pipe, so there's a gap ants can walk right through, out of sight.

When people say ants are "coming out of the drain," what's usually happening is that ants are walking up the outside of the pipe, under the sink rim or behind the backsplash, and gathering at the wet edge of the basin. Ants can't live inside a working drain full of running water. The colony is somewhere drier nearby.

The most common reasons ants zero in on a sink:

• A slow drip under the cabinet, at the faucet base or at the dishwasher connection.
• Wet wood or wallboard behind the sink from an old leak, which can also attract carpenter ants.
• Food film in the drain basket, the garbage disposal and the overflow hole of a bathroom sink.
• Weather. Heavy rain floods outdoor nests and pushes ants indoors. A long dry spell sends them inside looking for water.

What you're seeing, and what it usually means

Seeing winged insects coming out of the wall instead? Those could be termite swarmers. Compare them on our flying ants vs. termite swarmers page.

What you can do yourself about ants in the sink

For a small, new problem with small ants, these steps often help:

• Fix the leak. Tighten or replace dripping supply lines, the faucet base seal and the drain trap connection. Dry the cabinet out.
• Clean the drain area. Scrub the drain basket, the garbage disposal and the bathroom sink overflow hole, where a sweet, slimy film builds up.
• Dry the sink at night. A dry basin and an empty dish rack overnight take away the water ants are coming for.
• Use slow-acting ant bait, not spray. Bait placed near the trail (not on it) gets carried back to the nest and shared. Expect more ants for a day or two before they drop off. Keep baits away from children and pets and follow the label.
• Seal pipe gaps after the ants are gone. Close the extra space around pipes under the sink with a sealant or a pipe collar so the next colony can't use the same path.

Want to know why baits work better than sprays? See ant bait vs. ant spray. Wondering about home remedies? We answer that honestly in does vinegar kill ants.

When to call an ant exterminator for ants in the walls

It's time to call a professional when:

• Ants keep coming back after two or three weeks of baiting.
• You see ants coming out of several places, like the sink, a wall crack and an outlet.
• They're large black ants, or you find sawdust-like shavings. That points to carpenter ants in wet wood.
• Ants show up in winter. Ants active indoors in cold months usually means a nest inside the house.
• You live in a multi-family house or apartment and the ants are coming from the unit next door.

When Silver Bullet Pest Control comes out, a licensed technician confirms which ant you have, follows the trail inside and outside, and finds the nest or the area it's in. Small ants get treated with bait products they carry back to the colony and, where it makes sense, a treatment around the foundation. Carpenter ant nests in a wall void are treated directly. We show you the leaks and gaps that drew them in so you can fix them. If carpenter ants have damaged the wood, we can repair it, the same way we repair termite damage.

We're based in Garfield and serve Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. Same-day visits are often available. Ongoing home pest control comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.