If you own pavers for a while, you know how much ants can be a problem. Especially in hotter climates, this pesky insects can be a difficult nuisance to deal with. Entire paver installations can get compromised if you don’t know how to deal with them. So, how to stop ants in pavers?

The grout lines between the pavers are, unfortunately, the perfect environment for ants to grow. They are dark, humid, full of biological material and sand, everything ants love and need to build their nests.

When left unattended, these nest can grow, making the ants expand their territory and invading homes, which can then cause more drastic problems.

So it is best to fight the root of the problem and attack this pesky little insects directly where they live. That’s why it is important to talk about how to stop ants in pavers. So let’s present you a simple guide on how to do it.

Fighting Ants in Pavers

It is important to know your enemy before engaging it. So let’s discuss a little about the ants first, so you can best take advantage of our guide.

The main characteristic of pavement ants is that they are really small, measuring 1/8″ at most. This allows them to establish their nests even in the smallest crevices, grout lines between pavers included.

Another problem is that these ants usually use fine grains of sand to make their nests, and sand is something you can find in abundance in a paver installation.

Fortunately, their nest is easily spotted from the outside. They usually look like little “volcanoes”, with a small entrance at the center.

All this sand is sand that they took from underneath the paver to make way for their small tunnels. Naturally, you can imagine how damaging that is to a paver installation in the long run. So the sooner you deal with, the better.

To be honest, ideally you shouldn’t even get to see the nests themselves, as they indicate that some has already been done. So the best action is to focus on the prevention of future invasions as well as quick extermination of any present ones.

What to Use Against Ants

The two recommended strategies to deal with pavement ants are bait or pesticides.

Bait is easy enough to use. They can come in many forms, the most common ones being sweet gel and granular. To place, follow the instructions of your product of choice.

Bait does not kill only the ants that eat it. They are designed to affect the ant after a while, once it goes back to the nest, therefore affecting all the ants in the nest.

They are usually placed in small entrances where you see ant movement, and as far away from food sources as possible.

As for pesticides, they need to be chosen with much more care. Go for pesticides that have as few chemicals as possible. Pesticides are especially effective in paver installations, as they can penetrate the small spaces between them.

Again, follow the instructions of your product of choice, but they will usually involve spraying the solution in areas where you suspect the ants might be building their nests.

Preventing Ants From Nesting

If you plan ahead, you can take some measures to avoid the ants from ever nesting in the first place. These precautions can be done at the moment of the installation, and very easy to do.

After applying the first layer of the bedding, which consists of road base, you can apply a long-lasting insecticide to the whole area. Once the pavers are set into place, the grout lines between them need to be filled with polymeric sand. At this moment, you can add borax to the sand.

This combination of measures can last for about 6 months, depending on the weather conditions in your area. Keep a close eye and at the slightest sign of ants, reapply the insecticide between the grout lines of your pavers.

Professional Help With Ants in Pavers

Ants might be a problem, but they are not exactly capable of doing any real damage.

They can slowly compromise your installation, which can in turn damage the pavers, but things will rarely get to such a drastic point.

In case they do, maybe your safest option is to ask for professional help. Exterminators can help you to stop ants in pavers, while hardscape professionals can help you with your paver installation, in case it has reached a critical point.

We here at Eagle Pavers have worked on countless paver installations across our 12 years of experience, so we know how much damage ants can cause to it if you’re not careful enough.

And if you happen to be around our area of activity, the Sarasota and Manatee counties, in FL, why not give us a call to help you?

You can contact us right now at +1 941-210-4192 or email us at sales@eaglepavers.us. We would be happy to hear from you and help you with any paver need you might have.