Ants in my house!.....?

[Samckitt]

How the &^%$ do I get rid of them? I have tried the little "traps", but seem to do nothing. They are all over the place. Never had this problem before. What to do?

[69stang]

We usually get them pretty bad. I srayed around the foundation back in early spring with some brand name stuff (can't recall the name but it's been advertized on tv). So far we've only had some tiny ones here & there. I also use the ant powder (boric acid). If you dump some on ant hills it'll kill them off along with any grass in the area.

[Samckitt]

Yeah we have the tiny ones. Haven't seen any ant hills around the house.

[Roger M]

I've had the same problem in the past. I sprayed the perimeter around my house with some chemicals available at any hardware store and then went under the house into the crawl space and set some insect spray bombs. The bombs work well, but you need to vacate the house for the day.

[WS6]

I'd get an exterminator out there. They will have specific ant sprays and if they are good at their job, they will stop the ants.

Typically, they come looking for water. Has it been especially dry in your area this year?

[Larry Callahan]

We have them like crazy too. My wife found a mixture of water, sugar and borax works. You can search the internet for it. She set up a bunch of little cups today and they are drinking it like crazy. I'll let you know how it goes in a few days.

[shmoov69]

Spectercide spray from Lowes or wherever usually keeps them away for about a month or so. Just spray it around your house foundation and anywhere they look to be coming in. Also, the drops that you put on a piece of cardboard works after about a week. I guess they eat it and take it back to the nest and it kills them there too. Don't know what brand, but my wife got it and it works, just a little slower.

[indyjps]

I use diazanon around my foundation every spring and fall, havent had ants since, the spider count is down significantly too.

[BonzoHansen]

we get those. I hate those things. i have western pest come in. but the little traps with the gel in them work good.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/06/terroAntStationboxTh-1.jpg

[zbugger]

we get those. I hate those things. i have western pest come in. but the little traps with the gel in them work good.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/06/terroAntStationboxTh-1.jpg
I use those as well. They work like nothing I've seen before. Put one down and a couple hours later, the ant trail has taken a detour. They also have a spray that I use. That one works instantly, and keeps ants from the area for a while after. I spray that around all the windows and the doors every couple months to keep the ants out, although they do tend to find other ways in the house. But the Terro stuff is the ONLY thing I'll ever use again. It just flat out works.

[harshman]

for quick kills use windex.

[Samckitt]

I'd get an exterminator out there. They will have specific ant sprays and if they are good at their job, they will stop the ants.

Typically, they come looking for water. Has it been especially dry in your area this year?

No, we have had more rain here so far this summer than we normally have all year.

[chicane67]

You want them gone ?? Research "Termidor SC"...

I have a good friend that has been in the 'bug' business for 25+ years (http://alliedpsnc.localbusinessreview.com/) and have gotten quite the education from him on this very subject. Living in California... especially in San Diego, which is constructed mainly on bed and river rock... there is one thing that works... and that is Termidor SC.

When I moved to Vegas and got into the newly constructed house... it was right in the season's transition... and there were a grip ants looking for moisture... crickets, scorpions and some others were in droves as well. It only take an application of product every six months to do the job. I have only sprayed Termidor SC once in the past twelve months and havent seen ANYTHING since then.

Another little tid bit... monthly service from any pest control company is COMPLETELY unnecessary. If they use the right chemical... not only will it be kid and pet safe... it will do the job with semi-annual applications. Twice a year vs. twelve times a year... is money spent right. The problem is... they want your money every months to come out and do 15 minutes of application... for $50 to $100 a month. Geeze... some watered down product and a monthly fee... NO WAY.

Hit up the Home Depot, get yourself a sprayer for $25 and then pick up some Termidor SC for about $50... and you have about 5 years of product. And NO ants to boot....

Bait traps work pretty good too. Not to mention that the ants do all the work for you... as they eat it, take it back to the colony, die, the other ants eat the carcases... and then die. The thing is... you have got to find where the colony lives... once you know that, its easy to nuke 'em.

[Jim Nilsen]

We tried everythig you could think of for 2 yrs and they kept coming back . I really don't like using pestecides and then one day someone we know told us to use corn meal. That's right corn meal. You can get it for less than $2 a pound and a pound will last a long time. It seems the ants can't digest the corn meal and it kills them. You see them carring it back to the queen and soon enough they start to move the nest. sometimes they don't move it very far and after a month they need to be fed some more. We have moved them far enough away that they are no longer in the house anymore and we keep driving them further away as we see them. You don't have to worry about the dogs or cats getting poisoned or kids doing something stupid with the poison traps. It really works and is almost entertaining to observe it.

Another thing that will get ants to move a nest is boiling water. it seems that instincts that go back millions of years tell them that nature is going to kill them and they move. It kills the ones it comes in contact with instantly and you will see them carrying the dead to move. It is also cheap ,easy and safe too!

These 2 things will move them away from you and your domain as long as your neighbors don't drive them back .

Goodluck and have fun watching them and just keep feeding and watering them until they are gone.

[Young Gun]

aerosol can + lighter

find the ants and light em up!

[Charley Lillard]

we get those. I hate those things. i have western pest come in. but the little traps with the gel in them work good.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/06/terroAntStationboxTh-1.jpg That stuff works great for me also. I put one out and there becomes a freeway of ants eating it up. Then after a few days they are gone.

[Samckitt]

aerosol can + lighter

find the ants and light em up!

Has crossed my mind. :machine:




That stuff works great for me also. I put one out and there becomes a freeway of ants eating it up. Then after a few days they are gone.

I'll try those & see if it helps.

[Todds69]

That stuff works great for me also. I put one out and there becomes a freeway of ants eating it up. Then after a few days they are gone.

That stuff worked for me as well.

[scogin918]

Find out where they are coming in and sprinkle some Orthene by Ortho on them. It is a smelly white powder, but boy does it work. Some Home Defense sprayed around the perimeter of the foundation wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[protour73]

we get those. I hate those things. i have western pest come in. but the little traps with the gel in them work good.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/06/terroAntStationboxTh-1.jpg

BINGO Scott!!! those work better than anything I've seen, they'll swarm those traps, take all the bait and then it's "Jonestown...Ant-style"......gone!!

[Larry Callahan]

It looks like it's working around our place too but the wife made hers. The Terro is mostly just water, sugar and 5% Borax. It's amazing what it did around our place.

[6'9"Witha69]

Baby powder is a great deterrent too. They can't smeel anything around it so any trails are disguised and they become disoriented, just going back to where they came from. Leave the borax solution along their return trip and bingo, colony death.

[Jim Nilsen]

Just looked out where the ants used to be and can't see any of them at all. The corn meal did the trick for about $1 and we still have some left.
I always used Terro and it worked great but they kept coming back . Someone told us about the corn meal and we figured if it didn't work we could cook with it :cheers: , try that with Terro !

I have used just about everything on the ants on the outside of the house and corn meal is the only thing that has kept them away from where I put it out. They also swarm to it just like the Terro :yum:

Give it a try, you probably have some in your kitchen already.

They form these really strange triangular patterns right before they die. You could actually eat them since they died from something you can eat and they lay right out on the cement so you can sweep them up, lol.

Go Green on your ants, actually yellow but you know what I mean !!!

:cheers:

[Samckitt]

I used these:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/06/terroAntStationboxTh-1.jpg
and it seemed to have taken care of them.

[BonzoHansen]

Just looked out where the ants used to be and can't see any of them at all. The corn meal did the trick for about $1 and we still have some left.
I always used Terro and it worked great but hey kept coming back . Someone told us about the corn meal and we figured if it didn't work we could cook with it :cheers: , try that with Terro !

I have used just about everything on the ants on the outside of the house and corn meal is the only thing that has kept them away from where I put it out. They also swarm to it just like the Terro :yum:

Give it a try, you probably have some in your kitchen already.

They form these really strange triangular patterns right before they die. You could actually eat them since they died from something you can eat and they lay right out on the cement so you can sweep them up, lol.

Go Green on your ants, actually yellow but you know what I mean !!!

:cheers:

You just pour down some plain corn meal?

[Jim Nilsen]

You just pour down some plain corn meal?

Yep, just put a small pile off to the side of the nest and in a few spots along the trail and they do the rest. In the case right next to the drive and the house we just put a small sprinkled trail of it along the cut line in the cement about 5 ft. long and it was loaded with them along the whole line.


Use it the same way you use the Terro and it will work too, small amounts in multiple places right on the ground. You do have to replace it if it rains. They don't seem to go after it ounce it gets wet so put more out after it rains if needed.

I'm still amazed at how well it works and that all of the GREEN fanatics out there haven't printed it in any of the anti-pesticide literature.