Ants Problem! Not the movie, the real deal :). (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

Darn it, did it again. Please move it to the proper forum ,sorry!

EVERY year around this time, we seem to get an invasion of ants that really starts to gross me out. Last year I was home alone for the week as the parents went on a buisness trip, and found a whole colony going around my dogs food.

This year, I just found 5 of them inside my garbage can crawling around the Soda Bottles I threw out. Three of them actually found their way INSIDE the burger King Bottle. I REALLY hope that was a development AFTER I Threw it out...

Anyway, what's a good, effective way to get rid of ants compeltly? We usually spray around this time, and that seems to work, but is there a non spray solution in terms of home improvements that works as well? I can't be double checking my soda each time I go to drink it..

 

[Scott Weinberg]

This sounds like a job for the After Hours Crew!
Aside from the obvious (call an exterminator), you could find the source of the ants and sprinkle it with boric acid.
At least that's what my Dad used to do when I was a kid.

 

[MikeAlletto]

Don't leave open food or drinks around and use garbage bags is a good start. Spray around the boundaries of your house. If you don't want to spray yourself call an exterminator. They'll take care of it.

 

[Bryan]

Rototill the yard. Since I did that 6 months ago, I haven't seen them and they used to dominate my house. It just happened that I am slowly landscaping my back yard, so it was a... hmmm... by-product? I think they are rebuilding their empire too and will come back stonger than before.

Anyway, other than that, i tried many different ant killers an nothing seemed to do the job good enough. I could stop them for a week or so, but that's it. About the only thing you can really do is call in a profesional. Looking at Orkin.com (I think that was it, but could have been Terminix.com) they mention different kinds of ants and different ways to kill them, but they always came back to having them come out and do the job. Unfortunatly, they have to come out every 6 months or so and kill them again until they are erradicated completely. And it costs/adds up.

Well, good luck.

B

 

[Rob T]

we get them every year. they live under the brick of the patio in the backyard. what we usually do is put out those raid ant traps in the house where they usually come in and keep a couple cans of raid handy.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

My friend Tony swears that Talcum powder works-- gums up the holes through which they breathe.

 

[Chuck C]

man, we used traps and other tricks for years. we finally bogged down and called in the extreminator,,, no more ants!

 

[Craig Robertson]

get a box of borax from the laundry aisle at the supermarket. spread it around wherever you see the ants or suspect ants to be, it is harmless to people, pets and plants, but the boric acid in it is fatal to ants.

works great and is dirt cheap.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

My neighbor, I shit you not, has a chocolate lab that eats bugs. I don't know what he must think of me when I knock on his door "Can I borrow Kobe' for a few minutes?".

So far that dog has taken care of two ant problems, a stray silverfish, and spare piece of chicken-fried steak that rolled under the couch.

 

[George Martin]

You might also try a simple chalk (chalk board) line where the enter the house I dont know why but the wont cross it.

 

[Michael*K]

You can try using ant baits in the house. I had a serious ant problem when I first bought my house and an exterminator (now retired) told me the thing to do is to kill them before they get inside. I followed his instructions by spraying the chemical Diazinon (it's in concentrate for those hose sprayer attachments) and I use it twice a year...once in the spring and once in the fall. I just lay down about a two foot swath along the entire perimeter of my home's foundation, also making sure to spray about two feet up on the outside walls of the house. Make sure you don't let your dogs lick or eat the grass near where you sprayed for at least a week.Like someone mentioned earlier, the ants love to nest under patios and under concrete stoops and stairs. I make sure to spray a larger amount on these areas. Since I started doing that back in '98, I haven't had a severe infestation at all inside the house.
But don't ever ask me to go down into my dirt crawl space. Tons of bugs of all varieties that love the cool dark air.

Even the exterminator told me not to go in there!

 

[brian a]

We had all kinds of problems with ants and spiders for a long time. After a while we finally broke down and got on a service contract wtih an exterminator, and it's great. We almost never see bugs in the house or ants in the lawn anymore, and if we do a phone call gets someone out the next day to take care of it. It's worth the money IMHO.

 

[Julie K]

Inside the house I recommend bug bombs.

I wouldn't do that in the garage, however, since most garages contain devices with pilot lights and using a bug bomb with a gas pilot light is a good way of turning your home into a home-flambe.

So spray, spray, spray. Look for insectside that leaves behind residuals for x-many weeks. I've never had any sort of good results with ant baits and can't suggest them. Not all ants are attracted to what's in the baits.

DIE ANT DIE!!!

 

[Zen Butler]

I use lime...it gets a bit sticky around the sink areas but when it heats up here in So. Cali its worth it. The ants here are ruthless. The lime or lemon has worked for me. Along with good housekeeping

 

[Howard Williams]

There are two things to keep in mind. There are ants inside your house and there are ants outside your house. Each requires a slightly different approach to guarentee saftey and maximize effectivness.
Michael*K took the words right outta my mouth !!!
The key to keeping ants out of your house is to kill them while they're still in your yard. To kill the ones outside your house, Diazinon is absolutely fantastic. Home Depot has it. They have the version (from Spectracide I think or it might be Raid or maybe it's Real-Kill), that has the sprayer on top of the bottle. It's ok but I've had some problems with those. I prefer to use the Ortho brand concentrate with the Ortho brand sprayer/mixer or whatever you call it.
Here's the battle plan. Do the Diazinon thingy once a month or every 2 months depending on how severe your problem is. This will get rid of the insiders of tomorrow. Now, don't be surprised if you still see some ants in your house. These will be from a colony inside your house that are now cut off from reinfocrements. There are many ways to deal with these insiders. Since they are inside you need a less toxic poison. If the ants are in low contact area, I use "Real-Killest Control" also from Home Depot. In high contact and food areas, I have tried soapy water. It kills very good but doesn't last or deter long at all. 30 minutes after spraying with soapy water, the ants will return. With Real Kill they die and don't come back for a long time but who wants Real Kill coated ketchup bottles? Obviosuly, keep food out of remote areas. Ants are wierd. I've seen hundreds gather within a couple of hours for a speck of candy cane on one day and then on another day, completely ignore Thanksgiving type feast left out for days. Go figure. My wife's turkey isn't "that" bad !!!
Once you kill the remaining straggling troops in your home and get the colonies in the yard under control/killed, a little periodic maintenance is all you need.
Many people swear by the boric acid stuff. I will have to try it. Do they eat it or does it kill by contact? I have never seen a single ant take any bait.
My mother also says that vinegar is very good.

 

[Robert Floto]

I do a few things that have worked wonderfully!
Nothing kills ants better or cleaner than Windex. I buy the anti-bacterial Windex, so that after I spray, I can just wipe them away and my counters get clean as well.
I had a real problem with them right after the summer, but I used the Windex, and then I picked up some of those electronic pest repellers that plug into your outlets. I don't know if they work or not, but I haven't seen an ant in quite a while. They had a package of six of the electronic repellers at Costco for something like $16.00. They are usually much more expensive in catalogs or online though...
In my yard I got this ant killer stuff that is basically a bag of granules that you spread over the lawn, and then lightly water. I don't remember the name of the product (and I'm at work right now, so I can't check), but there are a few products that are relatively identical (just ask your hardware salesperson). I spread that once a month and no longer have ants in my yard either...

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Wanna have some fun with the little bastards? Next time you see a whole bunch of em, take and spray them with some 'AquaNet' hairspray! It's a blast, when that stuff hardens, they won't be able to move! They'll all just freeze in place!