# Ants in my house. Grrr....



## Flying Crane (Apr 7, 2010)

Seems I've got an ant infestation.  Looks like they've got a nest inside the wall near the floor.  They come in thru a crack where the wall and floor meet.

I've got two cats in the house.  No children.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of them, without endangering the cats?

Or should I just call the Orkin Man?

Thanks!


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## dancingalone (Apr 7, 2010)

Depends on how patient you are.  The toxic pesticide stuff works a lot faster than the environmental remedies like hot pepper or boric acid.  I have a dog and we've been fine using the fire ant granules commonly sold at places like Walmart.


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## Blade96 (Apr 7, 2010)

We had a nest inside the clapboard of our house and they had an entrance where they could actually come inside the house.

We didnt relish the idea of killing them all so what we did was, We totally blocked off that entrance so they couldn't use it anymore.

Problem solved.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 7, 2010)

As the guy that was in my house killing ants told me, they look for moisture and build there. We killed off the ants, found the hole and the reason for the moisture and got rid of them all BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA :EG:

Call the Orkin man


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## ShelleyK (Apr 7, 2010)

You can see if there is a retailer in your area that sells this
http://www.ecosmart.com/


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## Carol (Apr 7, 2010)

We had an ant problem at work that took quite awhile to clear up...there were ants running around here for 6-8 weeks.   I know our building maintenance guys were trying to do a lot to fix the issue (including sacking the cleaning crew) but it didn't go away until they brought in the pros a few times.  

Personally I'd recommend calling the professionals...because 45-60 days of ants is something that gets wicked gross.


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## Flying Crane (Apr 7, 2010)

well, I'm gonna give this a try.

I picked up something from the hardware store, Combat And Killing Gel, its in a syringe.  I'll squirt it into the cracks where they are coming in, and then cover it over with masking tape to make sure the cats don't get into it.  I'll let it sit for a week or so.  I guess they bring it into the nest and eat it and it poisons the whole colony.

Once it's cleared up, I'l gonna seal up the cracks with liquid nails.

we'll see how this works.  If it doesnt, then Orkin it is.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Apr 7, 2010)

Save yourself some grief and call the professional's.  They can get way better pesticide than what you can buy at the local hardware store.


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## Flying Crane (Apr 7, 2010)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> Save yourself some grief and call the professional's. They can get way better pesticide than what you can buy at the local hardware store.


 
I understand the thought, but here's the thing. My wife called Orkin today. They perscribed and tried to sell her on a muti-application treatment program over the course of several months. Total cost: over $600.00.

By comparison, at my local hardware store, Combat Ant Gel, 1oz syringe was $6.99. Roll of masking tape: $4.99. Tube of Liquid nails; $4.49.

Total, with tax (over 9% here in San Francisco): $18.03.

I'll give this a try first, before I agree to shell out over $600.


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## grydth (Apr 7, 2010)

How about catching and bringing into the house some large (ninja) spiders?

That'd be free!


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## Flying Crane (Apr 7, 2010)

grydth said:


> How about catching and bringing into the house some large (ninja) spiders?
> 
> That'd be free!


 
hmmm... we've got black widows around here.  Not familiar with the "ninja" species tho...are they especially hungry?


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## Gordon Nore (Apr 7, 2010)

Given the size of the infestation, I'd go with the pros. We've had very small outbreaks the last few years which we've managed with ant traps in the spring. Then that's end of it.

I do have one tip that might be a bit obvious. If you have those occasions where you find a swarm of ants in your home, vacuum up the little darlings, treat the liner bag or your shop vac with insecticide and take it straight to the curb for pick up.

But I feel your pain. One spring back in the eighties I woke up in my basement apartment to find my pillow covered with flying ants.


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## Gordon Nore (Apr 7, 2010)

Flying Crane said:


> hmmm... we've got black widows around here.  Not familiar with the "ninja" species tho...are they especially hungry?


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## Hawke (Apr 7, 2010)

Do you have any other professional pest controls that guarantee's their work?

Also did you search other areas around your home and yard where they may pop up?

My sister in the bay area used an ammonia cleaner to help wipe the chemical trails.  But she doesn't have pets.

Solving Nuisance Ant Problems Without Pesticides:
http://www.pesticide.org/ants.html


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## jks9199 (Apr 7, 2010)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> Save yourself some grief and call the professional's.  They can get way better pesticide than what you can buy at the local hardware store.


And, with the caveat that they have to be real pros, not someone given a crash course and thrown in a truck, they know what they're looking for and at.  Among other things -- you really want to be sure what type of ants they are, and know what damage they might have done to your home.  It helps to know where they enter, how to disrupt their travel paths, and more...

Would you do surgery on yourself?


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## Hawke (Apr 7, 2010)

Ninja spiders....hilarious.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 8, 2010)

Flying Crane said:


> I understand the thought, but here's the thing. My wife called Orkin today. They perscribed and tried to sell her on a muti-application treatment program over the course of several months. Total cost: over $600.00.
> 
> By comparison, at my local hardware store, Combat Ant Gel, 1oz syringe was $6.99. Roll of masking tape: $4.99. Tube of Liquid nails; $4.49.
> 
> ...


 
Are there other pest control businesses in your area?

I did not go with Orkin. The bigger businesses are trying to survive and they are big on getting you into a contract type deal. Go for a 2nd or 3rd estimate and see what they say. 

One treatment got rid of all the problems I had. But then it was a rather small infestation.

My parents had been working with getting rid of ants for years by themselves and so far, after about 10 years, it seems all they have been able to do is maintain the status quo


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## Flying Crane (Apr 8, 2010)

I did the home application last night, and this morning, only one of the little bastards was out on the floor.  He might have been out on an all-night scouting mission, only to return home and find the fort burned down by the infidels.

Squirted the gunk into the crack where they were coming in, and covered it with masking tape to seal it off from our cats.

Might be that this is their only entry point into the house, so simply covering it would block them, at least for a while.  But hopefully they are all joyfully feasting on the little treat I left them, and they will all be dead soon of a massive belly ache.

I'll re-apply in a month, and maybe another one after that, to make sure we get any unhatched eggs that come to life in the meantime.

I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## grydth (Apr 8, 2010)

Flying Crane said:


> I did the home application last night, and this morning, only one of the little bastards was out on the floor.  He might have been out on an all-night scouting mission, only to return home and find the fort burned down by the infidels.
> 
> Squirted the gunk into the crack where they were coming in, and covered it with masking tape to seal it off from our cats.
> 
> ...



Well, all the best...... it's not really something those with religion can pray for you on; seems kinda like overkill to be bothering the deity on something like this.

You know, spiders would have been the _*GREEN*_ solution...

Not to worry you unduly, but who knows whats in that stuff you used? Remember that great sci-fi movie "Them!" ?......Look, if you start seeing strange big prints outside and the cats are hiding - Get Out Of There!!!!!


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## Flying Crane (Apr 9, 2010)

grydth said:


> Well, all the best...... it's not really something those with religion can pray for you on; seems kinda like overkill to be bothering the deity on something like this.
> 
> You know, spiders would have been the _*GREEN*_ solution...
> 
> Not to worry you unduly, but who knows whats in that stuff you used? Remember that great sci-fi movie "Them!" ?......Look, if you start seeing strange big prints outside and the cats are hiding - Get Out Of There!!!!!


 

Yeah, I don't know how many spiders I'd need to keep nesting around the inside of my front door, to eradicate an entire nest of, oh, maybe at least 5000 ants, maybe more? And constantly reproducing...I've got a feeling that at best, it would eventually balance out so that I'd have a whole bunch of spiders who are always well fed, and neither would ever actually go away. I don't much like having spiders inside the house. They give me the heebie jeebies. My living room would become the stuff of nightmares.

I will keep an eye out for larger footprints, however. Good advice on that.


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## Blade96 (Apr 9, 2010)

Flying Crane said:


> Yeah, I don't know how many spiders I'd need to keep nesting around the inside of my front door, to eradicate an entire nest of, oh, maybe at least 5000 ants, maybe more? And constantly reproducing...I've got a feeling that at best, it would eventually balance out so that I'd have a whole bunch of spiders who are always well fed, and neither would ever actually go away. I don't much like having spiders inside the house. They give me the heebie jeebies. My living room would become the stuff of nightmares.
> 
> I will keep an eye out for larger footprints, however. Good advice on that.



I hate spiders. Actually its not to spiders themselves, because our spiders are harmless. 

Its the fact that they make WEBS! 

and ever since I was a little girl I'd always had a huge fear of the web.

go figure. for most people its the spider. but if it werent for the fact they make webs, I'd have no problem holding one in my hands.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 9, 2010)

Flying Crane said:


> Yeah, I don't know how many spiders I'd need to keep nesting around the inside of my front door, to eradicate an entire nest of, oh, maybe at least 5000 ants, maybe more? And constantly reproducing...I've got a feeling that at best, it would eventually balance out so that I'd have a whole bunch of spiders who are always well fed, and neither would ever actually go away. I don't much like having spiders inside the house. They give me the heebie jeebies. My living room would become the stuff of nightmares.
> 
> I will keep an eye out for larger footprints, however. Good advice on that.


 
Get spiders

They get rid of the ants

now you have a spider infestation

Just buy one anteater 





problem solved


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## Flying Crane (Apr 9, 2010)

Xue Sheng said:


> Get spiders
> 
> They get rid of the ants
> 
> ...


 

Now THERE'S an idea.  I could rent him out to the neighbors...


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 9, 2010)

Flying Crane said:


> Now THERE'S an idea. I could rent him out to the neighbors...


 
You could start your own "Green" pest control service


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## jks9199 (Apr 9, 2010)

grydth said:


> Well, all the best...... it's not really something those with religion can pray for you on; seems kinda like overkill to be bothering the deity on something like this.
> 
> You know, spiders would have been the _*GREEN*_ solution...
> 
> Not to worry you unduly, but who knows whats in that stuff you used? Remember that great sci-fi movie "Them!" ?......Look, if you start seeing strange big prints outside and the cats are hiding - Get Out Of There!!!!!


No -- mantises would have been the GREEN solution; spiders are generally more brown and black!


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## Carol (Apr 9, 2010)

Hmmm... GREEN solutions, eh?

[yt]mip7hqvKpqM[/yt]


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## zDom (Apr 10, 2010)

Terro liquid works &#8212; incredibly well although it takes, oh, about a week or two. But then they are GONE. (www.terro.com)

Had several colonies visiting the kitchen in our new house. Terro got 'em all within that week or two. Three at the longest.

My GF also used Terro to get rid of the ants who were visiting my apartment I lived in before we got the house &#8212; but I felt TERRIBLE about that.

See, THOSE ants and I had come to an agreement: I told them,

"Yes, you can continue to come to the restroom and get water, but NOT in large numbers, and stay OUT of my kitchen! and I won't make war upon you."

And they were keeping to their side of the deal. We had an arrangement and it was working out well. I saw very few; they just harvested some water from the bathroom and stayed out of my kitchen.

But my GF, once we started dating, decided she didn't want ANY ants in the bathroom ... and set up some Terro.

It wiped them out. Completely. In about a week or two.

I still feel guilty to this day, like Andrew "Ender" Wiggin from "Ender's Game" guilty  only worse, because THESE buggers were keeping to our deal and hadn't done anything to deserve their fate ...

I got the GF to read Ender's Game. She liked the book but still didn't feel any guilt for killing the Apartment Ant Colony.

I'm not even joking. I really do feel bad for the Apartment Ant Colony ...

No guilt at all for the House Kitchen Ant Colony Invaders, however: I TOLD them we would be wiping them out if they didn't immediately back off our kitchen.


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## Cryozombie (Apr 10, 2010)

I used a Cypermetharen (sp?) powder and wiped out a bad ant infestation in my old place.  Sprayed the cracks in teh wall where it looked like they were coming from and around the founation of the place from the outside.

I dunno how pet safe it is, but it worked wonders.  I was relatively spider free that summer too after using it. You just mix it in water and spray... 

Squirt Squirt, bye bye bugs.  No expensive professional charges.  It cost me like 15 bucks plus I bought a garden sprayer for it.  I think it was like 30 bucks total.

I wanna say the Brand I used was called Demon.


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## aran (Apr 11, 2010)

i feel your pain man, i was in the bath room two days ago and saw and ant walking across my towels, found out today that their coming through my bathroom window from out side my kitchen. double grr dam insects :flame:


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## MA-Caver (Apr 11, 2010)

Usually by killing the Queen you can get rid of the colony... THAT specific colony... but there will be others... or haven't you watched any of the Alien movies? :uhyeah: 

Instead of using masking tape alone try after spraying the entry hole(s) with the stuff then get a can of "great stuff" which is an expanding foam... squirt some in to the holes and then clean off the excess that oozes out... that'll effectively block the holes permanently and work it's way into their little tunnels and such. 

THEN find an external (outdoor) bug retardant and spray outside along the baseline of the house to stop any from wanting to find a way in. Create a perimeter and it'll help. I spray spectracide insect killer all around the exterior of the house along the base where building meets grass/ground. We don't see bugs at all inside. So it helps.

I know that this method works for cockroaches... instead of boric acid try plain baking soda and mix it with sugar around mounds seen outside the house. The bugs work through the baking soda to get to the sweet stuff and feast... but at the same time they also busy themselves with cleaning their bodies as the fine hairs which cover the exoskeleton   are used as senors to help them in their environment. Cockroaches ingest the baking soda and it turns into gas in their stomachs bloating them up and causing them to explode. It works around base lines inside the house with just plain baking soda. Like I said not sure if it'll work on ants but worth a shot. However you won't kill the queen that way... with ants killing the queen is the best way to get rid of them. See an ant with wings... that's the male... kill them too if you see 'em.


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## Ken Morgan (Apr 11, 2010)

MA-Caver said:


> Usually by killing the Queen you can get rid of the colony... THAT specific colony... but there will be others... or haven't you watched any of the Alien movies? :uhyeah:
> 
> Instead of using masking tape alone try after spraying the entry hole(s) with the stuff then get a can of "great stuff" which is an expanding foam... squirt some in to the holes and then clean off the excess that oozes out... that'll effectively block the holes permanently and work it's way into their little tunnels and such.
> 
> ...


 
Geez, remind me never to get on your bad side Caver....


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