Ants In The House?!
 

We have an ant problem in the house. Little ones that get on the kitchen counters, but also big ones with wings that get into the basement. Is there a relatively easy DIY way to deal with this? Someone told me you spray something around the perimeter of the foundation, but he warned that it was poisonous to cats?

My wife thinks, or is worried, that we have carpenter ants. She thinks we need a professional.

You may need a pro.. Then again, its been my experience that high moisture will also drive ants "inside". Make sure the obvious.. that windows seal.. the foundation has no cracks.. that there are no water leaks in the house. That food isn't being left out all over the house. in summer, if the doors/windows are open a lot, you increase their ability to get in your home. One year we had them really bad. Spent some time clearing off plants/vines from the house as well as some "hardware store" chemicals/powders to put down outside the house. No issues since.

Worst case.. you call a pro and spend a couple $$$ chasing the problem for while.

We've had a couple of invasions. They were solved with bait traps. The challenge is to get the ants to find the traps. Once their scent trails are laid down they're pretty determined to follow them.

Chlordane if you can still get it?

Something to look for at garage sales in the back where no one looks.

I get the ants more interested in something outside. Lemon juice in a barrier trail is supposed to be good if it doesn't rain and wash it away.

+1

In discussing with folks from different counties it has been worse this year than in thet past. No one seems to know why.

This is the best:
Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions

most likely...

Little = sugar ants - looking for sugar - buy some sticky stuff in a bottle for them at the Hdwre store - it is a bait & they will take it back to the nest and that will kill the Queen

big = carpenter ants - does not mean they are eating your good wood; I'm told they only eat wood that is already rotted. They may have a 2o nest in your house - no queen but they use it as either a hatching spot or a resting area

if the only ones you see have wings then it may be less of a problem -- they are drones trying to get laid & are apparently somewhat confused about where to go to accomplish that

- don't use anything that will damage your own kids, pets, or spouse trying to get rid of ants


BTW - ants you see are like tentacles on an octopus - you can kill millions and accomplish nothing; it is the Queen that determines the entire colony - just like in Aliens, You Must Kill the Queen...

Buy some chalk--you can find it in Asian markets. The ants are quite hesitant to cross the chalk line.

I spray every exterior wall (along baseboards inside the house) with Ortho Home Defense once a quarter. Haven't had a problem since we started and the ants used to make regular visits when we were paying a reputable company to do the treatments.

We had carpenter ants this year, countless armies of them. I must have killed hundreds of them over a few weeks of trying pretty much every solution noted here. Some helped, some didn't do anything, but nothing worked 100%. So we called in the pros. $200 or so and a 6-month guarantee. Haven't had any ants whatsoever in the 6 or 8 weeks since they came, so that's my advice. Stop wasting time and money and spreading potentially dangerous chemicals around and call the pros.

I have had success with Terro. You can buy it at Homedepot.

i use the white ortho powder. they find their way in 1-2 times every couple of months and i go outside find the trail and sprinkle the powder all the way back to the mound. always works, but as i said, they will be back in a few months from a different spot, different entrance, different mound.

I do the same and it is pet friendly as it dries quickly. Works well for us.

If you want something organic and cheap try this. Buy some cheap pipe tobacco. Boil it in a
pot. Strain out the tobacco pieces. Dilute the brown liquid a bit. Put in cheap compressed
air garden sprayer. Spray around outside of house. Nicotine is natures insecticide. The bugs
that don't die are repelled. You smokers should check out how toxic nicotine is.
Gary

Terminex. Carpenter ants were EVERYWHERE! Terminex wiped them out for $400 a year.

+1. We use Nicotinic Acid in our production labs as a control. It must be used in isolation and with all of the PPE.

You can make a pretty good spray from used butts too, used it on my ficus tree to very good effect.

USED BUTT SPRAY!!!!!:eek: