Today we have...ANTS!

roseym

All of a sudden we have ants downstairs in our house! :eek: There aren't enough of them to figure out where they're coming from, there just seems to be the odd one or two scattered around here and there. So weird! I know they're supposed to be attracted to food but they don't seem to be in the kitchen at all. Any ideas on how to track down where they're coming from and then make sure the little feckers stay away?

Raytown Rocks

Wow

Do we live in the same house , I have the exact, and I mean exact same problem.

I wait eagerly for replies also.

chef

PaulB91

i'd check around outside, there is prbably an ants nest womewhere, also get ant powder and but it down at the entrances to the house i.e. all the door

Lex Luthor

I hate ANTS...!!!

We had an infestation of them years ago and had to get the profesionals in...

Xcellor

Careful with ant poison it can be quite toxic (think it can contain arsenic) especially for pets. Don't overdo it.

roseym

Does anyone know of natural alternatives to the ant powder? We don't own any green outside space to put it down in (we live in an area with no gardens nearby at all), and have two very small kids here regularly so I'm reluctant to put down anything overly toxic.

I think the ants might actually be coming up through our suspended wooden floor in the sitting room, and maybe getting in under there via a ventilation vent or something (although I cannot find the vent I know it should be here someplace). Am having horrible visions of having to rip it up to get rid of them! :eek:

We have large listed/protected limestone steps outside the sitting room part of the house, would an ants nest be able to set up in the joints or do they need earth?

Kashkai

Could be worse. A mouse or rat infestation would have you gladly welcoming the ants back.

We had mice in our newly built house in the late 90's and lying in bed at night, you could hear them running round the attic and down inside the stud walls. I opened the breadbin in the kitchen one morning and one of the little feckers was looking back at me. I laid mouse poison in the attic and around the kitchen to kill them. Trouble was they died in stud walls and when their bodies rotted, it smelled like raw sewage.

As for the ants, you can buy ant powder in any DIY place or supermarket. Spread it at openings like doors and windows and near vents

ellejay

my parents house gets ants about twice a year, anytime the neighbours do any work, ie hammering or digging or knocking down walls etc.

out of all the solutions over 20years they have found ant powder to be the best.

one year they even had these big flying ants.
(-came downstairs about seven years ago and one wall was black and looked like it was moving -yep thousands of them, disgusting)

parents reckon that the ants bring it back to nest and kills the other ants.
they advsied any ant poweder will do.

hope that helps

roseym

Awh man, I'm heading straight out after work and getting some ant powder. In my search for natural solutions I came across one that said wash down everything with a 50:50 mix of white vinegar and water. Apparently the smell goes away quickly.

Well I would just like to confirm that the smell does NOT go away quickly, and it also does NOT work. :rolleyes: So now our house smells like a chippie and we've got ants too. Feck the natural solutions - ant powder it is!

drico1

We had same problem last year for some reason - loads of them in the kitchen. I bought a little gizmo in woodies - basically they walk in to the little box and take the food back to the nest - worked fantastically and got rid of them within 2 days.

NickTellis

drico1 wrote: »

We had same problem last year for some reason - loads of them in the kitchen. I bought a little gizmo in woodies - basically they walk in to the little box and take the food back to the nest - worked fantastically and got rid of them within 2 days.

I agree. I got a couple of those boxes from Woodies, put them along the ant trail and within a couple of days the ants were gone.

roseym

Got two ant stop bait stations in Tescos yesterday. Put one down last night and today we are an ant free zone, even though it says on the instructions that it takes 3-6 days to work.

Snake Plisken

yeah strange they just started appearinig over the last couple of days not that many but enough to freak me out they seem to be going in and out under the skirting board and around the doors so looks like I should pick up these ant boxes to get rid of them I'll give it a go and report back.

SteM

Snake Plisken wrote: »

yeah strange they just started appearinig over the last couple of days not that many but enough to freak me out they seem to be going in and out under the skirting board and around the doors so looks like I should pick up these ant boxes to get rid of them I'll give it a go and report back.

This is strange - the exact same thng has happened to us! Never noticed one in the 3 years of being in the house but over the last 2 weeks or so there are a few coming under the stirting in the hallway and I've noticed some on the floor in the sitting room.

ART6

SteM wrote: »

This is strange - the exact same thng has happened to us! Never noticed one in the 3 years of being in the house but over the last 2 weeks or so there are a few coming under the stirting in the hallway and I've noticed some on the floor in the sitting room.

Strange indeed. We have lived in our bugalow in the sticks for 15 years and I never ever saw ants anywhere. In the last month or so I have found at least half a dozen nests, one even under the door of my workshop. That one got a dose of bleach because I didn't have any ant powder:p

Any bug experts out there know what's going on? Is this a serious attempt to evict humanity:eek::D

joconnell

Same here - only a few but I haven't been home enough to keep the place spotless. No idea where they're coming in or where the nest is. Anyway they hate citrus smells or herbs so if you find a trail, stick some lemon juice in a spray bottle and mist the area. Also don't squish them in your house - they leave a smell that attracts others.

WIZE

I for one welcome our Ant Overlords


P.S Sprinkle Baking Power on the Skirting Boards and outside around your doors and flower beds

Baking Powder makes them explode

Snake Plisken

Is the Ant population on the increse in Ireland I wonder? Maybe the good weather is increasing their numbers? I remember visiting my relations near londay and there was a good few nests of them around, but never seen any around my house in the ten years I've lived here up until now. btw I sprayed a good few with a Vapona spray I got in Tescos and haven't seen any since, maybe they are re-grouping for the next wave of attack!

joconnell

Yep - nature has gone a bit bonkers so far this year - some of my plants have literally doubled in size over 2 days. Back to the ants, If you follow one or two of them they always walk the same route as I think they navigate by smell? Either way if you find that trail and clean it with a decent kitchen cleaner it'll mess with their navigation. I reckon what caused mine was just general untidiness - I had a run of very late nights in works so there were bits of unwashed frying pans and such around - if there's no food for them there they won't bother coming in.

tiocimarla

follow them to their nest with petrol n c how they like u now, I had lots of ants last year in the toilet. couldnt find where they were comin from so i put a slice of ham in the center of my tiled floor and left it there for a few hours. When i came back there were bloody millions of em so i took my lighter fluid an circled them then I lit them on fire. I left their chared bodies there for a day or two to warn their little crawly friends off. Havnt seen one ant in the house since then:D

joconnell

So Violence is the answer then

Mightn't do so well on my wooden floors though

ghosttown

We've had a few ants over the last couple of weeks as well ! read on another page they don't like chalk, so drew lines on the carpet around the skirting boards area they were coming from (I think) and it appear to have worked. Still one or two, my 2yo gets great fun from seeing them, i've just hoovered them up (emptied the hoover after, one of these non bag ones)..... still haven't worked out where they came from, if they're back i'll use the lemon and ant powder suggestions.

podgeandrodge

I've got about 5 ants in the last week - well, I think they're ants - they're like big versions of a small ant but able to jump/fly a bit (but not like THE big flying ants)

Is this what ye are talking about? These are walking up walls rather than around the floor...:mad: