=POLL= ANT PROBLEM need advice.

[djheater]

They're tiny little black ants and they live in the walls.

an exterminator will take care of it and offer a six month guarantee for $400. The other option is to google it and figure out how to do it myself. I'm moving into the house in August and would like to get this taken care of so I don't have to deal with it on top of all the other moving in stuff.

thoughts?

 

[imported_Mike]

i would have voted neither except the exterminator has a 6 mo guarantee. You dont get rid of ants....

 

[MacBaine]

You just bought this house I'm assuming? What's another $400 on top of $300,000? (arbitrary number)

Then again, you could just burn it down.

 

[bootymac]

Flame thrower

 

[Encryptic]

I'd go with the exterminator if you can afford it. Otherwise, here's what I'd suggest:

- Spray Raid along the base of every wall in every room where ants have been seen. Also spray along the base of the outside wall of the house. Raid leaves a residue that will kill ants for quite a while. Make sure that you keep kids, pets, etc. out of the areas where you spray and make sure you ventilate well. Once it airs out, you should be safe.

- Make sure you have nothing out that will attract them, like food, sweet stuff, grease, or water.

- Try to find where they're coming from. Look for trails of ants and follow that. Most likely, there are holes in the walls, etc. that they are coming through. Spray with Raid and plug them up if possible.

- If you find trails of ants, wipe down the trails/area where they are congregating with rubbing alcohol. This will destroy their pheromone trails that they use to locate stuff and will also kill any ants you wipe up in the process. It evaporates quickly, so make sure you use Raid on any holes, etc. that you find.

Good luck!

 

[kenrippy]

try grits, yeah the old fashioned grits. they eat em and it expands in their belly, like the old alka-seltzer trick on seaguls this method works btw.

 

[Dragnov]

From everything that I looked up on google, heard from news, etc. theres no way to get rid of ants. It's virtually impossible.

However, the 6month guarantee sounds good and I'd definitely say there would be less ants than you attempting to do it yourself as long as the exterminator is legit.

 

[dakata24]

id go the exterminator route. afterwards, get those DIY ortho ant sprays that you spray around the perimeter of your home that is supposed keep ants out for 6 months. some of the sprays last 2-3 months.. while there are some that last up to 6 months. i can vouch that it works. just got to get the exterminator to get rid of the infestation that's already inside the house.

 

[Anubis]

ant cups. lots of them

if that doesent work then call teh orkin man

 

[DaveSimmons]

- buy an anteater

- set up a picnic on the lawn to lure them away

- play "friend or foe" and "desperate but not serious" until they dance themselves to death

 

[Corporate Thug]

had ant problem in dorm, just spray raid all around the base of the walls

 

[Eli]

Who cares?

If you don't want them, don't feed them. That means you cannot leave crumbs of ANYTHING laying around.

Are you sure they're living in your walls? Just because they disappear into a crack in the wall doesen't mean they're living in there. They typically live in the ground because they build tunnels and storage areas, which you can't do inside a wall.

Personally, I don't find ants to be a pest unless they're carpenter ants and literally are living in your walls.

I'm not going to let some numbskull exterminator spray chemicals all around my place because of some ants. YOU built your house on THEIR territory, what do you expect?

 

[LongCoolMother]

piss on em

 

[djheater]

Great... anyone gonna break the tie.

 

[anno]

rofl.. the ads on the side have taken away the need to google..

that last one (how to kill ants) has just about convinced me that the ants that move their babies in to my mailbox *every freakin' day* (sundays and holidays excepted) after the mailman puts the mail in and shuts it, and move them back out *every freakin' day* after I shake 'em off the mail and leave the door open are "pavement ants". wonder what they called 'em before there was asphalt..

(the donut game is really lame).

call the exterminator. if nothing else you need to know that they're not destructive ants. the exterminator settles that issue, you can kill 'em yourself in subsequent years.

anno

 

[rgwalt]

I would call the exterminator to get a head start on them. Then I would do what other suggested and take up spraying outside your house and along the baseboards of your house. You need to stay on top of keeping everything very clean.

Ryan

 

[loup garou]

Boric acid (borax). Sprinkle some near where they enter/exit. Also, make sure the area(s) they are coming into are SPOTLESS (no crumbs whatsoever, all food in sealed containers, pet food put away after pet eats, etc).

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: werk
Boric acid (borax). Sprinkle some near where they enter/exit. Also, make sure the area(s) they are coming into are SPOTLESS (no crumbs whatsoever, all food in sealed containers, pet food put away after pet eats, etc).

I was just going to suggest the Borax. It works. I don't know how, but it works. they will crawl around in it for a while, but after a few days, they will be gone. If you can get any inside the walls, like by sweeping it into the cracks, it will keep them away for a good long time.

I imagine borax is available at any decent hardware store, if not the grocery store, and that it's a hell of a lot safer than spraying pesticides insid your house.

 

[SuepaFly]

These don't sound like regular ants, kind of like carpenter ants. We had these at my house a while back and my parents kept giving me grief, telling me it was my fault for drinking juice and soda in my room. These ants eat through wood and drywall. I would call an exterminator.

Since this may be a problem similar to termites (if they are carpenter ants) maybe the previous owner will pay it. I'd check into it with your real estate agent.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: SuepaFly
These don't sound like regular ants, kind of like carpenter ants. We had these at my house a while back and my parents kept giving me grief, telling me it was my fault for drinking juice and soda in my room. These ants eat through wood and drywall. I would call an exterminator.

Since this may be a problem similar to termites (if they are carpenter ants) maybe the previous owner will pay it. I'd check into it with your real estate agent.

He said they were tiny ants. Carpenter ants are large, almost a half inch long. They're most likely sugar or crazy ants.