What is the safest and most effective way to rid a house of ants?

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MrsBugi

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2005
2,481
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Our place is undergoing some construction, and in the hot summer heat a flurry of ants have found our home to be their refuge.

Ants are on the floor, in the carpet, in the bathroom sinks (I suspect they've infiltrated the pipes, since construction is being done in the bathroom), in the bedroom, in the bed... I've done what I can to get rid of them in the bedroom by ceasing to eat in bed and getting rid of all foodstuffs in the room, but they persist.

"Raid" ant traps haven't been effective at all (the ones that smell like peanut butter), and I am at my wit's end!

Can anyone recommend a fairly safe and very effective way of ridding a house of an ant invasion? If necessary, I can use more drastic measures and leave for a weekend.
 
Ika

Ika

Lifer
Mar 22, 2006
14,264
3
81
Turn them into "fire" ants, if you know what I mean...


No, I'm kidding. Don't take my advice.
 
GuitarDaddy

GuitarDaddy

Lifer
Nov 9, 2004
11,465
1
0
Boric acid around the baseboards help. If they are the little tiny ants, good luck I've come to the conclusion that they are impossible to completely eradicate.
 
FoBoT

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
81
fobot.com
get a portable hand spayer from walmart/home store and some bug spray, there are several kinds, just make sure the label says it kills ants, most of them do

mix up a gallon in your sprayer and spray the base of the foundation outside the house.
then spray as much as you can around doorways and under sinks or anyplace you can reach from the inside of the house. especially the places you see them emerging inside, like baseboards or where ever

repeat weekly until they are gone
 
BillGates

BillGates

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2001
7,388
2
81
spray windex on them and the paths they use...kills em within a few seconds
 
F

FP

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
4,568
0
0
I came home from a long weekend away to our contertops and carpet covered in ants.

Took some windex to them and sprayed some RAID outside where they were entering. Hopefully they won't come back.

The biggest problem is our cat's food. We normally keep his food out all day/night.
 
J

j00fek

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2005
8,099
1
0
do you have alot of trees/shrubs around and or very close to the house? if so move oir cut them down.
same thing happened to moms house last yr. i had to cut all the trees/shrubs away from the garage and bombed the wole thing all summer long.
still doing it every other month now just to make sure that they are gone.

i found all this out when i was going to replace a piece of trim on the garage door, after opening it up i found that the whole header and part of the t 1-11 ahd been eaten by ants so i had to replace about 200$ worth of lumber. hope it dont happen to you :(
 
C

CellarDoor

Golden Member
Aug 31, 2004
1,574
0
0
Sorry to threadjack, but I have the same question regarding spiders. There are spiders everywhere. When I go outside to take out the trash, I run into about 6 or 7 webs and freak out.
 
Sheep

Sheep

Golden Member
Jun 13, 2006
1,275
0
71
Originally posted by: KMDupont64
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.
Click to expand...

Yup. Nothing worked in our place except this stuff. The ants flocked to the liquid-based traps like mad, then all died within less than a week and haven't been back since. It was rather amazing, actually.
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Tell your uncles to take them home.


BWHHAAAAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!! GET IT?? ANTS? AUNTS? UNCLES? GET IT??? WOOOOHOOHOHOHOHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAhaahahahaahaaaaaa....ha......er...*ahem*...s
rry :(

Get those ant stakes and put them outside of the entrace you're finding them. Then spray the paths you're seeing them on with Raid ant killer. Got rid of mine in 2 days by doing that (one spray and the spikes did it).
 
bunker

bunker

Lifer
Apr 23, 2001
10,572
0
71
First off, what kind of ants? Some like sugary foods some don't.

When you figure it out, go here and order something:

http://www.doityourselfpestcontrol.com

They're in Atlanta. I used to go to their store when I lived there and they gave me this gel stuff that I put down in several places. After a few days of them having their marching line going to and from the bait, I didn't see them any more :).
 
JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,738
126
Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.
Click to expand...

yeah, i tried THIS.

Ants swarmed all over it and went back into the baseboard. but didnt notice any kills.

and after they drank all of it, i still saw ants :(

these were the little ants, about 1/3 the size of carpenter ants.
 
D

Dobbs

Senior member
Nov 19, 2001
311
0
0
WD40 works well but maybe if they are every freakin where you need to call an exterminator and have the home tented.


 
R

randalee

Senior member
Nov 7, 2001
683
0
0
You can get 'em. Just be persistent. You'll never likely get them all forever, but if you work at it with the methods people here have posted, you can have success.
 
JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,738
126
Originally posted by: moshquerade
Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.
Click to expand...
i second that. it's the most effective stuff out there.
Click to expand...

what kind of ants?

the small little ants in my house kept appearing everyday, even after they drank a quarter size pool of this stuff :(
 
Googer

Googer

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
12,576
7
81
In Florida, ants are a year-round problem. I spray my whole yard and that seems to keep them out of the inside of my place.
 
A

AgentJean

Banned
Jun 7, 2006
1,280
0
0
Are they coming out of the "g-darn walls"?
If so:




Nuke em from orbit.



It is the only way to be sure. :D
 
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