Uh-oh Ants

12 years ago

Its a rental. Old tenant moved out, over the course of 2 weeks we cleaned the place up, wet vacuumed the floor, etc. Noticed 2 days ago a couple of small flies, I removed them and thought nothing of it (also noticed 1 or 2 ants on the baseboards)

Yesterday tenant moves in, no signs of any problems. Around 4:00, I get a call. He says there is a pile of flies on the window. I go look and surely there is, and they seem to come up from the window (newer style window) where is slides. Then we look over at a ceiling tile (other side of the room) and there is a wack load of em come out the corner. We must of vacuumed hundreds of the ants along with winged ants. The seemed to be coming up from the drywall. So I removed the baseboard, notice 3 or 4. Layed down the Raid drops. Only noticed 4 or 5 max, and then zero nearly 6 hours to about 10:00 at night (top and bottom). This morning, same story. No trace.

Not sure if bad or good!

I was told that they may have a colony nearby or inside and because we cleaned up really well they are now branching out to try and find new sources (thus the winged ants)

Any opinions? I already had to knock half a months rent off as a sign of good faith.

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Comments (7)

patch101
Original Author
12 years ago
well, I just spent 7 hours

Pulled the edge of the carpet and layed down dust. Sprayed insecticide (indoor) around all the baseboards, and in the space about ceiling tiles. Drilled holes in walls and sprayed inside as well.

Went outside and went through 3 silicone tubes making sure there was no way to get in through the door or window.

I only saw one damn ant the entire day, not sure what happened. Hopefully what I vacuumed was most of the colony, and hopefully what I did will take care of the rest.
krissie55
12 years ago
Put a mixture of Roach Proof and honey in a jar lid, place near ant trail or where they come out of wall, etc.

Ants will carry this mixture to the nest and kill the queen.

DO NOT do this if there are children or pets in the house.
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toxcrusadr
11 years ago
First they were flies but then they were ants. ??

The Roach Proof is a good idea - boric acid will kill ants. You can also buy Terro gel and put it on a square inch of cardboard. They also sell little plastic ant bait stations if you have pets or kids.

If you can find out where they're coming in - look for a trail of ants on the outside of the house - put some there too and intercept them before they enter.
cubsfan_84
11 years ago
Get a product called Talstar. The store bought stuff does not work. I ordered it from Do My Own Pest Control online. You have to follow the instructions to mix it up but it literally wipes out everything. My understanding is that this is the same product that Orkin uses when you call them out. It can be used indoors or outdoors.
krissie55
11 years ago
Ants with wings could mean you have "carpenter ants" or "termites".
Collect some in a jar and take to a pest control place for proper identification.
fa_f3_20
11 years ago
Yeah, sounds like termites to me.
fa_f3_20
11 years ago
Yeah, sounds like termites to me.