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deb52899

Do flies enter through your vent hood vent?

11 years ago

I have flies like crazy! The only new opening in the house is the vent for the hood. It has a screen to prevent birds and rodents. But flies can easily fit through. What can I do? DH said instructions said not to use window-type screen. Flies are gross, especially in the kitchen!

close up of screen

Size of actual vent

Comments (17)

  • 11 years ago

    Oh wow, ew. Hopefully a pro weighs in....

    Debbi Branka thanked beth09
  • PRO
    11 years ago

    I found a bird's nest with several dried baby birds in it inside a range vent once. Thankfully the maggots/flies did their job. The guy made me take the hood to a car wash where I power washed it and swear to never tell his wife.

  • 11 years ago

    I killed a huge fly yesterday that had been driving me nuts for several days. I figured he had come in the front door but now you have me wondering whether he could have come in through the vent. We also just had an actual, honest-to-goodness vent installed.

    I'll be watching this thread to see what others say.

    LOL, Joseph! You do realize that you now have blackmail material on the guy. = )

  • 11 years ago

    How many flies are you getting?Maybe a mouse died inside a wall? I doubt that many flies enter through the vent, as least I hope not.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    What you have pictured looks like for a dryer vent cover. I would expect that the cover-hoody-thing over it will accumulate grease from the exhaust and attract insects. I have had a hood vented to the outside for years, and have never had a fly come through my hood. However, the cover at the exit on mine is louvered; it is not at all what you've shown in your photo. I suggest you switch out what you have for a louvered cover. These are commonly available - some have a screen behind the louvers so you get double protection, some don't. The louvers stay closed until you turn on the fan, and the air pushing out the duct opens the louvers, which then close again when the fan is turned off.

    Many hood manufacturers make the louvered covers as an accessory to the hood - I believe Broan makes them, and your hood manufacturer may also. In any case, the louvered wall covers for exhausts are also available at Home Depot and Lowes.

    Edit: I just found this one by Broan for a 10" duct by googling quickly--just to show you what I am talking about.

    Debbi Branka thanked friedajune
  • 11 years ago

    Eww Joseph that is gross! Omgosh. The vent was just installed in April. I don't think I've had much time for grease buildup (I bake and cook but don't fry much). Our installer and my husband worked together and followed the directions to a tee. I'm sure the outside cover they installed is what VentAHood called for. I will show DH the louvered vent.

    anita, I killed at least 12 when I got home from work today. There are still a couple buzzing around. This has been an ongoing problem all summer and we've never had this problem before. We've lived here 6 years.

    We asi had a huge ant problem this spring. We've had ants in the spring before but DH sprays and after 2 weeks or so we never see anymore. This year he ha sprayed multiple times. I have ant traps all over and ant stakes in the yard. They are still coming inside (but not bad - just a few here and there). I wonder if the ants and the fly problem are related. Still the vent hole is the only new hole in the house.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    This does not appear to be the right terminator. Most units have a spring loaded door on the outside that only opens when the unit is operation. There should also be a damper on the inside of the unit near the blowers.This is a picture of the ventahood unit.

    Debbi Branka thanked homepro01
  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    The VAH one says it does not keep bugs from getting in. Would another brand fit?

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Debbie...we had a fly problem last summer. First time in 15 years. Never learned why, but after a couple weeks, they were gone. Then in November, we tore down kitchen walls to remodel and found a couple dead mice. Not positive they're related, but I think so.

    And the ants were horrendous this year. Pretty sure due to the rainiest June on record.

    I'm in agreement with the others that your vent hood isn't the correct one.

    Debbi Branka thanked anitamo
  • 11 years ago

    Thanks, FriedaJune, your post made me realize that my vent cover is an actual cover, a spring-loaded door as homepro pointed out.

    Sue hope you get it figured out, Debbi. That many flies would drive me batty!

  • 11 years ago

    Sounds like you need a different cover, thanks to those pointing that out!

    And we also have had an extremely rainy spring/summer and have ants in the house too, which I don't ever recall in the 28 years we've lived here.

  • 11 years ago

    Debbi,

    There are other manufacturers who make similar spring loaded mechanisms. You can add a screen to keep out bugs when it is open but most of the time, it is a closed entry. You should also have a damper in your hood somewhere that prevents exterior air from entering the house when the hood is not in use.

    Good luck!

    Debbi Branka thanked homepro01
  • PRO
    11 years ago

    Many years ago our cats would stare at the fireplace in February. Then a big fat fly would crawl out and they would play with him. My wife sniffed by the fireplace and announced something was dead behind it.

    I unzipped the vinyl siding to the chase the next day, cut the sheathing with my Sawzall, and using a bent coat hanger, pulled the bones and fur of several dead squirrels from between the metal chimney layers. There were bug carcasses all over in there and it stunk to high heaven. They would fall between and could not climb back up the slick metal.

    I spread Fabreeze around, buttoned up the chase and siding, and put a mesh cap on the chimney and didn't have a problem again until the guy in the condo next door invited us over and Ms. Sniffer stood by the fireplace...

  • 8 years ago

    For the love of god please stop using goofy acronyms like “DH”. It means Dear husband, right? So dumb.

  • 6 years ago

    I just googled flies coming out of the range hood and gee what a read these have all been. I have just moved into a new house. Been here 4 weeks and I’m alone so no one leaving doors open etc. I’ve been noticing like 5-10 large flies every day buzzing around and it’s not even summer. Today I took the range Hood Gerace tray down and they all flew at me. (Gross) how do I get rid of them?? Nikki

  • 5 years ago

    We have a 4 year old house at the lake, and every fall we’ve been getting a plague of flies, house is kept very clean. This year it’s 1000 times worse thousands of flies high up on the windows and ceilings! We’re vacuuming 3 times a day. It’s our dream house and we are at a loss, I just asked my husband to cover the stove vent before coming to town as an experiment. Fingers crossed! 🤢😢

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