Ants in the garden and the house, help please!

Wkdwill

Im wondering if anyone could offer some advice, I have 2 ant problems.

The first is the back garden we have hundreds and hundreds of red ants, my husband has started sorting our garden out and so far he has discovered 2 nests, but we still have a lot of paving to remove so no doubt there will be more to come. Would we be best just sticking to the boiling water whenever we find them or is there something else we can do?

The second problem is with black ants in our front garden which ever since having virgin installed ive been finding them in my living room, walking up my living room door, across the coffee table, everywhere. The house is tidy and no food or anything is ever left about and the problem is just confined to the living room. Ive tried bait stations, which havent work, so I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice on what products would be best to try, I have 2 small children, no pets and my living room is carpeted.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

delain

You can get a spray called ant stop, spray it around all your door frames and windowsills inside and out and along skirting boards etc. It won't damage the carpets and is child-safe once down (though obviously spray it when they're out!)

My old flat had a hideous ant problem, if you sat on the sofa you'd have ants all over your legs in seconds and that stopped it dead.

CLIVELESTER

Have had problems with ants in our lawn previously so asked for advice from male member of staff at local garden centre. He suggested I try "Podder", as I had never heard of this product I asked him to explain further. He appeared surprised I was not aware of it & said "You Know ant podder". I then realised he was of the Scottish persuasion and he was suggesting I use ant powder, or podder as he called it. Certainly made me laugh.

Re ants in the house after Virgin installation can only suggest buying a phone lock to prevent ants using phone or hide remote if they come in to watch TV. :beer:

Wkdwill

CLIVELESTER wrote: »

Have had problems with ants in our lawn previously so asked for advice from male member of staff at local garden centre. He suggested I try "Podder", as I had never heard of this product I asked him to explain further. He appeared surprised I was not aware of it & said "You Know ant podder". I then realised he was of the Scottish persuasion and he was suggesting I use ant powder, or podder as he called it. Certainly made me laugh.

Re ants in the house after Virgin installation can only suggest buying a phone lock to prevent ants using phone or hide remote if they come in to watch TV. :beer:

Lol, I was actually saying it as I thought that maybe the installation had given them a route into the living room, but ill check my bill next time, make sure they havent been making any calls, lol.

Come to think of it, ive been wondering why the gardening channel has been on the tv everytime I switch it on, on a morning, I assumed it was my husband before he went to work, now im not so sure.

imataloss

CLIVELESTER wrote: »

Have had problems with ants in our lawn previously so asked for advice from male member of staff at local garden centre. He suggested I try "Podder", as I had never heard of this product I asked him to explain further. He appeared surprised I was not aware of it & said "You Know ant podder". I then realised he was of the Scottish persuasion and he was suggesting I use ant powder, or podder as he called it. Certainly made me laugh.

Re ants in the house after Virgin installation can only suggest buying a phone lock to prevent ants using phone or hide remote if they come in to watch TV. :beer:

:rotfl:
You`ve made my morning.
On a more serious note we used to have a lot of problems with ants in the house. Found they disappeared when we sprayed flea spray around the edges of walls. We got it from the vets to clear a flea infestation which came from our cat.

Starrystarrynight

The Ant Stop spray already mentioned is pretty good.
I found that the ants seemed to be coming from behind my fridge, on an outside wall. I pulled the appliance out and used some sort of sealant , silicone type I think, to plug the area and the problem has been much less since. Turns out there was a nest not far away, which my neighbour got rid of, but I still use ant powder outside as the little blighters freak me out.

Wkdwill

Starrystarrynight wrote: »

but I still use ant powder outside as the little blighters freak me out.

I know what you mean, everytime I see them I can do nothing but itch for ages after.

delain

In my flat they would literally be all over you as soon as you sat down it was just wrong! and the biggest spiders I have ever seen! Raid fly spray kills spiders if you can get close enough

HannahIOW

We came back to loads of ants in the kitchen of our flat yesterday, I'm all itchy now just thinking about it lol. They were mostly around the sink and window, investigated outside and they were coming in through 2 tiny holes so OH blocked them up with bathroom sealant and also re sealed all around the kitchen window. If they are coming in the hole that was drilled for your tv ariel then perhaps try blocking it up with some kind of caulk?
Still finding the odd few in the kitchen now but not enough to put bait down for them I don't think... I just squash em lol.

morg_monster

Wkdwill wrote: »

Lol, I was actually saying it as I thought that maybe the installation had given them a route into the living room, but ill check my bill next time, make sure they havent been making any calls, lol.

Come to think of it, ive been wondering why the gardening channel has been on the tv everytime I switch it on, on a morning, I assumed it was my husband before he went to work, now im not so sure.

The problem is probably to do with the TV ANT-enna.

I'll get my coat.

We had probs in the kitchen but improved hygiene and more washing up has solved most of the problem. Sounds like this isn't your problem though.
We are now finding ants in the dishwasher - i could understand it when the plate from my peanut butter & honey sandwich was in there, but even when it is clean and empty they come in. Am planning to dump some vinegar down the drain. Can't really work out where they are coming in from.

nuttyrockeress

My mum has always used the Ant Stop bait stations in the house as there is no mess, you can get them from Wilko's