I want to get rid of ants! (merged threads)

poppett

I'm not sure if this is the right place for my query so please feel free to move if needs be.

My daughter has a problem with ants in her bedroom, I'm not just talking normal ants but red as well. Their nest is right beside her bed and the cot of my 3 month old granddaughter. It's got to the stage now where my daughter has started sleeping in the living room with the baby.

Today she phoned the council and they passed her to someone else, who in turn passed her to a third person. In the end she was told it would cost her £100 to have it cleared. When she said she couldn't afford that she was told to put hot water or ant powder down. She did this last year and spoilt her carpet, so knows this isn't the solution.

I have said I will contact the council for her tomorrow as in the end today she was in tears of frustration. I just wish I lived in the same town because I would go into the council offices personally.

Does anyone know of ANYTHING to get rid of ants, something non-chemical (because of the baby) that she can use/try?

misgrace

Hi there poppett, How awful for your daughter and grandaughter.

I could be wrong here, but if your daughter is living in council accomodation, surely they are responsible especially when there is a small child involved..

The reason I am saying that the council should take responsibilty, due to the fact a friend of mine lives in council accomodation, and I know its not the same thing, but she had an infestation of rats, nothing to do with her I may add, but coming from next doors garden, a rat run under thier shed where they kept foodstuff like rice, flour etc:eek:

Now the people that had the shed were not council but private owned, and faffed around getting someone in, obviously didnt want the expense.
My friend contacted the council, and after a few strong vocal calls, the council sent the rat man round to deal with the problem, even though it wasnt on her side but next doors, and it didnt cost her a penny.

I think perhaps she threatened to bring any rats down that she found and plonk it on thier desks, and even threatened to go to the papers, might have had something to do with it lol.

But, even though they are ants,and inside the home, and red ones at that, its still a health issue, and she must be very vocal, and if gets no joy, drop 'social services', 'the newspaper' ' health visitor' 'councillor' into her conversations to them.

They should pay the £100, or at least a good portion towards it.

Let us know how she gets on.

martindow

I don't want to offend anyone but I would like to put a word in for ants.

For the most part they are inoffensive and it would be good to think that we can live alongside us without wanting to kill every ant in the area. Flying ants are only around for a day or two each year so this needs to be kept in proportion.

If you have a nest in the wall then maybe something does need to be done but please let's not all go round pouring boiling water on every ant we see!

sallywl

Martindow, I do agree, we have a lot of ants in our garden, probably to do with the lack of care the previous owners gave the garden, anyway although they are a bit annoying outside, when they attack our bags of compost in the greenhouse to nest in, its not a problem, they are outsdie where they belong, I do have a problem and I believe this is how most people feel, when they start getting in to my house, the odd one on a walk about is fine, I usually get it on a bit of paper and put it outside, but when there are loads.... it really does need sorting!

WardysGirl

Sooo glad im not the only one!

They started gathering around my front door yesterday so we put an ant stop bait station down which seemed to do the trick. Got up this morning and my whole living room is covered in them :eek: The floor, the walls, my desk the fireplace i have just flicked one off my arm :eek:

Have moved the bait station and probably squashed a good 200 ants this morning :mad: Does anyone know where i can get the ant stop spray from? I live in a very small town and really only have a woolworths and a wilkinsons - as in chain stores here the rest are all family businesses etc.

I had the same problem last year i went away for 2 weeks and when i came back my whole house was swarming in them not just the walking ants but the flying ants also. I phoned the council last year and asked them about it and was told that it isnt something that they cover and if i wanted anything done about them i would have to contact a private fumigator (is that the right word?).

Any help would bbe really appreciated right now they are making my skin crawl

tiamai_d

I have 2, possible 3 nests in my garden. The only one I am bothered about is under the step at the back door. There are thousands there! Yesterday I attacked them with a blowtorch while the kids stmped on them and the dog ate them. Then this morning there are even more! It's crawling with them!

DH went out with his trusty can of lighter fluid and lighter and I spotted my first flying ants! Though they were unable to fly yet. Ran out of lighter fludi so he has gone to get more. We can see 3 enterences that are being used the most, 2 of them I can pour water down, so will give that a try.

misgrace

WardysGirl wrote: »

Sooo glad im not the only one!


Have moved the bait station and probably squashed a good 200 ants this morning :mad: Does anyone know where i can get the ant stop spray from? I live in a very small town and really only have a woolworths and a wilkinsons - as in chain stores here the rest are all family businesses etc.

Its been a nightmare time for everyone,I dont why they are so many this year, but everyone in different areas is having the same problems.

This is the worst year for me for the last 3 years.:mad:

As to the 'Ant stop', wilkingsons does sell it, and I know I have seen it in Woolworths in the past.
You cant miss it, its a red trigger type bottle, I think its about £3 something, but it does last for ages.
My last bottle lasted 3 years lol, its only because the ants have gone mad this year I had to go out and buy another bottle.

misgrace

tiamai_d wrote: »

I have 2, possible 3 nests in my garden.
.

If you can find the nests, then you can soak with the the 'Ant stop', it will kill them full stop, unfortunately, mine are coming from under the patio, and getting in under the teeniest gap from the skirting board to the wooden floor.

I'm going to wait till they have finished, and get some decorators caulk and caulk a line so it seals the gap, for next year.;)

Janebo12

Hi, I have a plug in thingy called "PestX". It works through the wiring in your home to get rid of ants etc in your walls - it also sends out an electro magnetic pulse which crawlys really hate.

I bought it from Costco years ago for about £10, but you can get similar things in B&Q (you want the one for crawling insects!) - OK, not as cost-effective as boiling water, but better than the chemical method - I have not seen an ant indoors since.

Hope this helps!

poppett

misgrace wrote: »

Hi there poppett, How awful for your daughter and grandaughter.

I could be wrong here, but if your daughter is living in council accomodation, surely they are responsible especially when there is a small child involved..

The reason I am saying that the council should take responsibilty, due to the fact a friend of mine lives in council accomodation, and I know its not the same thing, but she had an infestation of rats, nothing to do with her I may add, but coming from next doors garden, a rat run under thier shed where they kept foodstuff like rice, flour etc:eek:

Now the people that had the shed were not council but private owned, and faffed around getting someone in, obviously didnt want the expense.
My friend contacted the council, and after a few strong vocal calls, the council sent the rat man round to deal with the problem, even though it wasnt on her side but next doors, and it didnt cost her a penny.

I think perhaps she threatened to bring any rats down that she found and plonk it on thier desks, and even threatened to go to the papers, might have had something to do with it lol.

But, even though they are ants,and inside the home, and red ones at that, its still a health issue, and she must be very vocal, and if gets no joy, drop 'social services', 'the newspaper' ' health visitor' 'councillor' into her conversations to them.

They should pay the £100, or at least a good portion towards it.

Let us know how she gets on.

Thanks for your lovely reply misgrace. I have tried calling the council for my daughter today and they were adament that it has nothing to do with them but gave me a number to ring. I did this and got no answer at all (at 3pm) so will try tomorrow morning. However, I have phoned a local MP in my daughters hometown and he can send a letter of support which is better than nothing. I will call again tomorrow and let them know that I have involved an MP, lets see if that makes a difference.

Since writing my thread last night I have looked at all the advice on here and will tell my daughter about AntStop as it really isn't fair that they have to sleep in the living room.