Ants

Pip_Boy_111

Ok so ants seem to be getting in between my skirting board and outside wall. I've sprayed the area with white vinegar (as suggested by a couple of people) but does anyone have any simple methods to stop this or am I resigned to pulling the carpet and boards up to try and fill any little holes they've made?

I think I know what the answer will be but was living in hope of a simple solution to these little blighters :mad:

neilmcl

Try using ant powder along the outside of the wall, and in the air brick if you have one and that's where they're getting in. I've also found those Antstop bait stations work quite well.

-taff

Nippon on a piece of card or a bottle top will do for them faster. See if you have any cracks in your render or whatever you have on the outside wall, check your aerial hole or any other holes for leads to make sure the lead is not loose, put a bit of silicone around it if it is.

cranford

Ant powder works for me and I have used Dethlac spray in the past but it has a potent smell.

Pip_Boy_111

Thanks all. Will be purchasing ant powder this morning to put down along the outside of the wall. I hadn't thought of the air brick so that will get the treatment too. The vinegar seems to have stopped them for now. Haven't spotted one since i gave it a good spray along the skirtings. The living room smells like a chip shop now :rotfl:

It's not a huge infestation, just the odd couple wandering along the carpet at the moment, but I'd like to make sure it doesn't become one. Trouble is, every time i block an entrance they find another one! Got to admire their tenacity and drive to dig new routes. They have my full respect for being so industrious, I'd just like them to be industrious somewhere other than my house :rotfl:

neilmcl

The bait stations work well because they transport the poison back into the nest where it can kill off the queen.

Ant555

My advice is to use whatever product (ant powder or dethlax) and then wait, they will eventually stop after 24 hours or so.

I find that lots seem to be affected in the first application but there are probably hundreds more wandering about their new trails.

I have a regime of spraying dethlax around the perimeter at the beginning of the summer and in the middle and it works for me.

Hope this helps.

EDIT 1: One time, on the inside, I did lift the carpet and put ant powder round the edges (between the carpet grippers and the skirt/wall, using a paintbrush to coax the powder underneath the skirt). Still saw the odd ant for a few days but this with a liberal spraying outside they did cease.

EDIT 2: If you decide to use ant powder then I take the approach of being really careful with it when putting down - it stays around for a long time on my concrete flags and the white staining can look absolutely awful. I like to try and be very precise and use a newspaper/cardboard as a mask at 45 degrees to keep the powder close to the edge of the house (almost like gloss painting!)

Februarycat

The only thing that worked in our kitchen was the Ant Bait stations, since I started to use them not had any ants in kitchen.

Fire_Fox

Ants make and follow trails from their nests to any food source. So remove the food sources, as well as using an ant killer product.

Do an extra thorough 'Spring clean' in any room food is prepared or eaten. Pull any freestanding appliances out, take off the plinth to get under the kitchen units, dead insects (flies/ants) on top of units or tall furniture, de-grease inside the cooker hood and oven, de-crumb inside the sofa and your toaster ....

Sugar soap (luminous yellow liquid used to prep for decorating) is brilliant for deep cleaning in the kitchen. Sugar soap is most effective sprayed on neat and washed off with hot water. Wilko sell sugar soap in a spray bottle, otherwise the cheapest place for it in a regular bottle is Poundland or discounters like Home Bargains.

Not casting aspersions on your household cleanliness BTW, but what is a tiny crumb or splash to us is a feast to ants! HTH.

Pip_Boy_111

Thanks all. Have been and purchased the ant powder and laid it around the perimeter of the house. i know where the ants are nesting (in the soil under the front window) so that's a useful bit of battle intel :rotfl:
Tomorrow i will lift the carpet and spread the powder under the skirtings as suggested. The area has been thoroughly cleaned as my first thought was that it may be crumbs and the like from the little darlings that had attracted them. Wasn't much under the sofa to be honest but still deep cleaned anyway.
I haven't actually seen any ants inside since i sprayed the area with white vinegar, so i guess there's some truth that it acts as a repellent and I've seen the ants mucking around in the powder outside so all the signs are positive.
As an aside i read during my research earlier that WD40 sprayed around threshholds and the like deters ants! Anyone have any experience with this little life hack??
Thanks again all :beer:

DIYDave1

Ant Powder for sure! I had them coming in through the back doors whenever the kids left an old lollipop behind the sofa, there would be hundreds coming! Lol


I have tiles under the decking and I believe there are huge ants nests under there.



I purchsased a ton of ant powder from eBay and ran it across the back doors under the decking, it certainly works!