[MomToTwoBoys]

In our dining room, there's a small section where ants are coming into the house. They're black ants, but there are also queen ants too (DS12 has squashed five or six queens the first time and there were five more today trying to escape through our window). DH is sitting at the spot where they're coming in and he keeps vacuuming them out.

This didn't start until the weather got really nice.

The area that they're coming in is above grade. That leaves us wondering how they got into the house in the first place. But the other question is how do we get rid of them?

 

[Debbie-cat]

Is the spot where they are coming in on an outside wall? What type of siding do you have? You might have a 'hill' in the wall between the siding and insulation or between the Sheetrock and insulation.

We had this happen to us once. We had to remove the crown molding (they were coming in by the ceiling) and found a large nest (hill....whatever you want to call it), sprayed some type of ant killer (don't remember what we used) then had to replace some of the Sheetrock as they ate right through it.

 

[Paws]

A couple of years of ago, we had little small ants in my kitchen...we found them even in the dishwasher!
We had our Cook's guy come in and treat...he also advised us to break the pheromone trail they use to find their way in.
You can either use vinegar or Windex with ammonia. We used the Windex and it actually kills them on contact also...better than any bug spray I've ever used! The Cook's guy said something about the ammonia in it dries them up or something or another, but I can tell you it kills them and it WILL break their trail. Unfortunately, if another ant decides to mosey back into your house, then another trail is established...so it has to be either broken too and so on...
In addition to the Windex, MIL brought a product over...I think the name is Terro. It's a bait you put out. It works.
I put a a few drops into a 2 lt soda bottle cap and the ants came running to jump into the hot tub!! It didn't take long...pretty effective stuff.

 

[daylily]

I've used Terro too and it does work!

 

[MaryCarney]

* picturing an ant hot tub*

 

[frugalwarrior2]

I use bleach or clorox cleanup. But if it's black ants you have rotting wood somewhere. Get someone in right away. Black ants can do as much damage as termites. They are usually by oak trees. Is there one close? We had friends lose a lot of their garage.
As far as stopping the ones in the interior try to disrupt their scent trail. I like the vaccumn but leave dead bodies around too.

 

[2ndGenGranola]

I has some eat up my berber carpet.

We vacuumed up the mess, put down powdered ant killer then caulked the area around the baseboard/floor.

The bug guy also put down some bait that they take back to their nests. We did have to go through several bug guys before one figured out what to do. Not a one of them had ever seen them do that kind of damage to carpet before.

Between the bug guy visiting us every couple months and my in between treatments (suggested by another bug guy) we can keep what is left of my carpet.

 

[FrugalKate]

Good ol' fashioned School Chalk. Just draw a line with it.

 

[McD]

I use bleach or clorox cleanup. But if it's black ants you have rotting wood somewhere. Get someone in right away. Black ants can do as much damage as termites. They are usually by oak trees. Is there one close? We had friends lose a lot of their garage.
As far as stopping the ones in the interior try to disrupt their scent trail. I like the vaccumn but leave dead bodies around too.

That's good to know. Every year, I find about 5-6 big black ants wandering through my house. I squish them and send them on their merry little way to whatever final resting place awaits squished ants. Coincidentally, they are usually close to a window that we'e had some problems with leakage.

Every spring I spray this stuff around the inside perimeter and teh foundation of my home. Amazon.com: Ortho 0195310 1-1/3-Gallon Home Defense Max Perimeter and Indoor Insect Killer Pull 'N Spray: Patio, Lawn & [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@51JFd9Sf9UL

 

[frugalwarrior2]

McD-thanks but we have 3 dogs in the back. And our well is in front. I saw an ad for something like Natria (not exactly the right name). I need to do the perimeter. So I am going to look into this. It's supposed to be safe/safer.

 

[wanderlusting]

We had issues with ants here. I kept finding scout ants everyday. I ended up getting those ant bait traps and set them all outside (didn't want babies or my pets getting them) by doors, windows, garage, etc.

Then I used an ant killer spray to coat the ant scent trail outside.

 

[crafty73]

Years ago when I lived in the city, I had a problem with ants. I used bleach to get rid of their pheromone trail and then I used cayenne pepper by sprinkling it around the outside of the foundation and around the inside in certain areas. They didn't come back.

Best of luck to you in getting rid of the lil buggars!

 

[Libby]

Bears took note of the ants around the house this weekend too. He took to spraying WD40 with the straw attachment to apply it precisely. He sprayed the perimeter of the entire house with it. Apparently ants won't cross it and if they do, it sticks to their exoskeleton which will eventually kill them and they do end up taking it back to their nest(s). So far, so good.

 

[monkeywrangler71]

If I were you I would pull the baseboard off to see if their nest is under it, and also to check for any damage they might be doing to the house.

 

[Moonrising]

Its that time of year for me too. A lot of ants where I live. I have been buying this ant spray suggested by my local hardware but my farmer friend said not to waste money..lol... He said to kill them with borax. You mix the borax with icing sugar and spread it around. The ants pick the sweet treat up to take to their nest and thats it. I was concerned about my animals but he said he used it safely around all his animals on the farm and they didn't eat it. I haven't used it yet and I will consult with him again before doing it myself but I will make sure that its not placed anywhere where my cats or dog will walk through it and then have to lick their paws.

I spend about $20.00 a summer on spray so I am pleased to get this information. And since I am just this week going to get my ingredients for making soap its nice to know the borax will have other uses.

 

[Luckybustert]

In addition to the Windex, MIL brought a product over...I think the name is Terro. It's a bait you put out. It works.
I put a a few drops into a 2 lt soda bottle cap and the ants came running to jump into the hot tub!! It didn't take long...pretty effective stuff.

Terro is what I've always used to get rid of ants too - that stuff is awesome!

 

[frugalwarrior2]

Our are back too. They like the sink area and crawl right thru the light socket. I bleached them good but I expect it will take a couple more times.
The borax idea bears musing. thx.

 

[Russ]

Buy an anteater?

 

[MomToTwoBoys]

We found out how they were getting into the house. We had a pine tree that we cut down once the weather started getting nice and it was pretty close to where the ants were coming in. It turns out that they were crawling into the window box from underneath it. There's a small crack between the stucco and the window box. I went ahead and removed the old pine cones and the cedar shavings that were under the window. FIL looked at it today and said that we'd have to remove the boards and open up the window box to see what's going on. He doesn't think the area was insulated and vapor barriered at all, so we're going to pull them off soon and see what the situation is. For now, I have Borax and icing sugar on my list and I'm gonna bait it right where they're coming in. I figure once I do that and we seal up any cracks where the ants are coming in, we won't have issues with them any more.

 

[ttistin]

Avon skin so soft oil. Put some on a spong and apply around windows, doors or where ever they are entering. Kills ants on contact.