How to get rid of pavement ants?

Question

I am in the process of buying a home. I have already realized one of my biggest problems will be combating ants in my new home. They are called pavement ants. I do not have the money to invest in professional pest control, therefore what is some DIY solutions to getting rid of ants for as long as possible?

I know that I can buy those little ant traps, but there has to be something out there that is more useful.

Answer 1

Ok
There was a wonderfully effective product out on the market in 1997 called AMDRO. I do not know if the product is still on the market but what is does quite simply is this, it kills the queen.
If the queen dies, there is nothing to create little baby ants so eventually (like 3-4 weeks) the colony of ants die. By buying those little ant traps all you are doing is killing the workers.
The workers don't matter, basically the workers are just cannon
fodder. The queen is the one that needs to be killed in order to eliminate the problem.But there IS only one problem, the queen is underground. With AMDRO, the product is passed from worker to worker and eventually is passed to the queen, who within a few days of ingesting the product, dies.If you cannot find the product I'm talking about,please send your mailing information to [e-mail] and I will mail you a little of the product and a copy of the instructions.

Answer 2

I wouldn't buy that house, the ants comes from underground usually old buildings that has cracked walls.I had pest control and isn't big deal, cost a lot of money, used injections to kill the queen and all the team underground but there were gone for 2 or 3 months only.I bought Raid and it last for that long and cost me $5 .Finally I had to move, because when it was too hot or when the rain came,there were ants all over the house.Thanks God I don't have to deal with ants anymore,that the worst thing!

Answer 3

Use a solution of Ivory liquid soap and water.

Mix 6 or 8 ounces of soap to a gallon of water, and you can spray them with a household sprayer bottle.

But to get the whole nest:

Watch where the ants are going/ coming from and follow them back to the anthill or nest. You can dump the solution directly into the anthill and soak the ground around it. This solution works for earwigs and many other insect pests. You can also put a small bead of straight Ivory liquid soap on the outside edge of the thresholds of the exterior doors, ants and earwigs won't cross it to come into the house.

Answer 4

There is a product called Terro. You put droplets on a piece of paper or card board and place it near the ants. They will find it, eat it, attract other ants to it, who then all take it back to their nest where they are all eliminated.

Make take an application or two but it has worked for me every time. The only thing it does not do is stop another group of ants from moving into the old ant home.

Answer 5

Since you're moving into a new home - you need to consider a variety of things to do to help keep ants from entering the house in the first place.

Use vinegar!
Ants can sometimes be deterred by washing counter tops, cabinets and floors with white distilled vinegar.

Get Rid of Ants
From Apply Now,
Your Guide to Frugal Living.
Get rid of ants in and around the house
Question - A reader wrote with this question: We've been invaded by ants! How can I get rid of them?
Answer - There are three very frugal things you can do in combination that should rid your home of ants.

The first step is to get rid of anything that's attracting them. Sugar and other sweets, and greases or fats of any kind are usually the major attractants. A lid on the sugar bowl won't stop them (as you probably know), so use air tight containers for that and cookies, cakes and the like. Don't leave greasy pans or platters more than a few minutes. Wipe cabinets and floors with a cup of vinegar in a couple of quarts of water.

The second step is to put a barrier between the ants and you. Anything in crystal or flake form can be used to deter them. Salt, black pepper, red pepper, baking soda, talcum powder...
the list goes on. (Used coffee grounds are said to be especially effective, even against fire ants.) Why does this work? Imagine yourself faced with a shoulder high snow drift that's too soft to hold your weight. Would you go through it if you didn't have to? Neither would I!

Thirdly, attack their hills. Pour boiling water down the main entrance to each hill you can find. Use at least a gallon to each hill. You might have to do this two or three times, but it will work. You can try borax mixed with flour around the base of your house or near their hills, but boiling water is cheaper, safer and more efficient, as ants are selective about what they eat.

Ants don't care for mint or citrus, cloves or bay leaves, so think orange peel, peppermint tea, lemon juice, ground cloves, etc. If you can plant mint around the foundations of your home, you may deter them from entering. Vinegar has the same acid as citrus, so use it to clean with and ants won't feel welcome. (It probably erases or overpowers the odor trail other ants have left for them to follow.)



You'll love all the articles on frugal living.

Answer 6

Something I heard on a do-it-yourself type TV show on PBS was that chalk- yes, chalk- works for combating ants. Simply draw a line with white chalk. Ants, for some reason, will not cross the line.

I have never tried it, but it's so incredibly inexpensive that it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. If it doesn't work, it won't be a big deal to clean up some chalk, right?

God bless.

Answer 7

Borax will work wonders. I line my pantry shelves with it twice a year & the ants don't come indoors. Also buy the Grant's Ant Spikes & place them around the perimeter of your home. You space them about every 5-10 ft. I've done this for 6 years & don't have any ants in my home. If the stakes get wet, toss into the trash & replace with a fresh one.

Don't forget to put the borax behind your fridge, & around the washer, toilets, tubs, showers as well as under the sinks.

If you find the colony hole, drown them with the hose. Put the hose down the hole & turn the water on full blast. Stand back or you'll get wet.

My mom also pours down an ant granule in a red bag with gold lettering. I don't recall the name & she finds it at Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot or Lowe's. It stinks like rotten eggs when going down but works along with the borax & ant stakes.

Answer 8

Windex or any amonia containing spray. Just spray it over the existing trails and around the places where they get in. The amonia makes the ants 'lost' my father works i npest control and we do this in our won house as a quick fix. It lasts a week to several weeks, depending on the season/weather. If you have a big infestation you might just have to bite it and have one good treatment and then follow up with 'home' remedies.
If you are in the process why don't you put it as a stipulation of the contract that the current owner treat for the infestation?
Good luck and congrats on you new home!

Answer 9

I use Seven for all my pest problems it is a botanical product so is safe around food, kids and pets it is very effective - lasting up to 8 moths in dry weather and 5-6 in wet. You spray the perimeter and all the interior floor edges. This will also control wood spiders which you probably have as well but have not yet come across the 2 seem to travel together. Good Luck!

Answer 10

Repelling and killing ants? Borax “Used to clean stains off clothes” and honey. Take a very large amount of borax “I would say 3 cups” and mix it with at least twice as much honey “6 cups” and add water “3 cups” and mix it up. Place the plastic container “I should mention that a plastic container would be good” near their nest. The borax will shutdown the ants internal organs “ants don’t have lungs, they breath by diffusion -pulling air right to organs-” and they will die.