There are ants coming into our kitchen through a crack in the wall. The crack is impossible to fill. Now what?

Question

Is there any sort of substance that deters them? Our kitchen floor is often infested with ants and not only is it extremely frustrating but it's also very unhygenic.

Answer 1

Buy some stuff to put down that the ants eat and then take back to their nest and so kills the rest of them. Should be easy enough to find at big supermarket or hardware shop.

Answer 2

I've got good advice.If you can get a carpenter in there and cover walls and ceilng up before so much is gone that it all has to be removed.That will not only be a big mess but cost a **** load more.I know I've dealt with that many times.Don't even let anyone talk you into patching.Now if the wall that the fireplace needs to be flush or behind the face to trim.I would tear that wall off.

Answer 3

Any wall crack can be filled. You could start by directing ant spray into the crack. Try to keep all the kitchen floor and surfaces very clean and free of food crumbs.

Answer 4

If the wall with the crack is plaster or drywall then drywall mud will work. Use some of the insecticide recommended by other commenters or liquid dursban and put it in the crack before filling. If the walls are concrete, use hydralic cement after you treat with insecticide. Afterwards apply a granular pesticide outside in the yard and eliminate all the pest outside. Water in the insecticide (just like watering your lawn). Hope this helps! Good Luck!!

Answer 5

I recommend Nippon ant killer drops too. I've used them with success in the past. Surprisingly difficult to find these days.

They are in your house looking for food so make sure the kitchen is spotlessly clean with no crumbs or anything left in the corners.

They may be getting into the house through a crack or small hole in the brickwork outside and then crawling through the wall cavity until they get into your kitchen through the crack there. Get some exterior polyfilla and seal up any and every possible point of entry you can see outside as well.

Answer 6

Any good ant repellent should do the job. I prefer granulated (dry) repellents to aerosols. Be sure to get the repellent as deep into the crack as you can.

You might try using a fine powder (Seven is good). Squirt it into the crack. The ants will walk through it and it will stick to their bodies. The powder dessicates the ants and they die. They also carry some of the powder back to their nest and help to kill more ants.

Powder also works well for roaches and other bugs with wax-like coverings on their bodies.

Answer 7

Terro the famous ant poison! you only put it out on a little piece of cardboard, then the ants come and grab some, take it back to their nests(or holes or whatever) and kill off everyone else too! then when they are deterred from coming back(or killed most likely) go to the Home Depot and get a bottle of caulk and a caulk gun and fill the hole. hope this helps.

ps: just don't put it anywhere though! it will hurt humans if we eat it, so put it right on the card board, and right in the hole.

Answer 8

I bought this stuff called TAT.....It is clear and thick,you apply with a non aerosol spray bottle.When it is dry it is safe for pets and people.If ants cross over it they freak out and die.I used this when I was living on a slab and the ants would come through the door cracks and other places.It really worked wonders w/out the smell.I bought it at a supermarket here in new jersey.Good Luck

Answer 9

You can buy cans of ant traps for 1.99 at any hardare store

You can bleach the floors - there isn't a living creature that likes bleach - Fatal to almost everything as well

You can buy a can of RAID for 5-10 bucks as well -

Also put all foods in tins from now on - seal everything up for a while - They are eating somthing somewhere - cut that off

If the hole is big enough and goes straight through to the outside - Take the garden hose into the house and pour it to them -

Also there isn't such a thing as a hole that can't be filled

Talk to your local hardare guy about how to etc

Answer 10

Go to the drug store or a garden center, ask for the product TARO or maybe spelled TARRO. Ants love this poison. Once they start to gather around the TARO and eat, it is hard not to kill them right then and there. Let them eat the poison and they will take it back to the nest and feed it to the colony. The ants should be gone in a couple of days.

Answer 11

Borax is good. Baby powder works for about 10 months. i tried it. Put bay leaves in the crack. Cloves, rosemary, they hate that stuff. I had a pest control guy come over and he had this totally organic spray made from orange oil, cloves and rosemary but he wouldn't tell me what else was in it. It was the BEST stuff! kept the ants out and I didn't kill my bird with chemicals! It's Corky's pest control in California.