Ant problem in the home, help asap!!!?

Question

I have some ants around and in my home, i really need help, please do help now...

Answer 1

A combination approach will be most effective.

Before you kill the ants you see in the house, try to follow a few or see if there is a trail back to a hole. For us, the ants were actually coming in through a small hole in our staircase.

Next, wipe up the ants you see and seal the hole using clear caulk. Make a mixture of white vinegar and water (2 Tbls vinegar to one cup of water) and put that in a spray bottle. Spray all hard surfaces where you saw ants. Don't forget to spray around moldings, but don't use it on carpet if you can help it. It has a mildly vinegary smell that will fade in a day or two, but it won't harm pets or kids.

After that dries, sprinkle talcum powder all around the perimeter of the rooms where you saw ants. Ants dislike it because it sticks to their legs and messes up their directional ability. They won't cross the powder line and powder won't be harmful to anyone else in the house.

Next, get ant bait traps such as the little octagonal ones suggested above. There are also some that come in stake form, those work outside. Get several bait traps and place them in inconspicuous places. You can even put them places where you haven't seen ants today because they are totally enclosed. We put them in the closets, behind the fridge, in the pantry, anywhere there might be accidental crumbs except for on the counters. We even put them in the bathrooms because there is often water on the floor from the kids.

Next, get the pesticide spray for around the house. On a reasonably warm day without any wind, don some old clothes and rubber gloves, and spray all around the foundation of your house, even behind the plants. Go slowly and carefully so you make like an invisible continuous line around the house. Toss the gloves, wash the old clothes separately from any other clothes, and take a shower when you are done.

Within a matter of days, you will see the ants disappear. We did this 2 years ago and haven't seen an ant since. Oh, and as someone else mentioned, keep the floors in your kitchen and dining room swept/vacuumed, and keep the snacks out of rooms with carpet. With small kids, I sometimes have to do it twice a day to keep the crumbs under control, but it helps.

Good luck! You will win!

Answer 2

First of all, you should make sure there's no food or crumbs. Clean your house, vacuum your carpet, etc. Any food they can sniff it and they'll have more ants come.

I'd then check for the source of the ants. Check to see if they're coming in and out through a door or a crack in the window, or through your vents.

Once you find the source, buy ant deterrents, like small little poisonous traps for ants. (Make sure they're safe for pets or children if you have pets or children).

Follow the instructions and wait the appropriate time. Once they're gone, clean the area around it. I know they leave a chemical trail to tell other ants where to go. I don't know if it'll help, but it might prevent them if you wash down the surface they were walking on. :-)

Hopefully that helps. If it doesn't, there's always a terminator! :-D

Answer 3

Are they red ants, flying ants, or just plain black ants? You could call an exterminator if you have a lot of them. Can you find what is attracting them? Like food, sugar, soda, kool-aid? To keep ants away, you must keep food and drinks put away in sealed containers or in the fridge and keep your counters, table and floor clean. Try sprinkling some garlic powder or cayenne pepper around the areas where you see them entering the home. PLEASE...be careful if using this or chemicals around children and pets. Good luck

Answer 4

So do I, it's the time of year-- go get the little octagonal shaped ant traps--you can put them on the countertops and under the shelves-wherever you think they are coming in--are they all black ants? That's what I have and since I have pets I cannot use any type of spray---your other option is to go to agway and talk to someone who can refer you to a spray that you can use in the dirt around the outside of your home--it actually keeps the ants from climbing up the side of your home and into your windows or cracks.......

Answer 5

If ants are coming into your house, they're usually after food or water. If you can eliminate what they're going for, they'll stop coming in. In addition, plug whatever hole they're coming in through, if you can - a little caulk can work wonders.

If you have a trail of ants running through a room, cleaning up the ants with a strong household cleaner like Pine-Sol seems to make it harder for them to find their way back to the food.

Answer 6

The double standard stems from the old laws/ mores regarding marriage and family rights. A man was only responsible to care for children born under wedlock. Illegitimate children were solely the responsibility of the mother. A man's children were seen as his property and if someone soiled his daughter by making her pregnant it was seen as an affront and grievance against the man. If a son got a woman pregnant he was just sowing wild oats in fact it was not that uncommon for a man to buy his son a hooker as a right of passage into adulthood. Thus it was made a law to protect the young unmarried girls, however they could get married often by 13. So you could still have sex with a young girl, you just had to marry her first.

Answer 7

Set out a small dish (you can even use the cover from a yogurt container, etc.) and put in it a solution of borax powder(you can find it at most hardware stores) and sugar water, make it so that it is watery. The sugar will attract the ants, and the borax power will kill them
~good luck~

Answer 8

Ortho ant killer works good, but you must go completely around the house first then use the bait traps . It will take some time but in a couple of days it should work.

Answer 9

get a proper DDT chemical powder froma leading brand.. and if u cant afford an exterminator
then do this.... ants cant survive any saturated solution of salts from 1st and second group periodic table... that means u can take, common salt NaCl or MgCl2, MgO, KCl and mix in water till saturation and pour it in holes where likely the ants are coming from... this solution simply suck water or moisture from there nest and all eggs will be gone. and ants dont like bases, like NaOH, Mg(OH)2 bla bla bla.

Answer 10

I had bad ants last year even the bug man couldn't get rid of them. Try Terro (sp?) I believe you can find it at wal-mart. It is the only thing that worked for us. It is a clear liquid that they carry back to the queen and kills the colony.