how do i take care of an ant problem?

Question

ants keep coming! no matter how much i spray the floor with insecticide! i dont know whats drawing them here

Answer 1

I know about argentine ants, the scourge of California.

Forget the Raid - you've noticed it doesn't help much. Beat them with cleaning and plugging holes.

The ants follow a chemical path laid down by all the ants that went before them. The farther back to the source you can clean up the path, the better.

Glass cleaner (Purple 409 or windex) kills the ants and cleans up (the bodies and the chemical trail). Spray every hard surface they're on. The cleaning agent disolves the waxy coating of their shell, and then they absorb the cleaner and die. Letting it sit for at least 5 minutes seems to help. There will fewer live ants when you wipe. Glass cleaners are "no rinse", so you just wipe up.

Now look for where they are coming from. If you only know the general area, wait for a few more ants to start showing up.

If you're lucky, you'll find a hole you can fill with caulk (or hot-glue in a real pinch!). You'll find these holes around plumbing (shower, behind the toilet, under the sink), around electrical outlets, or down at the bottom of the wall, where wallboard and flooring meet.

If they are coming out from under baseboard (that trim just above carpet on the walls) you might as well do the whole wall. And around the next corner.

If they are coming in a window, use the glass cleaner to clean the wall, window sill, and outside wall.

And if they are all over your carpet, vacuum them up, then immediately remove the bag from the vacuum and throw it away (or clean out your bagless.)

If you just can't stem the tide, you might have a colony in the wall. In one house, I had a colony in a wall near the bathroom. I used Terro bait packs (nothing else works like this!) stuck on the baseboard near where they were appearing. It took over a week of seeing a wide trail of ants going to the feeder (I replaced it every few days) but eventually there were no more ants. I pulled up the edge of the carpet and caulked between the wall and floor, just to slow down any future scouts.

Our problem got worse and worse in our current house. We brought in Terminix, they put baits in the walls, and fogged the whole house. Five years later, with quarterly treatments of pyrethrin (outside only) I have not seen a single ant in the house.

Answer 2

There are not any preventative products on the market that a homeowner can buy that are effective.As far as things you can do,Eliminate conducive conditions,Make sure there is no wood-soil contact,trees touching the home,moisture conditions in the home or against it,rotten wood is replaced and sealed,mulch is not piled against the house, and firewood is stored away from the home.The only products that will work are done by a professional,do not take shortcuts in protecting your home.Call a Pest Control Professional and have a proper treatment performed.The best products are baits.Sprays just scatter the ants and will result in a larger infestation

Answer 3

Look around the Outside of your home. There is probably a Mound somewhere and you need to Kill it to stop the Ants from coming in. I Live in the South and we have alot of Fire Ants. My Neighbor recently told me, he kills the Mounds with Boiling Hot water mixed with a Cup of Bleach and it works. I also use Ant Granuales you can buy from Walmart or Lowes. The thing about Ants is you can kill them but later they will again return. Just keep Killing the Mounds to stop the Source.

Answer 4

I had this problem with fire ants when I lived in Florida. Find out where their nest is and destroy the queen. That's the only way you will totally get rid of them. You can use the type of ant bait where the workers will bring the poison to the queen. I have found those to be pretty effective.

Answer 5

Mix quarter of a teaspoon borax to one teaspoon of honey .
Place at where the ants are coming from. The ants take it back to the nest where it kills out the whole nest. Doesn't kill instantly like spray. Spray only kills the ones it comes in contact with. There's probably thousands where those few came from.

Answer 6

Had the same problem at work. They hired a pest control to eliminate the problem. They used a spray. Find out if there is an ant colony outside your house. BTW, our ant problem is gone!

Answer 7

put bait at where there comming from and then spray hot shot.

it takes care of it in like a day. DONT spray the floor with insecticide, only spray the place that they are comming from and make ABSOLUTELY SURE you dont spill anything sticky or basically any food at all.

Answer 8

Ants, incredibly those hearth ants and tiny infants, they are disgusting. bypass to the food market and get a can of ants spray. Spray all the corners of your rooms and spray all the climate of your room, too. then you definately spray the front of your room`s front and lower back door. Locked your door and observed the line of the ants, discover their nest and spray them. in the event that they arrive from exterior, get waiting some very heat water and supply them a bucket. From then on, they`ll on no account subject you anymore.

Answer 9

sprinkle salt in a line on all door frames and window seals, the salt blocks the scent trail and they get lost or won't cross cause it burns them. you have to sweep the floor after every meal around the table or where every you eat. But the salt works and usualy you can't see it. My mom, the house where i worked and at my house, we have all doem that and it worked, FYI if dogs or cats eat ant traps they are ver y poison, I'd rather my dog licked up the salt.

Answer 10

Look where they are coming from, and use two parts water to one part vinegar. Wipe down the area, and track where they are coming from, so if they are coming in through a hole in the wall, pour some of the vinegar water there. ants dont like vinegar