To burn the house down?

[Ifiwasabadger]

I have an ant problem. Despite wiping down kitchen surfaces every night and mopping the floor, the crawly little blighters seem to get in from somewhere. I suspect the side of the sink. I've pif paffed with abandon but it hasn't stopped them.

They're not in the cupboards or food thank god, but the other morning when making a coffee I realised they had got into the kettle. THE KETTLE. Much dry heaving from me and the coffee went straight down the sink. Thankfully I hadn't consumer any of it, I spotted the dead bodies floating in the cup. HURL.

AIBU to accept I am fighting a losing battle and to burn the house down?

If not, any great tips to get rid of them?

Plenty of salt laid down where you suspect they're coming in/out from?

Ant powder round the edge of the room? Look outside roughly where they're coming in and tray top? Failing that, move house or

Tray top? Don't give them tray or a top

Treat there

Do it and let us know if it works
I've got the same problem here

I had ants, a bowl of sugar and borax soon sorted it out. Apparently they take it back to the nest! I put a few small bowls out in my kitchen and they never called again!

Hoover them all up and you'll see where they are coming from. They follow each other. Wipe surfaces down with lemon juice, bicarb and vinegar mixed with water and cover the ant trail with talcum powder. Buy some of those ant discs and put them where you think they're coming in. This is a child safe way btw - if you don't have children there are various ant powders and things you can use.

Those sweet traps where they gleeflully take the poision back to the nest are very effective. Just put them along their route.

I had this they were coming in under the front door. A kettle of boiling water over the front door step. Apparently it washes away scent trails,me. workedfor I had a one year old and didn't want to use poison.

Spray all surfaces with Raid Ant spray. We had a massive problem in our new build and that was the only thing that offered a permanent solution.

Yanbu

But the forensic team would find this thread and the sentence for arson is 25 years.

Not sure that you have thought this though.

I've been using (although outside, not inside!) Jeyes fluid mixed with water and poured down the cracks in the paving slabs.
Seems to be loads this year, I'm sick of them

Nippon ant gel is good, I've used it for the last couple of years. I don't like killing ants, but they just don't belong in my kitchen.

You need those disc shaped traps. They carry the poison back to their nests.

Have you tried a pest control expert?

Ifiwasabadger - you need AntStop. It is a spray that you put right round the bottom of the house, round the doors and windows - it creates a barrier that the ants cannot cross, and lasts for up to 6 months.

We had a similar problem at our last house, and AntStop stopped it completely.

Fishbones,you are totally right about the arson charge, that hadn't occurred to me.puts matches down

We actually have the house sprayed by pest control once a month (live in a hot climate) but I think the ants have genetically mutated to overcome this. They're probably logged onto antsnet as we speak discussing ways to get into human houses.

Some ideas here I hadn't thought of, thanks all.

I sympathise, we gads problem with flying ants, used Raid spray but they seem very resistant to most things little bastards!

It depends what type of ants they are. Some want sugar, some want to eat their way through your house and leave piles of sawdust everywhere (carpenter ants). Diatomaceous earth is the only thing that kills the little shits in this house, and it's child/pet friendly.

I am surprised that I have never had an ant problem considering my location

Ant powder around the whole external perimeter of the house. That's what we did and also internally around the kitchen cupboards. We did it when we went on holiday. Didn't have a problem after that.

Apparantly they hate cinnamon...worth a try

They won't cross a line of lemon juice.

Diatomaceous earth is harmless to pets and humans but not insects, it is white powder (looks like Nippon so may be the same stuff) or Fullers Earth if you want natural. Bear in mind most things will kill bees though.

Jeyes Fluid is poisonous to pets and it stinks to high heaven, horrible stuff, it kills plants too.

We had an invasion at the last house, a gap by a power socket was the problem in the kitchen, so I sealed it. Sprayed the affected rooms with flea killer as that was all I had at the time, lemon juice around the doorway where they came in to the other room. I used Indorex. It worked.

We got some ant killer from B&Q that worked a treat. It was a little box you put down that attracted them, they would go inside get the poison and take it back to the queen. It worked within a day. We had tried boiling water, cleaning the floor several times a day, vacuuming up any we saw etc to no avail.

Yes I'd give diatomaceous earth a try.