New house.. fruit fly infestation??!!

[Thriving30]

Very exciting times, me and my dp managed to buy our own house! Moved in last week. Saw loads of tiny dead flies at one end of the kitchen floor on the first day, didn't think too much of it, just hoovered them up as none were alive. However every day since then we have had literally hundreds in our kitchen. Over the walls, counters, window sills, they are even getting in to the kettle. It makes me feel sick and I feel like I can't eat or cook in there. In fact I've only eaten in there twice since moving in, luckily I can eat at work most days. I'm heavily pregnant which doesn't help my appetite. I vacuum them up and then literally 15 mins later more are back. No idea where they're coming from, there's no obvious smell or debris from anywhere. They're all over.

I've rented for years in different properties and never had this issue. As I'm a first time homeowner I have no idea how to even begin tackling this. Please can I have some advice?

Maybe they are down the sink. Pour down some bleach. Then follow with a boiling kettle of water.

Pop out a bowl of apple cider vinegar with a few small drops of washing up liquid in. That will get rid of the buggers. Then have a search for what they've been feeding on. Check under kickboards, down back of cupboards etc.

We had this to a much smaller extent when we had a food waste container in the corner of the kitchen.
They survived the frequent cleaning of the container and surrounding area but were becoming quite a pest.
I don’t think that hoovering them up gets rid of them fully?
you may need to do a deep clean using water and suitable products from the ceiling downwards. Try and establish if there is an area where they are coming from and focus on that.

I would check and clean the top of the kitchen cupboards, wash the interior and doors of the cupboards, fridge etc and all other surfaces.

Something is attracting them and you need to try to find out what and where it is.

Oh and congratulations on the new house and pregnancy - try not to let this issue take the shine off it although I am sure it is very frustrating!

We get them every now when the weather is warm and damp. I think they're either breeding in the leaves decaying in the garden under the windows or in the drain.

Oh good call, maybe keep the windows closed for a few days to see if it has any effect?

There is food somewhere. Definitely a source

Sometimes they seem to be living in the soil of houseplants too.

Are you in a rural area? We used to get infestations when living rurally.
Does a neighbour have a compost bin? Ours did and he unhelpful positioned it by our joint fence, close to our kitchen window and put all his food scraps in it. Not only did it smell, but the number of fruit flies and other flies was unbearable. He’s since moved, thankfully.

Have you got house plants?
We get tiny flies from them. We buy sticky things off eBay to stick in the pots that they are attracted to them.

If it's house plants you can get nematodes from Amazon - rehydrate in water then feed the plants with the water and they will eat the fruit fly larvae. Those sticky things work well on the adults. Earlier this year I had them around all of the house plants, the fruit bowl and the food waste bin - both fruit flies and sticky patches. About a week after applying the nematodes to the houseplants they were all gone.

We've had terrible trouble with fungus gnats, the source in our case was repotting house plants in poor quality peat free compost.

Don't forget to empty your hoover bag and clean the filter after vacuuming them up. Otherwise they could possibly survive in there and any eggs could hatch. I once discovered a load of squirming clothes moth larvae when I went to empty my vacuum.

Those are fungus gnats or sciarid flies. You can get nematodes for them, or use the sticky yellow papers.

Thank you for all the advice.
After some research we have identified them as drain flies. Downstairs we have the kitchen sink, and a downstairs wet room which is attached to the kitchen - so three other sources where they could be coming from. But we are at a loss. We have put drain cleaner down each drain every day, followed by boiling water and 10 mins of running the tap morning and night. Fly papers, Cleaning all work surfaces morning and night, 'sugar' traps. We still get hundreds appearing, it's worse at night. We've been in our new house 2 weeks and haven't been able to cook in there yet because they're just everywhere and I wouldn't be able to safely prepare veg or meat etc. We can't identify where they're coming from. There must be a breeding ground somewhere. It's so frustrating!

Bit extreme, but could you get some large plastic sheets, like dust sheets, and section off the room into smaller "rooms" hanging them floor to ceiling overnight, to try and narrow down where the flies are coming from?

Are there any brick vents or openings anywhere they could be getting in? What about pouring bleach and boiling water into all your outside drains?

It it worth getting pest control in since it’s quite extreme?

Honestly I'm thinking the same as @Sleepismyfavourite and google local pest control companies
It would have been advice too soon when you first posted but now it's 2 weeks later and you've tried everything yourself. Personally, I'd be getting a professional in now

@AllIWantIsACuppa I think I may resort to this!!! It is ridiculous now.
Thanks all, we will contact today.
Really frustrating because the flies were there the day we moved in (and the same day the previous owners moved out) - we did contact them after a few days to see if they had any issues they were aware of and they said they had no issues at all. We've spoken to neighbours and they have no issues either.
Ahhhh! This is the stark reality of home ownership I guess!!!!

Could you cap off each drain outlet at night - put a tub or pot over each one (and stuff cloths into overflows). This might help narrow down a particular culprit. I suspect there may be an issue deeper in your drains though, where your drain cleaner isn't getting. Getting a professional in to check them over and clear them out should help.

Clean up messes, trap flies, ask pros if needed, and prevent more.