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Original poster

Please help - there are flies in my loft!!

23 replies

MrsBrendanCole · 29/09/2009 12:58

DH went in the loft last night to sort stuff for our car boot sale, and only when he nearly finished, did he notice that there were about 40-50 flies buzzing around the ceiling (he thought the buzzing noise was the light bulb )

Can someone help me? Why were they there? Please dont tell me somethings dead up there? What do I do now?

TIA

OP posts:
Cadelaide · 29/09/2009 13:04

Ah, you have a nutter living up there with his special collection of things.

Do you hear odd noises? I expect you can detect a faint whiff sometimes.

buktus · 29/09/2009 13:20

are they very small?

OurLadyOfPerpetualSupper · 29/09/2009 13:24

I hate to tell you this, but we had exactly the same thing and it urned out to be a dead rat, complete with nest.

The council might send out a pest controller, although in our case we found the rat first - don't know if they'll visit on that evidence.

I'm sure a private firm would, though - best in my view is for them to find whatever it is rather than you.

ClaireDeLoon · 29/09/2009 13:25

I thought flies in loft were normal? We always had flies in the loft at my parents. I never go in ours now it is DP's territory.

Cadelaide · 29/09/2009 14:08

Yep.

I'd just secure the hatch and leave 'em to it.

GooseyLoosey · 29/09/2009 14:10

Not necessarily something dead - we get this a lot. Have no idea why but our last loft was a lovely boarded out room and there were still flies there but am fairly certain there were no dead rats!

mamatilly · 29/09/2009 14:35

definitely rats. sorry ;((( try rentokil - they will tell you if there is a nest or a regular way in that could then be blocked up. good luck.

rebl · 29/09/2009 17:55

We had this problem in a place we rented. It was so bad that one day we came home and they had escaped into the house and the whole house was thick with flies. We ran out being the girly wimps we were and called the letting agent. They found dead rat complete with dead babies up there. Still feel yukky just thinking about it 15 years on.

mamatilly · 30/09/2009 08:51

yes we have had no end of rat/fly dramas in our rented house, we are now buying our own and moving out. HURRAY XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

GrendelsMum · 30/09/2009 09:01

But if there is a dead rat, aren't the flies effectively getting rid of it themselves? No further action needed?

Merrylegs · 30/09/2009 09:17

They could be cluster flies. (Slighty smaller than your average big juicy house fly). The good news is that they are contained in one place (for now.. mwah ha ha...) Ring your local council pest department and they will send a man out with a little gas bomb. He will detonate the bomb in the loft and the flies will drop dead. Will charge around £30. We live in the country and for a couple of years had this problem around this time.

Littlefish · 30/09/2009 09:43

I agree with merrylegs - could well be clusterflies. They are in the loft of the house we're renovating. At some point, we'll have them treated.

Parmageddon · 30/09/2009 22:36

Agree - we had annual fly problem in the loft in our old house and I never found any rats up there. I could confine them in the loft mostly thankfully.

Ripeberry · 30/10/2010 16:11

If you live near a large grassed area, either a playing field or just a field then they ARE cluster flies.
They breed in the soil and hibernate each winter in lofts.
We have hundreds in ours and for the last two years I've been getting ready for them by putting up lots of long acting fly killer in the loft and plenty of fly paper!

There does seem to be less up there than last year, but every now and again DH insists on getting into the loft to get things and a few escape to annoy us buzzing around the light bulbs and literaly bouncing off our heads (freaks me out!)

We now just keep one light on upstairs, attract them to it and then a quick spray with the fly killer does the job Smile

MollieO · 30/10/2010 16:21

Ripeberry is there any way of getting rid of them permanently? Do you think the council pest control would be able to? We have them and I've not been up in my loft for a year because of them (don't like opening the loft hatch and finding dead ones coming out).

tresi5690 · 10/02/2015 20:48

I have just moved into a new build property and we have flies gathering in groups up in the loft. No chance of rats being there because its a brand new house. What can I do to remove these flies,

LizzieMint · 10/02/2015 21:52

We had this in our old house, no sign of anything dead, just a load of flies. We just sprayed fly spray up there and it killed them all off and they didn't come back.

CointreauVersial · 10/02/2015 23:12

Google cluster flies.

Airfixkitwidow · 11/02/2015 14:33

They are almost certainly cluster flies. We get them every autumn and early spring. You can buy a cluster fly smoke bomb on eBay which does work although they do seem to return each year. Then buy a cheap handheld hoover and hoover them up. We also get them in our conservatory. We went away for a week in February once and came back to find dead flies inches deep on the floor, windowsills, curtains etc. At least yours are contained in the loft.

shovetheholly · 11/02/2015 15:15

I had this happen, but in my house, in a day! And there weren't 50, there were hundreds. And DH was on the other side of the world for work.

I went to Sainos and got two cans of Raid, which I sprayed while holding my breath and then shut the door. The flies all died (the noise of this was one of the most horrific things ever). Then I went through the entire room, sweeping them up and cleaning absolutely everything with dettol. I couldn't find anything to cause the problem (I am quite clean, so I couldn't understand it).

Then I moved the cover on my chimney and a dead pigeon fell out. Into my lap. I think most of the city heard me screaming. I got a chimney cowl fitted after that.

Do check for anything dead.

/still traumatized.

TroubleinDaFamily · 20/10/2015 15:28

Oh it's Autumn time again, you are going to leave me.

Bloody October/November you could set your watch by them.

I have just hoovered about fifteen of the little buggers from the half landing window, I have bought the fogger P bombs and will set them off in the attic void when we get a chance.

The only problem being I am supposed to be recuperating in bed, and you are supposed to vacate the premises for a few hours once you set them off.

Last year they were particurlarly bad which is why I know about this fogger stuff.

They are a nuisance, but they are sortable.

They are just a pain in the arse.

sall74 · 20/10/2015 21:13

We also have had them for the last 6 Autumns, actually getting in the house though.
I'm guessing the first year it was a dead mouse in the loft or dead bird in the chimney although I couldn't find anything, but surely now after 6 years there must be nothing left of it but bones and dust... so why do they keep recurring?

sarahsarah76 · 29/09/2016 10:05

cluster flies are awful

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