How do you control ants in your house ? Let's start with the assumption that you (think) your house is clean, no food left out etc. And we're not talking about carpenter ants, just regular old ants of the many varieties, which may march around in various places in the house.

I've tried Terro liquid ant bait, with borate something dissoved in a sweet liquid. I think they may work, but what do you say ?

Simply buy a $12 container of Home defense with the spray gun or wand. Spray around the perimeter. Any place ant activity exists. Do it every two or three months. Solves any problems we have. You can use indoors if you have them inside.

Terro was our go to a couple years ago, they disappeared. I was the only time in 20 years.

2nd for 'Home Defense'. We used to use a RAID product in a blue bottle with the same battery powered squirter, but it was replaced in the marketplace with 'home defense'.

Every spring, the rains drive ants up the walls of our apartment building. The only way we found out was the ants getting into our nearby bedroom.

I've bought the 'Home defense' spray and hit our entire patio and as much exterior wall as I can reach with the supplied electric pump sprayer. Only once a year and works like a charm.

Borax, available at Walmart and most grocery stores.

Diatomaceous earth ...

A $64 check!
Never had ants of any issue in a house prior to moving to this one.
Every spring when the rainy season would hit we would get those little black ants everywhere in the house.
I tried every remedy suggested here on Sigforum with no luck.
Finally broke down and called the local pest place.
They came out sprayed the baseboards and sprayed around the house located a couple spots where they were living and sprayed that.
I wrote a $64 check.
2 days later not a single ant.

Next year same thing.

Following year same thing except I used a different pest control company because the owner lived in the neighborhood and would spray for mosquitos where the neighborhood would have they projector movie nights in the green space and always donated a fair amount of money to our kids school fundraisers.
Wrote He did the same as the other folks but charged $85. A week later still the same amount of ants. Came back and sprayed for free a few days later only a few ants.
3 weeks later the ants were back in force came back and sprayed and charged $40 for the follow up. It got rid of the ants.

Now I just call the original company.
For $64 it is well worth it.

I like Amdro.

Amdro Perimeter bait.

The Amdro gel bait in a big syringe works great. They love the stuff and carry it back to the nest.

Boric acid (ie, borax).

Diatomaceous Earth for the outside.

Also, ants will not cross a 0.25" bead of used coffee grounds.

This is what the pros use and it works great.

They take it back to home base and kills the rest. The key is to find their trail and bait a few spots therein.

You can find it on Amazon.

I use Bifen I/T. It’s sold under a lot of names.
7.9%.

This link is the main ingredient Bifenthrin at 7.9%…at tractor supply
All you need is a sprayer. I use it four times a year. I spray it inside and out, under eaves, into weep holes, plants, everywhere. I’ve been using bifen for over a decade and it’s worked for me.


https://www.tractorsupply.com/...de-1-qt?cm_vc=-10005

This is the current bottle I have called Wisdom TC Flow…it’s the same thing as Bifen

If I get a mound of ants, I spray a three foot circle to get any guys out on patrol, then I spray about a quart into the mound. The next day you will find some dead ones on the surface. But this stuff kills them-not chasing them away to the neighbors to return later.

I have had good luck using Spic Span with lavender.

Lavender is another scent ranked high on the list of “What smells do ants hate?” Placing lavender plants in the garden stops ants from entering your home. This deterrent can also be used by adding dried flowers to cabinets, doorways, and other entry points ants may frequent.

+1 for the Taurus SC. Had to replace a good portion of a wall because of carpenter ants 4 years ago. The Taurus smoked them in no time. I spray twice a year around the house, haven't seen them since, and kills a lot of other pests too.

Inside kitchen for the small black ants = Terro liquid ant bait
Outside perimeter for Carpenter Ants, Spiders & other shit = B Cyfluphrin

Terro does the trick

quote:

Originally posted by h2oys:
This is what the pros use and it works great.

They take it back to home base and kills the rest. The key is to find their trail and bait a few spots therein.

You can find it on Amazon.

This stuff is nothing short of amazing! It's $30 bucks on amazon for 4 tubes of gel. I didn't even use 10% of 1 tube and it completely eradicated my ant problems.

JP

I've never had ants in my house. Deny them a food source and they won't be there.

Normally, i will capture a pair and keep them prisoners for a while. Let them get to know each other.

Then, i will bite the head of one off and release the other so it can bring the news to the nest.

So far, it isn”t working as i expected.

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