Ants inside house

lovingit

Member
This occurs every summer.  Black ants everywhere.  I usually use Terro liquid killer but this year they still keep coming back.  Some are not even eating the bait.

Should I call exterminator?  My neighbor says their guy only sprays the perimeter outside not inside the house.  Plus is it safe to spray inside with kids?  Or are they bogus and don?t work at all?
 
This is my topic...

I usually use Terro too but this year was brutal.  I combined Terro with protein bait as well as regular pesticide.  I'd keep killing them but they'd keep coming back.

I finally gave up and hired an exterminator. He sprayed inside and outside.  I have young kids, but just sent them out for the day. I walked the perimeter of the house one or two weeks later and found a few ants so had the exterminator come out again.

Also had the HOA come out and spray all the common areas. Twice. If you don't kill them all, they just come back.

Have been ant free for 3 weeks now.

Make sure the exterminators use a bait spray though.  When I lived in an Irvine Company apartment a number of years back, their exterminator would spray but the ants would just die rather than going back to the nest.
 
lovingit said:
This occurs every summer.  Black ants everywhere.  I usually use Terro liquid killer but this year they still keep coming back.  Some are not even eating the bait.

Should I call exterminator?  My neighbor says their guy only sprays the perimeter outside not inside the house.  Plus is it safe to spray inside with kids?  Or are they bogus and don?t work at all?


Yes call the exterminator but don't get caught up in their quarterly plan. They spray outside but make sure it doesn't just kill them on contact.  They get infected and the whole colony gets hit inside the house as well.
 
Ants are picky about the location of the bait. I place several around the house and maybe 1 or 2 will attract the bulk of the ants. Last time it was an old one that I had forgotten about under the stairs.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Can the ants build up an immunity to Terro?

Careful... could be setting ourselves up for an ant mutiny.

It seems like they do.  When I leave it out and keep refilling it, they don't seem to swarm around it like they do initially.
 
jmoney74 said:
lovingit said:
This occurs every summer.  Black ants everywhere.  I usually use Terro liquid killer but this year they still keep coming back.  Some are not even eating the bait.

Should I call exterminator?  My neighbor says their guy only sprays the perimeter outside not inside the house.  Plus is it safe to spray inside with kids?  Or are they bogus and don?t work at all?


Yes call the exterminator but don't get caught up in their quarterly plan. They spray outside but make sure it doesn't just kill them on contact.  They get infected and the whole colony gets hit inside the house as well.

jmoney, do you just do a one-time treatment?  I've called some places and one-time treatments range from $175-$200.  They offer maintenance plans ranging from Monthly- $50-$65; Bi-Monthly- $70-$75; and Quarterly-$95

Many exterminators will charge initial fee (because they said first time takes longer because they walk the premise and figure out where the issue is, although I can probably tell them where the ants are coming from) that range from $100-$200.  I think that this is BS fee.  I found Oceanfront Pest Control that said they will waive the $185 initial fee if you sign up for their bi-monthly plan for a year.  At $75 every two months, that is $450 annually to waive the $185 initial fee.  I dont know.........I've been trying the Terro for two months now and its not really working.  Ants disappear after eating the Terro and reappear later.  Usually this is only an issue during summer.
 
Forget Terro, doesn't work well anymore and I think ants either built immunity or learned their lesson.

I've used Amdro Ant Block (yellow crystals) 3 years in a row with awesome results.https://www.amdro.com/all-products/ant-block-home-perimeter-ant-bait-granules

Sprinkle this all the way around the perimeter of your house outside about 6in deep.  Every time I've done this, literally takes 24 hours and I have ZERO ants in the house.  It's a miracle but it works. 

Keep in mind it's ant poison so if you have any little ones, keep them inside until the ants are gone and you clean it up.
 
Ah yeah, Amdro is what we've used.

I think we just bought the bait packs and haven't seen any issues.

Terro is that liquid stuff that was so messy.
 
If there are specific entry points for the ants, you can try putting down some cinnamon as a deterrence.  The ants may find other entry points, but the treatment is $5.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Ah yeah, Amdro is what we've used.

I think we just bought the bait packs and haven't seen any issues.

Terro is that liquid stuff that was so messy.

Irvinehomeowner

Did your ants build immunity to Terro?  It used to work but now it doesn?t attract them.

Are the Amdro bait stations just as effective as the block you spray outside?
 
We stopped using Terro because I was tired of putting those liquid dots on the cardboard cutouts.

We don't have a major ant problem ever since we called a service out a few years ago. Since then whenever we see a few ants inside we used the Terro and now the Amdro indoor baits.

So I don't know if our ants are Terro-proof yet.
 
lovingit said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Ah yeah, Amdro is what we've used.

I think we just bought the bait packs and haven't seen any issues.

Terro is that liquid stuff that was so messy.

Irvinehomeowner

Did your ants build immunity to Terro?  It used to work but now it doesn?t attract them.

Are the Amdro bait stations just as effective as the block you spray outside?

Ants at my house also built up immunity to Terro. Actually, they just ignore it now - they know it's a trap.

I used Amdro last year and it cleared them up. It is really toxic though and i'm wary of using it.
 
Just applied the Amdro block outside the perimeter.  The ants don?t notice it nor are they eating it.  They don?t swarm to it like they did when Terro first worked. 
 
Does nobody garden and use diatomaceous earth?  It's great for other bugs too...  And it's OK for human ingestion in most varieties.
 
I am not sure about that but I used Amdro Ant block and after a couple of days, no ants inside.  Thanks for the recommendation Aqua!
 
We tried all sorts of things last year (chinese illegal chalk, Terro, spray from Home Depot) and when they made a huge trail to the trash IN THE KITCHEN one day, we were fed up. We used a local exterminator who did interior and exterior, they say stay out of the house while it dries for the interior. Best $125 we ever spent and that was back in April 2016 and didn't see another ant until 1 month ago in the bathroom. Just made an appointment, no regular schedule needed, just call when you need, now $150 for me with Yelp discount, look up KK Termite.
 
I've used Terro in the past with decent results.  But last week we had a crazy infestation when we got home from work, and I didn't want to drive all the way to the box store.  Went to the local market and bought the only bait they had with Fipronil, which was the Combat brand.  Set them out near the ants in the kitchen and by the front door, and the next day all the ants were gone.  They have not been back since.  Fipronil is the stuff that kills fleas on cats and dogs, and is supposed to be fairly safe in the house.  It doesn't kill right away, so allows the ants to carry it back to the nest to kill the whole lot.
 
I lightly used the organic spray for the outside. For the inside I used vinegar with water and lime.

(note: results may vary)
 
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