Pest control (ants) recommendation?

oceanclub

My aunt's house seems to have an ant nest somewhere in the fireplace or surround; not a problem most of the time but obviously doing summer it is! Anyone have any recommendation for somone in Dublin to sort this out for a reasonable price?

P.

RebelButtMunch

Fiver in Wooides. Put poison down. Keep kids and pets away

admiralofthefleet

resist the temptation to stamp on them, they release an odour when they are killed that attracts more ants. watch them closely and follow them back to the nest then cover it with salt.

Bruce7

Whatever you do, stay away from Rentokil. They have no interest in eliminating pests, just in selling you the same stuff you can buy in Woodies for about 50 times the price - literally - and in keeping you coming back to them every year.

cosmic

Bruce7 wrote: »

Whatever you do, stay away from Rentokil. They have no interest in eliminating pests, just in selling you the same stuff you can buy in Woodies for about 50 times the price - literally - and in keeping you coming back to them every year.

I disagree with that statement. We had a huge woodworm problem for a while. Then about 6 years ago Rentokil did a complete and thorough spray of the entire house and we've not seen a single beetle since.

In would actually highly recommend Rentokil, personally.

oceanclub

The problem with putting down anything now is that there's no ants as of yet. But considering they've appeared for the last 3 years, I'm presuming they would appear again.

She's just used a generic spray ("Doff's Flying and Crawling Insect Killer") until now. Is there something particular to ants to use? I'm presuming we need something that the ants with gather and bring back to the nest?

P.

branbee

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

resist the temptation to stamp on them, they release an odour when they are killed that attracts more ants. watch them closely and follow them back to the nest then cover it with salt.

Did not know this- we have a huge problem with them but can't find where they are coming from, we have squashed a few though!

Lawrence1895

Baking soda will do the trick, too. They eat it, and blow up from the inside

Bruce7

cosmic wrote: »

I disagree with that statement. We had a huge woodworm problem for a while. Then about 6 years ago Rentokil did a complete and thorough spray of the entire house and we've not seen a single beetle since.

In would actually highly recommend Rentokil, personally.

Well, we have an ant problem. Last year we called out Rentokil and they said to eliminate the ants you have to find the nest and kill the queen. We said, great, so that's what you're going to do? They said no.

What they offer is a service where they will lay down powder as many times as we like over the course of a few months and that costs 280 euros. Stupidly, we took them up on this, and they laid down powder once. We swiftly realised that we could do this just as easily as them so didn't call them again, and the problem persisted.

This year they rang and offered a "package" that was 450 quid, but which similarly didn't address the root cause of the ants or offer to eliminate them. Having learned our lesson, we said no.

We ended up digging up the patio and finding the nest which we poured boiling water and bleach into as well as laying down loads of powder and it seems to have worked.

Maybe they're good for woodworm, but that's not the point of this thread.

cosmic

Bruce7 wrote: »

Maybe they're good for woodworm, but that's not the point of this thread.

Fair enough. I was responding to this comment though:

Bruce7 wrote: »

Whatever you do, stay away from Rentokil. They have no interest in eliminating pests

oceanclub

Bruce7 wrote: »

Well, we have an ant problem. Last year we called out Rentokil and they said to eliminate the ants you have to find the nest and kill the queen. We said, great, so that's what you're going to do? They said no.

What they offer is a service where they will lay down powder as many times as we like over the course of a few months and that costs 280 euros. Stupidly, we took them up on this, and they laid down powder once. We swiftly realised that we could do this just as easily as them so didn't call them again, and the problem persisted.

This year they rang and offered a "package" that was 450 quid, but which similarly didn't address the root cause of the ants or offer to eliminate them. Having learned our lesson, we said no.

We ended up digging up the patio and finding the nest which we poured boiling water and bleach into as well as laying down loads of powder and it seems to have worked.

Maybe they're good for woodworm, but that's not the point of this thread.

That's sounds worrying, in the sense that the only way to get rid of an ant's nest permanent is to physically destroy the nest itself?

P.

The Master.

Instead of spreading powder around if you are worried about kids or pets then get an old windowlene bottle/garden sprayer, something with a trigger and mix the ant powder with water into the bottle.
have a look for the gaps where the ants are coming through and spray your solution into the gaps and hopefully the liquid will soak deeper into any nest that might be there.wipe up the excess.

This also works outside on slabs.spray between slabs and cracks.

The ants also have something called a "nuptial flight" where for a day or two of nice weather all the young queens will leave the nest to fly off and make new nests, unfortunately if the nest is under your house they might come up into your sitting room and kitchen.
Dont panic, dont ring pest control, they wont be there for long, just spray that solution where they are coming up and hoover up the dead ones.

oceanclub

The Master. wrote: »

Instead of spreading powder around if you are worried about kids or pets then get an old windowlene bottle/garden sprayer, something with a trigger and mix the ant powder with water into the bottle.
have a look for the gaps where the ants are coming through and spray your solution into the gaps and hopefully the liquid will soak deeper into any nest that might be there.wipe up the excess.

This also works outside on slabs.spray between slabs and cracks.

The ants also have something called a "nuptial flight" where for a day or two of nice weather all the young queens will leave the nest to fly off and make new nests, unfortunately if the nest is under your house they might come up into your sitting room and kitchen.
Dont panic, dont ring pest control, they wont be there for long, just spray that solution where they are coming up and hoover up the dead ones.

There's no kids or pets around so that isn't a concern. Might try the squeezy method - is there any particular ant powder brand I should check out?

Yeah, it's the "nuptial flight" (never knew the term for it!) that I'm worrying about coming up. It's nothing awful, but still not nice to have ants around the living room. (I mean, on the list of insects to have in your house, they're not the worst. Not exactly cute, mind.)

P.

Bruce7

cosmic wrote: »

Fair enough. I was responding to this comment though:

Oops! I know their approach to ants from my own experience and I've heard from others that they do the same with mice - charge a few hundred a year to lay down poison but never eliminate the problem. Shouldn't have generalised though.

The Master.

I think the conditions indoors being a bit warmer especially if an older person has the heating on more might replicate some nice weather and trick the ants into coming up early.

Ive no idea what brands you can get but i suspect they are all the same active ingredient in the poison, Permethrin if i recall.
maybe slightly different strengths.

Dont leave any solution in the bottle after you use it though. spray it all out and wash the bottle out in case someone comes along and thinks its something else.

kylith

There are some ant poisons which are designed so that the ant takes them back to the nest, killing the queen. http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/acatalog/Ant_Stop_Bait_Stations_Home_Defence_by_Scotts.html

I can't make any comment on the efficacy though.

Wishbone Ash

We discovered that had ants in the kitchen about a week ago. I bought some "Ant Stop" in B&Q for €7. It's a poison that the ants bring back to the nest. It enclosed in 2 capsules with holes for the ants to enter. It seems to have solved the problem so far. No activity for the past 2 days.

Wishbone Ash

This is the stuff I used.

http://www.baumanns.ie/popup_image.php/pID/3126?Baumid=529bc1764afaab166fe619e85393fa07

paul clover

We have ants coming into the house though the heating pipe from are outdoor boiler we are putting down powder and spray but we seem to be moving them from one place to another,they are now coming out by are fireplace ( where the heating pipes run) any ideals would be a big help Thank you

Howard the Duck

Nightmare are Ants. I've used traps bought in a supermarket, doesn't kill them instantly, they bring the poison back to the nest and it kills them all, takes a few days though.
Make sure you are clearing up all food and any water , that includes small amounts.