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iranfromthezoo · Jun 9, 2007, 06:53 PM

Hey guys i just moved into a new house. It's a nice old farm house built in the early 1900's. No one has lived in it for 7 years but it was such a great place that i had to have it. It's got oak trees all over and it's on a old dirt road. It's a great place. So far I've had to replace the roof and had to put a window a/c unit in...

I'm having a problem with pests i.e. ants and roaches. what's the best way to get rid of them. I've bought the RAID traps and the ant killer but nothings working.

I was also wondering if you had any advice for getting my new house...what to do and stuff? I am 600 miles from home so its kind of lonely here for now....I want a black lab.

Doofy · Jun 9, 2007, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by iranfromthezoo

I was also wondering if you had any advice for getting my new house...what to do and stuff? I am 600 miles from home so its kind of lonely here for now....I want a black lab.

Get one of them wife thingies. I hear they're pretty good for sorting out loneliness.

iranfromthezoo · Jun 9, 2007, 06:58 PM

hahaha im looking bro...im looking

iranfromthezoo · Jun 9, 2007, 06:59 PM

doesn't apple make a iWife?

KeriVit · Jun 9, 2007, 07:08 PM

Can you afford an exterminator? That's really your best bet to start. But being older home- it's only a start. I'msure you have gaps and holes. I found Roach Prufe. It's a powder.be warned tho, you will some cleanup.

Ants- I don't thinkthey sell diazenon anymore, but that **** kills from the outside in. You can't keep them out if they are everywhere in your yard.

Did you get a termite inspection? That many ants, you'll want to look into that too.

I've tried to save money before but in the end, help from the pros paid off.

Do all this, THEN get the Lab. Dogs are good companions. Just form a bond early on and keep her trained. I say her because in my experience, they have less accidents.

peeb · Jun 9, 2007, 07:09 PM

On the ants and roaches, none of that will work. You have to get to the source. In the first instance, be meticulously clean, don't leave ANY food out. Secondly, find where they are coming from. You need to track them to the nest in the house, or point of entry. Every time you find a point of entry, seal it with painters caulk (have a gun lying around). Disruption of their scent paths and removal of food will help a lot.

What climate zone is it in?

design219 · Jun 9, 2007, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by peeb

(have a gun lying around)

Yeah, this is America!

iranfromthezoo · Jun 9, 2007, 07:19 PM

peeb I'm in South Carolina just a few miles from Charlotte. I work one day and I'm off for two so I have a lot of time to keep the area clean and work around.

design219 · Jun 9, 2007, 07:23 PM

You know, this will sound weird, but get a cat. The faint scent of a cat inside the house is a deterrent to many pests.

peeb · Jun 9, 2007, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by design219

Yeah, this is America!

Sorry, I meant a caulking gun, convenient for when you spot an ant trail...

design219 · Jun 9, 2007, 09:15 PM

I know, but I couldn't resist.

peeb · Jun 9, 2007, 09:20 PM

Of course, for larger pest problems, an elephant gun might be good too!

wallinbl · Jun 9, 2007, 09:27 PM

You need bait for most ants. Some ants, like carpenter ants, you have to find the nest and spray it. Not all ants are caused by the same thing - some are caused by food (sugar ants, etc), some are caused by wet or rotting wood (carpenter ants, etc). I'm sure there are other causes, but those are the ants I've generally had issues with.

As far as I can tell, roaches just happen. You can kill the ones you have, and you can spray once a month or so to keep the new ones from coming. Even with that, you'll find dead roaches around. FYI - cats like to play with roaches and tear them to pieces.

Big Mac · Jun 9, 2007, 09:44 PM

Yuck.

iranfromthezoo · Jun 9, 2007, 09:45 PM

its actually fire ants that are attacking.

alligator · Jun 9, 2007, 09:52 PM

This may sound strange, but I think it might work. Contact your local utility company for a thermal image scan of your house to determine where the heat is being lost. Many of these heat leaks (holes) may tell you where you need to patch your house (probably with expanding foam). This may solve your infestation problem and give you a more energy efficient house.

iranfromthezoo · Jun 9, 2007, 10:06 PM

i work for a fire dept and we got lots of therm imagers.... will that work.

KeriVit · Jun 9, 2007, 10:26 PM

I'm right around the corner from you! Wanna meet? Just kidding.

The cat thing is a good idea too. But I still believe in my advice. I'm (knock on wood) pest free currently.

ghporter · Jun 9, 2007, 10:38 PM

Seal it up as peeb said. Older buildings are prone to openings, so you may have a lot of work to do, but it'll give you your best bet at stopping the influx. Then, also as peeb said, get EVERYTHING as meticulously clean as humanly possible. The THIRD step is to discourage the really adventurous bugs; use boric acid for this. Sprinkle the powder completely around the whole perimeter of the house, and under it if it's up on blocks or posts like a lot of older buildings are. Don't skip both under AND over steps too. Boric acid is not harmful to you or me, but it's death to roaches-and they know it. It bugs the crap out of ants too, and they're smart enough to know that it's not worth exploring past a line of boric acid.

KeriVit · Jun 9, 2007, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Seal it up as peeb said. Older buildings are prone to openings, so you may have a lot of work to do, but it'll give you your best bet at stopping the influx. Then, also as peeb said, get EVERYTHING as meticulously clean as humanly possible. The THIRD step is to discourage the really adventurous bugs; use boric acid for this. Sprinkle the powder completely around the whole perimeter of the house, and under it if it's up on blocks or posts like a lot of older buildings are. Don't skip both under AND over steps too. Boric acid is not harmful to you or me, but it's death to roaches-and they know it. It bugs the crap out of ants too, and they're smart enough to know that it's not worth exploring past a line of boric acid.

Hooray Boric Acid!

nerd · Jun 10, 2007, 12:26 AM

My brother in law uses Diatomaceous Earth and swears by it. I tried it last year on some sugar ants that are always in my back yard and it seemed to help a little but not like he said it would. Boric Acid works great for roaches, we've used that for years.

Diatomaceous earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

bstone · Jun 10, 2007, 12:47 AM

Hey buddy. Congrats on the new house. How large is the area which your fire district is in? How many med vs fire calls do you get a year?

iranfromthezoo · Jun 10, 2007, 06:37 AM

bstone, we cover six square miles. We run 1300 calls a year. Only life threatening medicals. #300 or so are fire calls. In a few years I'll probably be with charlotte. Which runs 1300 calls a month...

wallinbl · Jun 10, 2007, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by iranfromthezoo

its actually fire ants that are attacking.

I don't think there is any real prevention for fire ants - just kill them when you see the mounds. Do not disrupt the mound, just put down the Amdro (or whatever else). If you disrupt the mound, the won't take the bait and they will move the mound.

I've never had any problems with fire ants coming in the house - they seem content to be in the yard. Sealing will help some, but ants are quite small - they can get through some pretty tight cracks. And, don't forget that your attic is deliberately vented, and they can come in through there at will.

peeb · Jun 10, 2007, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by iranfromthezoo

peeb I'm in South Carolina just a few miles from Charlotte. I work one day and I'm off for two so I have a lot of time to keep the area clean and work around.

Wow, so pretty hot - you should really look at how well insulated the place is - you can cut down on ac bills by putting good insulation, especially adding a reflective foil layer to the more solid stuff. While you're remodeling this can be a great, cost effective way to cool the house down.

ghporter · Jun 10, 2007, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by wallinbl

I don't think there is any real prevention for fire ants - just kill them when you see the mounds. Do not disrupt the mound, just put down the Amdro (or whatever else). If you disrupt the mound, the won't take the bait and they will move the mound.

I've never had any problems with fire ants coming in the house - they seem content to be in the yard. Sealing will help some, but ants are quite small - they can get through some pretty tight cracks. And, don't forget that your attic is deliberately vented, and they can come in through there at will.

The ATTIC is vented; the CEILING should be sealed for just this reason, as well as trapping conditioned air within the living spaces. This is something that can be handled by properly insulating the ceiling; lay down reflective-backed bats of fiberglass or some other great, high R value insulation, and make sure the bats are properly secured and overlapped on the joists. After that, pour on more loose-fill insulation for a higher R value (very important in both summer and winter!) and to make it even harder for pests to enter.

And you have to love Amdro for getting the job done quickly and thoroughly. Remember the old radio ad for it? "And here's the best part: EVERYBODY DIES!" Hysterical!

RAILhead · Jun 10, 2007, 03:20 PM

Demon WP (wettable powder). 2 packets per gallon, and all your problems will be solved in days. Demon WP: Odorless Cypermethrin Roach, Ant, Spider spray

Another be all/end all is Talstar. The stuff if frakking amazing, and a little can kill anything in its path: TALSTAR ONE - Free Shipping

Needless to say, with these 2 products, it's been over 5 years since I've had an exterminator service my house for pests.

peeb · Jun 10, 2007, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

The ATTIC is vented; the CEILING should be sealed for just this reason, as well as trapping conditioned air within the living spaces. This is something that can be handled by properly insulating the ceiling; lay down reflective-backed bats of fiberglass or some other great, high R value insulation, and make sure the bats are properly secured and overlapped on the joists. After that, pour on more loose-fill insulation for a higher R value (very important in both summer and winter!) and to make it even harder for pests to enter.

And you have to love Amdro for getting the job done quickly and thoroughly. Remember the old radio ad for it? "And here's the best part: EVERYBODY DIES!" Hysterical!

Roger that on vent the attic, seal the ceiling. I would caution putting loose fill on top of batting though, I'd be tempted to put the loose fill in first. Also, there are a lot of good alternatives to the fiberglass these days - check out the recycled cotton, or look at blown in stuff. The bottom line though, is seal off uninsulated spaces, and vent them. You want to preserve some air flow in your conditioned space too, either by using windows, or heat-exchangers to swap air every now and again.

Y3a · Jun 12, 2007, 01:47 PM

Yer bug issue. Spray with a very strong solution of Sevin. Get about 4-6 bottles of the stuff. Spray UNDER YOUR HOUSE BIGTIME! About a bottles worth. Then , spray the outside of your house. Then, spray your lawn etc. Saturate it. Look for the ant hills and do around them LOTS.

Inside, poison the ones that end up inside with DCons roach and ant killer. it's a powder. put it under stuff, and in cracks in the floor, betwen walls etc.

Keep your place spotless. Use 409 or Fantastic spray to remove ant trails from counters etc. The spray also kills ants instantly!

Spray wasp & hornet killer behind shutters, cracks in outside surfaces etc.

Don't get any animals for a month after you do all that or they may get sick from the poisons.

Watch any flying bugs around your house too. They don't need to live in any little holes they made in the walls.

Use the spray insulation stuff in all those little holes.