Do it yourself pest control?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Do it yourself pest control?

Posted: 4/11/2006 4:25:46 PM EDT

Anybody here do their own pest control around the house? My annual pest control bill is about $400 and I was wondering if it is much cheaper to do your own. I have a single story house on a 1/4 acre lot.

I live in FL and fire ants are a constant problem.

Posted: 4/11/2006 4:27:47 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
Anybody here do their own pest control around the house? My annual pest control bill is about $400 and I was wondering if it is much cheaper to do your own. I have a single story house on a 1/4 acre lot.

I live in FL and fire ants are a constant problem.

you're fighting a losing battle. you can not defeat FL bugs, no matter how much you pay, how often you spray, ect. you can't even kill them with fire

Posted: 4/11/2006 4:36:34 PM EDT

[#2]

NO experience with the fire ants but ....

Posted: 4/11/2006 4:37:42 PM EDT

[#3]

Posted: 4/12/2006 4:14:14 AM EDT

[#4]

Bump for the day crew.

Posted: 4/12/2006 4:38:43 AM EDT

[#5]

I've been doing my own pest control for 20 years. All you need is:

1. $20 pump up sprayer from Home Depot
2. Bottle of concentrated bug poison (Home Depot--$9 -- lasts a couple of years))
3. Mix about 3 tablespoons per gallon
4. Pump up the sprayer and walk the house, spraying around the foundation and doors/windows. (do this about every 2 months)

That's it. It takes about 10 minutes. I DO NOT spray inside the house.

Posted: 4/12/2006 4:46:45 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
NO experience with the fire ants but ....

really, you don't have them up there, you lucky sob

Posted: 4/12/2006 4:48:15 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
www.nukeitfromorbit.com/nuke.jpg

did you rub two glocks together?

Posted: 4/12/2006 4:50:11 AM EDT

[#8]

When Diazinon was still available, I used it often. It would kill scorpions as well as ants and other crawlers. Too bad people were not smart enough to not poison themselves and others with it.

Posted: 4/12/2006 5:14:37 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
I've been doing my own pest control for 20 years. All you need is:

1. $20 pump up sprayer from Home Depot
2. Bottle of concentrated bug poison (Home Depot--$9 -- lasts a couple of years))
3. Mix about 3 tablespoons per gallon
4. Pump up the sprayer and walk the house, spraying around the foundation and doors/windows. (do this about every 2 months)

That's it. It takes about 10 minutes. I DO NOT spray inside the house.

That sure beats $400 a year. I am also removing any mulch that is up against my house because the decaying mulch seems to harbor roaches.

Posted: 4/12/2006 6:29:10 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I've been doing my own pest control for 20 years. All you need is:

1. $20 pump up sprayer from Home Depot
2. Bottle of concentrated bug poison (Home Depot--$9 -- lasts a couple of years))
3. Mix about 3 tablespoons per gallon
4. Pump up the sprayer and walk the house, spraying around the foundation and doors/windows. (do this about every 2 months)

That's it. It takes about 10 minutes. I DO NOT spray inside the house.

That sure beats $400 a year. I am also removing any mulch that is up against my house because the decaying mulch seems to harbor roaches.

You'll also need to walk your yard and find the ant hills, and spray a bunch of poison directly INTO each mound until it literally runs down into the mound. The mound will be dead the next day.

Posted: 4/12/2006 6:37:42 AM EDT

[#11]

There are fire ant crystals located at the hardware store

Eco friendly? Quaker oats or grits on the mound, I forget which (their stomachs explode)

gasoline (unignited) suffocates

My personal fav... (performed out of sadistic boredom) I administered coffee pot after coffee pot of scalding water to the mound it was so stressful that I actually saw the survivors carry the eggs to the surface to bug the fuck out.

Posted: 4/12/2006 6:39:44 AM EDT

[#12]

There is a DIY Pest Control web site

Posted: 4/12/2006 6:40:23 AM EDT

[#13]

my fire ant remedy takes a couple days and first day is to pour about two cups of gasoline on the mound. Dribble it slowly so it pools and flows into the mound. Don’t light it! Wait 24 hours. This seems to knock them in the head. What you will end up with is a layer of dead fire ants at the top of the mound. Spot treat with Amdro yard treatment and then lay it down heavy on the whole yard.

Posted: 4/12/2006 6:45:06 AM EDT

[#14]

You might try moving.

I heard that North Carolina was declared to be an "Ant-Free State" by its legislature.

Posted: 4/12/2006 6:45:17 AM EDT

[#15]

Pop rocks and Coca Cola...

Posted: 4/12/2006 8:40:22 AM EDT

[#16]

My neighbors and I use boric acid. Put it in all of your sills, under the fridge, in the door jams, etc. The offending critters will walk through it, get it on themselves, CLEAN themselves, and because it's a dessicant it will literally dry them from the inside out. I've been doing it for the last few years, and it kills everytthing from spiders to bigger roaches and small scorpions.

Posted: 4/12/2006 8:43:34 AM EDT

[#17]

i dont want to hijack, but what can i do to rid my house of fruit flies? we have no rotten food, have poured bleach in the drains, etc... these little fuckers wont go away.

Posted: 4/12/2006 8:46:32 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
I've been doing my own pest control for 20 years. All you need is:

1. $20 pump up sprayer from Home Depot
2. Bottle of concentrated bug poison (Home Depot--$9 -- lasts a couple of years))
3. Mix about 3 tablespoons per gallon
4. Pump up the sprayer and walk the house, spraying around the foundation and doors/windows. (do this about every 2 months)

That's it. It takes about 10 minutes. I DO NOT spray inside the house.

+1 Same for me. And they also sell fire ant powder which seems to work really well for me. You rile up the ants and then pour the powder on their mound and they carry it back in and eat it up. Kills the queen too as they feed it to her.

Posted: 4/12/2006 8:47:55 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
my fire ant remedy takes a couple days and first day is to pour about two cups of gasoline on the mound. Dribble it slowly so it pools and flows into the mound. Don’t light it! Wait 24 hours. This seems to knock them in the head. What you will end up with is a layer of dead fire ants at the top of the mound. Spot treat with Amdro yard treatment and then lay it down heavy on the whole yard.

Gas will kill the grass and grass won't grow there for months. Plus.... gas is $3.00 a gallon. Bug poison is about 5 cents a gallon or less and won't hurt the grass. Just buy the concentrated outdoor poison. A $10 quart makes like 250 gallons or some ridicules number like that.

Posted: 4/12/2006 8:54:55 AM EDT

[#20]

I use the Specrtacide ant grain stuff, it works quite well. I throw it around the foundation, when they start showing up, in spring. I hit the mounds when they appear as well. The directions say to use water after, I never do. They either move or die.

Gas works great, but it does damage your yard.

I'm trying to figure out a way to get rid of the freaking spiders... I have a real problem with these suckers that are a little bigger than a quarter (legs included,) they are sort of black and brown, and don't spin webs... They are everywhere outside, at night... In side, I only usually find them in the bathroom that is used, I think they dig the humidity.

Posted: 4/12/2006 9:01:51 AM EDT

[#21]

Log onto the IFAS Website. What you need is the Florida Private Applicator License, it cost $60 and it's good for 4 years. Order the two study guides, $7 each. Read them and call up your county extension agent and take the test. When you have passed, they send you a bill for $60 and your license. Then you can go to any chemical supply place like Helena and buy all the restricted pesticides like the pros use and do your own termite treatment, etc.

ETA, you'll probably want to use the fipronil based pesticides Termador and Phantom for termites and interior insects.

Posted: 4/12/2006 9:12:54 AM EDT

[#22]

For fire ants my professional bugman said to use a product called Amdro. Available at Home Depot or Lowes. It's a granular product that you spread around the mounds. They are absolutely gone in a day or two. Great product. FWIW.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Do it yourself pest control?

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