Ants in the roof

[nomoss]

I recently parked a car in a garage I have previously only

used for storing building material.

After a few days I noticed quite large amounts of what looks like fine sawdust

had fallen on the bonnet, varying in colour from fawn to almost black.

Fearing that emerging capricornes or even termites might be to blame I climbed

a ladder up to the roof above, and found there are thousands of small black

ants running over the timbers.

They have built what look like nests out of black material, possibly soil combined

with "sawdust", along the horizontal overlaps in the roof tiles, and

between the bottom of the tiles and the wall plate.

I have sprayed the "nests" liberally with household insecticide, and

also placed some Bayer Ant Killer gel across their run on the outside of the building.  If that doesn’t work I

will get a couple of those round plastic ant killers, but wonder if there is

any other measure I should take to get rid of them.

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[tinabee]

We have found the Baygon range very good in the past. There is a spray available with a long thin tube which allows you to get it into very small holes and fissures close to the nest.

[Quillan]

[quote user="tinabee"]We have found the Baygon range very good in the past. There is a spray available with a long thin tube which allows you to get it into very small holes and fissures close to the nest.[/quote]

They do a "Bomb" which if you can get it up there you activate then leave the house for a couple of hours. Kills ants a treat and anything else living up there (mother-in-law etc).

[nomoss]

Thanks both.

The spray I dosed them with a couple of days ago has devastated them, but there is still some activity and reinforcements are following a track up the outside wall.

Hopefully my wife is on the way back from the shops with the Baygon spray.

The garage is quite well ventilated by gaps below the tiles, so I'm not sure how effective the bomb would be, but may try it if necessary.

I think sealing with mortar at the tops of the walls may be the permanent solution.

[andyh4]

With all that poison, I would have thought the next step would have been 5 l petrol and a match.  [:D]

[Jonzjob]

I've been batteling with ants in the roof or wall in our mezennine for a couple of years now and haven't found anything effective. The problem is that I don't know and can't find out exactly where they are or how they are getting in?

Same sort of battle in out summer kitchen and so far I have found that woodworm killer is as good as anything. Ditto in the roof of my workshop and now I have stripped the liner out of our pool and got it all ready for the new liner the dammed things have decided to set up camp in the bleedin liner securing rail in one corner. I get them out and they are back the next day. I put poison down and they eat it and seem to get bigger[:-))]

Oh, how I HATE ants!!!

[nomoss]

The Bayer "Fourmis" spray in a one litre blue plastic spray bottle seems to have done the job, after several treatments a day or two apart.

At least, I can't see ant ants moving up there today.

For another tribe of much larger black ants which was invading our walls via a crack under a doorstep,  Bayer "Fourmis gel ultra concentré"  made them disappear completely after 2 applications. I found a thin semicircular line of the gel, blocking their way into the crack was more effective than the small separate drops suggested.