I try to use as little chemicals inside of our house and in our back yard because of our children. I know it's supposed to be okay once you water it in, but I just don't like it. I do use chemical ant spray in all the weepholes outside every three months and sometimes inside around the baseboards because we have a major fire ant problem.

However, I now give up. Last summer fire ants invaded our house and I was able to get rid of them by spraying all the baseboards. They were eating through caulking and coming into every room in random places.

After keeping up with outside weephole spraying, they are making a comeback. Today my 2 year old said "Mommy, bug on the couch!" and after further inspection I found that fire ants were coming in from a gap in the caulk around the little alarm sensor at the bottom of our living room window, climbing up the blinds, and on to our couch. A couple days ago they were coming out from below the decorative moulding under a bay window in our bedroom.

I feel like they are colonized in our walls or something and I am totally freaking out.

What do I need to do? What do I put in the yard, what do I do around the house, in the house? We do have that in-wall tubing, but before I can call someone out to do that I have a few holes in our drywall I need to patch (previous owner left some quarter sized holes when taking down pictures) so the spray doesn't enter the living area.

I don't like to use chemicals around my children and in the house, but I don't know what else to do.

Call a commercial pest control company. They will have better luck treating your infestation with as few chemicals as necessary. Once it is under control, use a granular ant bait for your yard to keep them in check.

I definitely plan on letting the pros take care of it for sure. I just would rather them not come out constantly to saturate my house. If they can get it under control and we can manage it from that point with regular applications of treatment ourselves, that would make me happy.

this is exactly how horror movies get their start! Fire ants are in your home and will eat through most all surfaces...well the case on your washer and dryer are safe but I have seen them eat through insulation on wiring and yes, they love caulking.

Get rid of them before you open the kids' clothing drawers and find an ant mound!

Tell me about it...fire ants on my FREAKING COUCH means I have already arrived at horror movie status.

It sounds like you ended up being "that yard" that everyone else that treats moved their ants to. Your goal is to manage them with the least economic and chemical input practical.

Once you are sure from a professional they haven't colonized your structure, treat the mounds with something like Amdro that attacks the queens. At the same time, apply a general ant treatment to the whole yard and lightly water it in. Keep the kids and pets off for the recommended timeframe. That should knock them down and send the bulk of them off your property looking for greener pastures. If it was a particularly bad infestation, another treatement 4-6 weeks later may be needed to convince them you are serious.

Once they are under control, simply spot treating mounds with something like Amdro can keep them somewhat in check. A yearly treatment with a general ant killer sometime around Memorial Day that also targets the grubs in early June should be about all you need to manage them. It wont' eliminate them but you won't have to put many chemicals down either.

Thanks Lone Stranger! If they have actually colonized in our walls, would the in-wall spray take care of that?

Good grief, I hope they haven't...that would be bad.

I use MrJonMan from Texags (look in MaroonBook).

Hes treated my house for the past 3 years and I have no issues whatsoever.

I talked to Jon and he unfortunately doesn't do the in-wall tubing service. I'd like to try that first since it would mean having no chemicals in my house around the kids, but if I'm not happy with whoever I find to service it or find it's not working I will definitely have Jon's company come out.

For yard treatment, I have had good success using 2 methods together. I buy a sprayer with insecticide that attaches to my water hose as well as granular spot treatment for the existing mounds. This has worked well for me. Now, I know that's not what you would like to do as it is chemical heavy.

Hey you!

Well at this point I think I'm going to have to give up on my crazy obsession with being chemical free so that fire ants don't overtake the inside of our house.

I'll do whatever I have to do, I'll just keep the kids out of the yard for a couple weeks then pretend I never did anything out there to make myself feel better.

rach, just to warn you...when we had my parent's house checked for colonies the exterminator removed the faceplates on elec outlets and looked inside the walls with a camera....we could watch on a little screen. He did not find them along the slab but they were in the attic...he said it was a matter of time until "they bought the house" because they would take over.

We also found carpenter ants eating on roof supports!!!

The best DIY yard treatment I have found is Over and Out. It is the same formulation that the pest guys use in a lesser strength. I have treated my yards with it in the springs for the last 4 or 5 years and I NEVER see any fire ants.

Given that they are in the walls and stuff, I would probably have a pro come out and treat the house and then either DIY the yard with Over and Out, putting it down really heavy around the perimeter of the foundation, or just go ahead and have them do it this time and the DIY it myself in the future.

fireant.tamu.edu:

http://fireant.tamu.edu/broadcastbait/products/overnout.cfm

Demon WP... boom, eot.

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I'll just keep the kids out of the yard for a couple weeks

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I get the chemical concern to an extent, but do your kids go outside and graze on your yard and then come inside and start licking your baseboards?

No, they don't...but they get down in the grass and their hands and play. I have a 2 year old, her hands usually go in her mouth.

I may be super paranoid, but that's just how I am with chemicals. I don't think I'll ever be able to change. It's just pesticides and fertilizers that freak me out...I don't run away screaming from germs and dirt, I just have a thing for chemicals.

What about http://www.cedarcidestore.com/cedarproducts.html?

It seems to take care of everything, my wife is anti chemical and she like this for inside the house use.

Just a suggestion.

I absolutley HATE fire ants but have had great luck with the Amdro whole-yard treatment. I just buy the bag for $20 or whatever it is twice a year. I usually put it down once in March and once in July or so, and spot treat with the regular Amdro if I find a mound, which is rare.

We had a crawfish boil last Memorial Day and I wanted to make sure mosquitoes weren't a problem so I went and got the deal you hook up to the hose and applied it everywhere. It worked AWESOME - no bugs...but I felt light headed for a couple hours after I applied it so obviously I wasn't careful enough. I think I splashed osme on my legs and it absorbed in. I'll be more careful next time.

I try to minimize the use of chemicals too. But I have used spot treatment of fire ants with Amdro for years and in general with two acres, I have almost no small fire ant problems.

If and when you rid the inside of your house of fire ants, you really need to treat the outside perimeter of the house. So they don't come in....

Thanks everyone!

We have been doing the perimeter treatment every 3-4 months...we do the granule bait that goes around the perimeter and spray all the weepholes with Home Defense.

The ants haven't been back since I sealed up around the little alarm contact thing. Whenever they do come in the house it's always from the back, so I know I need to get the yard treated.

We got hit with a stomach but this weekend, so the husband is going to take care of it this coming weekend.

If spot treating the yard go ahead and spot treat around anything electrical outside. The drone of the electricity attracts ants

keep a spray bottle of orange oil, 50/50 mix, if you hit them it will kill them. I also will drench a mound with it. and it leaves a pretty citrus smell

50/50 mix of orange oil & ???

" I got ants in my house, Jerry!" - Rod Tidwell

Orange oil and water I think...I have been using Medina orange oil and I did notice it kills them. They kind of pop when it hits them, it's kind of freaky.

We tried a few natural things throughout the yard like horticultural molasses...didn't get a chance to try nematodes since the weather hasn't been right, but I think it is now. I'd rather do natural if I can, but I'm okay with using some insecticide every once in a while if it will keep them out of the house.

I will definitely keep using the orange oil on the mounds, though. I accidentally killed a bush in the front flower bed by pouring too much orange oil mix on the bed under it...that stuff is strong!

rach, there is some furniture stripping goo advertised as chemical free, safe for human skin....made with orange oil and will flat loosen and bubble up varnish and old paint!!!!