I have been finding black ants in random rooms in my house. On walls and/or floors.
I called exterminators and they want >$350, which I can't afford right now. They claim they are going to lay bait and then ants will take it back it to the colony to kill them.
Is there an acceptable DIY way to stop them from coming in to the house without using those cheap hardware store traps?
What checmicals can a homeowner use?
boric acid (aka orthoboric acid, borax) works VERY well for under $5. Look for a tall white squeezable bottle at Home Repot or the like. Then lookup a recipe online with grease or sugar/jam for proper mixing ratios. Taking the bait back to the nest to destroy the babies is exactly what the boric acid does when used correctly. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what the exterminators are using, with a $345 markup for their "expertise".
Even though it's powerful against bugs, it's basically harmless to pets and humans, having the same LD50 as table salt. That it's cheap, safe, and effective, is why it's my favorite ant+roach solution.
I use awesome spray from the dollar tree. It kills black ants, spiders, wasps and yellow jackets. So, far that's what I have killed with it when bug spray doesn't do the job. My daughter bought her house and the spiders are a constant thing and the back ants every spring and summer and we used to only deal with the red wasps and now we have them yellow jackets and now bumble bees and the spiders are crazy to me, but we realized that since she us young the real estate agent took advantage because she was selling the house for the other people and worming woth my daughter to buy the house so she didn't disclose a lot of issues with this house. But Awesome works wonders
