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Damn gnats!


Vito
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Never had this problem before but suddenly I am having what might be called a minor infestation of gnats in my house. While I could easily imagine a lot worse of an insect problem, this is really annoying. We don't have any new house plants, and the house is always kept clean, but the problem started up pretty suddenly. I wonder if it could have anything to do with the work being done in remodeling the kitchen. The contractor coming in and out, maybe not closing the door fully. Or maybe through the new opening for an outside venting exhaust fan, but if this is the case I am not sure how they are getting past the filter and into the house. Really a pain and its driving my wife crazy. I might just give in and call Orkin or Terminix or a similar company and find out what they will charge to resolve the problem for me. Any recommendations?

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I had just ONE of them a couple days following me around in my house. They are big enough to piss you off, and small enough to be hard to catch. I hate them as well. And I know where mine came from. I opened a pack of organic salad and this thing came out flying into my face. Maybe you or you wife bought some fresh produce lately. If its organic, that can easily be invested by gnats due to the lack of pesticides. 

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I hate bugs in the house.  With a 6 foot long bird feeder right outside the back door, they are plentiful.

I bought a handful of Electronic FLY Swatters from HF and they provide the gratification of actually seeing the spark when the bug is incinerated, besides hearing the loud "SNAP".  They are on sale at times for $4 and a hell of a bargain.  They take two D Cells for power.  I guessing they use gas BBQ electronic ignitors in the handle.

I take them on vacation to the lake and in the evening if you walk while sweeping the swatter back and forth, it like you are carrying a sparkler.  the kids love 'em.

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They have a non-toxic fly bug fogger at Home-Depot that works good, it smells like mint.  I think it is mint oil.  There is also a contact bug killer that is also non-toxic I would spray on anything they might land on.  The good thing about gnats is they are easy to kill.  Fleas are horrible.

 

You could go with the nuclear option and bug bomb the house.  Go out to dinner and a movie.  They have always worked well for me on everything except the fleas.  They were a constant battle for quite awhile.

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Make sure they aren't "drain flies". I got those a couple years ago, coming from the kitchen sink. In the end, liquid plumber dual force blah blah blah did them in. That stuff that is two separate liquids that combine to evidently destroy all things organic.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

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I had an infestation for a while, pretty bad.  

I checked all the cabinets in the kitchen but one that I didn't think had anything in it.  I tried a bunch of things but they just kept coming back.  I even got an indoor bug zapper, but it was pretty loud, going off every few minutes.

Eventually found that one cabinet I hadn't opened had a hole in the back of it, and a bag of really old potatoes rotting in it.  I hadn't bought any, so it must have either been left over from when my ex wife moved out, or maybe when my buddy visited from out of state.  Hundreds, if not thousands of the little flies all through it.

Once the potatoes were gone I used a shop vac to get as many of the little buggers as I could (Which I had been using to get the ones off of the ceiling for weeks anyway), put an ozone generator inside that cabinet, and left for a few hours.  

No smell from the potatoes due to the ozone generator, and the bugs were gone within a day.

 

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Usually spoiled food or the introduction of new plants can carry them in the soil. They're like most critters, they need water and a food source to survive.

Or could be dog pecker gnats, try bathing.  :shower:

 

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