Bugs Bugs GO AWAY

You have to treat the outside/exterior... because that is where they come from.
Unless they have nests in the home, too.

Ideally, since you have such in infestation, I would either tent the house or call an exterminator.

And, what also helps is using Caulk, and sealing up any cracks/crevices/gaps both in the exterior and interior, where bugs can get in. Like on the doors/door jambs/windows etc.

Spray the outside and the inside with Ortho Home Defense Max. It works great and it only cost about $15-20. Get it at Home Depot, Walmart or Lowes. For the fleas, you must get your dog Frontline or Advantage. Its the once monthly drops you put on the back of the dogs neck. You can get it at the vet, or online. Your poor dog will get eaten alive unless you get him the drops. Good luck! I hate bugs too!

Boric acid works wonders. Home depot or lowes.

Florida is known for our bugs, especially once the rains start coming on a regular basis.
I have heard of planting marigolds around the perimeter of your house - a lot of bugs don't like the scent of it.
For fleas - the Borax powder works. Fleas have a 2 week cycle, so when you treat you have to repeat in 2 weeks and it is VERY IMPORTANT to get rid of the vacuum bag in the meantime - otherwise the eggs will hatch and you will never get rid of them.
I haven't heard anything about the Diotomacious Earth, except that it is used in pool filters and is VERY DANGEROUS for breathing in. Not sure that I would trust any products like that - even if they are a different grade.
Usually we have to spray the doors and windows with the Ortho every few months and it works. Be sure to get the tracks of sliding glass doors as well.
Good Luck!

Do it yourself Pest care really helped us- great ideas there.
best, k

Stop buying off the shelves and go professional. We pay a monthly fee of about $30 to have the exterior of our home treated. We used to have the interior done as well but we are expecting now and I wanted to eliminate those chemicals. Honestly we have as much success with the exterior being treated as the inside. Also I live in a very rural area, practically in the woods, so if it can work for be then it can work for anyone. :)

I agree w/ the Ortho Home Defense. Spray inside and out. Have to get Frontline or something like that to put on dog for fleas. Also, try sprinkling Borax laundry detergent on your carpets and grind in w/ a broom. Wait about 30 minutes and vacuum. The Borax will suffocate the fleas. I have done this before when I had two cats and an apartment full of fleas. It woked! Do it everyday for at least five days while you are treating the dog.

There are obviously a lot of different routes you can choose, depending on how natural you want to go. For the ants, you can try corn meal on the mounds, and a friend swears by peppermint oil to create a barrier in the house. But...I agree that you might want to call the pros to come in and treat the inside and outside of your house. Even if you just did it for 3 to 6 months (since terminix usually comes quarterly), you could get it under control.

For the flies, if they are house flies, then you probably just need to make sure keep all doors closed and have no holes in your screens. If they are fruit flies, etc, then be sure to check what's on your counters. Keep all food out of reach and throw out anything that's going bad. Those fruit flies can come in from the store, too, so you have to keep an eye out.

For the fleas, it's Florida and hot, so they will be everywhere outside. The key is to treat your animals with the stuff from the vet. Sentinel, Frontline, Advantix, etc. Your dogs will be so appreciative! For your house, you will have to treat the inside to get rid of the eggs....not sure if that's something I'd try on my own. Perhaps getting an estimate on that would be the right way to go. And you can also treat your yard. Companies like Terminix will treat the perimeter of your house. If you decide to hire them, you pay a set up fee for the initial intensive in/out treatment, but then your quarterly fee covers unlimited visits to your house to treat until everything is gone. We have also used a yard treatment, I think by Scott's, that you can get at Home Depot, etc, that is supposed to help with fleas and mosquitoes in your yard. It's not expensive and could be worth a try...but be sure to get your inside taken care of too so you don't chase them inside.

Good luck. Bugs are the worst!!

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I was crazy with tiny ants in my pantry. Sprays do not work, dont waste your money, the only thing that works is TERRO (which contains Borax). You put a small droplet on a piece of card board or paper plate and put it in a corner, out of the way. I finally found where they were coming from, a tiny tiny hole in the caulking around the window in the kitchen, put fresh caulking up and no more ants. I dont have a flea problem but heard the way to go is Borax powder for carpets. Also you should be treating your dogs monthly year round in FL with a preventative for fleas and ticks. I use Frontline.

I use bay leaves in all my cupboards & have no bugs. As for the fleas I recommend Frontline as well. Be VERY care with the Diomacious Earth if you go this route. We used it on my daughters bed for bed bugs & it got in her lungs was not pretty to say the least & you can get this at walmart as well in the pool supply section. I agree with treating the outside as well since that is where they come from. Good luck.

Comfortis is great for fleas on the dogs. It is a pill you give them when they eat. It's not cheap but works great. Also you have to treat all around the outside of your house, just not in spots. I was told years ago to buy the concentrated bug killer and mix a couple of them together and then spray around the outside. Both of the ones I used are no longer available so I am trying new things. We had fire ants in the house and the Raid Ant and Roach killer did the trick on them. One year we planted marigolds all the way around the house. We never saw a bug the entire time they were blooming. My husband actually said the other day we need to get some more marigolds and plant them. They also keep rabbits, squirrels and other animals away..