Small gnats

I'm trying to find out how to get rid of these tiny gnat like flies in my home. Sometimes they're buzzing around my home but I mostly see them in the bathroom. I had a problem like this a while back and got rid of it using some solution I poured down the drain, but I can't remember it as of now. I tried putting clear tape on the drains to see if any flies stick to it; this way I can figure out where they're originating from. I poured hot water down all the drains in my home after pouring bleach down all the drains first. I saw even more flies in the bathroom after that. I'm not sure if those were gnats that were already flying around or if they're originating from somewhere else. But mostly I see them in the bathroom. How do I get rid of these? I went tom Home Depot and Ace Hardware and none of the employees seem to know how to get rid of these gnats. I appreciate all help from the experts here.

 

Did any flies get stuck to the tape?

An important first step is to properly identify the species of fly. Capture/recover some samples. Search on the computer for “psychoda” or “sewer flies” (same thing). These are commonly found in bathrooms which indicates that a drain/plumbing problem is present.

Again, let’s identify the flies. Post photos as close-up as reasonable if you can.

It’s also possible that they are coming from underneath the toilet. Are you on septic tank or public sewer?

 

How do I tell if it is a septic tank or not? And how can gnats come from underneath the toilet if the toilet is sealed. I used Drano Drain Gel MAX and poured it down all the drains, poured boiling hot water down them, and nothing's changed. There are more gnats then ever now. They're now in the kitchen area on the walls and in the bathroom on the walls. I researched google for these types of fly and I would say that these flies resemble it the most.http://www.westopthebugs.com/images/...fly.jpgI'm afraid to sleep. They might bite me or go in my mouth and cause diseases.

 

http://planetkathy.com/blog/wp-conte...011/10/fly.jpg

 

I can’t open the first link; the second one opens, but I’m not sure what that fly/wasp is.

1) Can you take photos of your flies, as close up as possible and post them?

2) Sewer flies (psychoda) can emerge from underneath a toilet when the gasket that makes the seal fails. This why we need to identify the species as that will tell us what direction to go to find their harborage/food source/breeding sites, etc. Fly species vary dramatically in their behaviors. Knowing what they are will save a lot of time, resources, and stop the guesswork.

3) If it is sewer flies then it will likely be a plumbing/drainage issue that you may have no control over, but will need the landlord or a plumber to get involved.

4) If it is fungus gnats, then I would first suspect overwatered house plants, if you have plants, as that is the most common culprit with fungus gnats. Especially if you have potted plants with spanish moss on top of the soil.

5) I’m sure you can see why identification is so important-that will point us in the direction to go. If you can’t post photos, then take fly samples to a county agricultural agent or equivalent for a positive ID.

 

Do you have a floor drain or stand up shower?

Here is a great video to watch.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZmI6dEFgyT8#!

 

I caught one but my camera keeps dying. It's like I'm cursed. Anyway, 90% of the time they're in the kitchen area on the wall left of the kitchen sink. The odd thing about it is that I placed transparent tape on the drain several times and never seen any gnats stuck to it. I even used drain gel and boiling hot water and still see them. I'mm 99% sure that they're the ones seen in the attachment. I'll still take a snapshot of the gnat later on today and post it.

 

I thought I had drain/sewer flies....but I was only seeing them in the bath so much because of good lighting and light colors. Maybe they were also attracted there due to moisture, skylites and windows? Turned out to be fungus gnats and a rigorous application of Gnatrol took care of them.

Enougher...you still haven't stated if you have any plants?

 

I don't have any plants anywhere in my home. I can't seem to get a good picture of the gnat. My camera is cheap and gets blurry when I get up close to the gnat. But I am almost 100% sure it's the gnat seen in my previous post in the attachment.

 

Now would probably be a good time to stop pouring drain clearing gel down the drains....especially if it's not helping to get rid of them.

I had them one time in a shower stall. I sprayed bleach around the drain and gasket area and poured several cups down the drain. After several applications they were gone.


** That video is incredible. A lot of money for remediation **

 

1) Do the bathroom and kitchen share a common wall?

2) Is there a basement, crawl space, or simply a slab underneath the kitchen and/or bath?

3) If you keep the bathroom door closed 24/7, do you still get flies in kitchen and elsewhere?

4) Do you rent or own? Landlord should be able to tell you if you have a septic tank or are on public sewer. Depending on what these flies are, this could be a minor to major maintenance issue that is out of the hands of the diy’er.

5) The proper identification of small flies is paramount in solving a problem with small flies. Take samples to a county extension office. Here in Pa. it is the “Penn State county extension office”. Each state will be different, but they will give free and objective advice and identification. Our local office will even send the samples away if they aren’t sure. I know it’s a hassle, but once we know what they are, then we will have a positive direction to go. Oftentimes small flies and their infestation are not eliminated with chemicals, but with mechanical and physical repairs/alterations, beyond the purview of diy.

 

What make and model is your camera.
There are not many that do not have a macro setting letting you get closer.

 

Lawrosa-I finally had time to watch the video. What a “perfect storm” situation. This video further illustrates the need to properly ID the flies. Tks.

Can’t believe they spent $100,000. remodeling BEFORE the fly harborage repair.

I’m sorry to hear that 3 pest control operators did nothing to help the homeowner; I suspect that they failed to ID the flies and simply”sprayed stuff”. On the other hand, we don’t know how co-operative the owners were with any suggestions by those pco’s.

 

Actually there is a skylight in the other room next to the kitchen. I've been having trouble with it during the past season when too much condensation would build up resulting in water dripping from it onto an unsused bed and sometimes onto the floor below. I sprayed the skylight with fly killing insecticide around the perimeter of the skylight. This morning I woke up again to gnats, but there were about 3 of them (the least I've seen thus far). I have a really old camera which my brother gave me. It's an Olympus digital camera model no. C-2000 Zoom DC 6V. Whenever I try to zoom in on the gnat, it gets really blurry. There is a zoom mode I used to take a picture of the gnat (see attachment) but it can only get so sharp.The kitchen and the bathroom do share a common wall; however, there are no longer any gnats in the bathroom as I cleaned and scrubbed every inch of it. The only place that I see them is on a wall to the left of the kitchen area. In the attachment, you can see a wall to the left of the sink area, and that's where the gnats congregate.There's a crawl space beneath the home but it's been sprayed by an exterminator before. I have closed the bathroom door to experiment and see if gnats still gather there and when I opened up the door after 24 hrs -- zero gnats. I now see them only to the wall left to the kitchen area. I scrubbed every inch of the kitchen area and woke up today to about 2-3 gnats on the wall to the left of the kitchen area.I live in a cottage and pay rent month to month. I had problems with ants in the past coming into my home during the past and the LL hired an exterminator to rid them. I'll ask the LL when he arrives at work tomorrow in regards to whether this is a septic tank or public sewer.There are 3 pictures:1) The kitchen area with the wall to the left where the gnats gather.2). The clearest picture I could take of the gnat.3). The size of the gnat compared to a dime.

 

No bug specialist but because its so small the wings look like a basic fruit fly.

 

I've actually examined the fruit fly in comparison to the gnat I caught. The difference is that there is an extended tail like thingy. You can see it in the attachment. When I meticulously looked at the gnat I caught, it looked almost identical to the gnat in the attachment. It's hard to see the tail or extended torso on the gnat because it's curled up after it died.Everything about it (the 2 antennaes, the amount of legs, the shape and size of the wings, and the extended torso area). It's like the gnats in my home and the one in the attachment are twins.The fruit flies don't have the extended torso like thingy like the gnat in the attachment and in my home. Oddly, I saw a dead gnat in the drain area of my sink. This is odd because I placed transparent tape on the drain area for 24 hours and never saw a gnat stuck to it. Moreover, I poured super Drano Max Gel down the drain, and a super unclogging agent. Furthermore, I poured plenty of hot boiling water down the drain. They still appear in the area next to the kitchen sink on the wall to the left of it.

 

Gnats like damp and humid, so there must be an issue with this in your house (or where you're finding them). Try to find a damp source or try running a DE-humidifier.
You could try buying the product you keep attaching, too.

 

Ironically, I do have a de humidifier; it's a SoleusAir model. I use it as often as I can and end up dumping out a gallon of condensation water each 2 weeks. The gnats now only gather to the kitchen area. I saw one small gnat in the bathroom, but this is after I left the bathroom door open.

 

Phorid Flies, Household Phorid Fly Control & Identification

It’s hard to tell but I see some similarities with the “Phorid fly”, of which I’ve made an attachment.

I suspect that a decaying organic matter situation is nearby. The crawl space needs to be inspected thoroughly for same. I’ve seen cracked sewage pipes, iron, that did not leak matter but were open enough that flies could exit/enter.

Please encourage landlord to inspect crawl space, pipes, drains, etc.

 

This is a bit off topic but your camera is capable of focusing as close as several inches.
The manual is here if you are interested in figuring it out. (p118 in the manual)
You should be able to focus within 8 inches when set on macro.

 

The gnat that I caught has antennae on its head while the phorid fly doesn't have any at all. Doing some research, I made comparisons to all of the types of flies and gnats. Out of all of them, the closest looking one is the fungus gnat. They're virtually identical to the gnats in my home.

 

I woke up this morning to an unexpected surprise. I couldn't find any gnats anywhere in my home. I'm not sure if this is the case, but I notice that there are spaces under the wall about 1/3 of an inch; this is the way the cottage is built. I've had problems in the past where spiders would crawl out of them and scurry back underneath them when running from me. So what I did was spray in the area underneath the wall to the left on the kitchen with fly and insect killer. This morning before I left to work, I noticed no gnats in the bathroom; in the kitchen area, and elswhere in my home. I hope I'm not speaking too soon as I don't want to rejoice now and find out later that they're back.

 

Great video Mike. So the owners spent 100K remodeling and another 60K fixing the plumbing. I wonder what the house was worth before they sunk all that money into it.

 

I would say it was an insurance claim..... Seems extensive 65k to tunnel.



The OP should certainly get the LL to get someone in that crawl to investigate....

 

The Landlord sent some pest control technicians over to my place in an attempt to rid my home of gnats. I was thrilled, looking forward to coming home and see no gnats -- didn't happen. I came home to more gnats than ever, so I called the pest control company and inquired about this. The technician didn't do anything. They basically told me that the cottage is poorly built so that condensation builds up very quick resulting in fungus and mold. Something has to be done about this or the problem with the gnats will never go away.

The cottage has poor insulation and when it gets cold, it gets VERY cold; and when it gets hot, it gets VERY hot inside. I'm wondering what the Landlord is going to do about this? Anyway, I'm hoping that the Landlord will hire some contractors in an attempt to fix this and finally provide a solution.

I notice that whenever I open the windows to air out the place, I don't see any gnats. I leave several windows ajar when I leave home so there won't be any gnats when I get back, because the fungus gnats need moisture to survive.

 

So what is the status of any crawl space inspection.? Question-is the crawl space floor dirt, concrete, or what? I can’t help but think that the crawl space and piping is conncected to this problem. I don’t believe that condensation, even bad condensation would contribute to the conditions needed for fungus gnats, etc.

 

The crawl space floor is dirt. I came home to more gnats again. They were gone for a day and regenerated during my hours at work. It's very frustrating!!!!! They're either in one of two places; the bathroom (which is very small), or the wall left of the kitchen. The bedroom nor the living room area has gnats, and I still can't figure out where they're coming from for the life of me. I'm thinking that they're coming from under the wall where there's a small gap. Maybe I should caulk that area and seal it.

 

Please address the crawl space commentary and questions as that area is likely implicated in this problem as a potential breeding area, especially since it is a dirt floor. Any waste water that is leaking onto the dirt will create conducive conditions and harborage. Someone has to go in the crawl space and inspect thoroughly, otherwise there isn’t anything to discuss or speculate on without the knowledge of what, if anything is going on in the crawl space.

If they are breeding/living in the crawl space they will follow the pipe openings thru the floor, which is why you see them in the bathroom and kitchen. They are not in the pipes, but come thru the access hole(s) that the pipes use. If there is an access panel behind the bath tub, that should be removed for inspection too.

 

Ok, they sent someone over to check the crawl space today. The guy said that there's a little leakage in the drain directly under the shower area. However, he said that it's most likely not related to the gnats. He said that getting rid of the bushes and the unwanted foliage which practically surrounds my cottage would be a start. He also said that they were most likely coming from either the crawl space or from the bushes that surround my cottage; and that they were more than likely coming up through the spaces under the walls. I sealed the space under the wall located to the left of the kitchen with caulk and haven't seen a gnat yet. I was also home most of the day today so I was able to keep all the windows open so that my place won't attract moisture.

 

Them darn gnats ain't going away. I'm not sure if these are the left over gnats that were hiding after I sealed and caulked the space under the wall, or if they're breeding again. I didn't see any gnats after I sealed and caulked the wall space between the shower and the kitchen wall, but then I also kept the windows open and used the de-humidifier. I saw a few gnats (2-3) come to the bathroom after I took a shower. They're obviously atrracted to moisture. A carpenter is coming over tomorrow and going to work on the bathroom. He's going to install new pipes I believe and add some structure to allow the flow of any condensation or moisture to go in a different direction so as to avoid any mold or fungus build-up. He said that I can even sue the Landlord if I get sick from mold or as a result of how the unit is built. I'm not the litigious type; I just want to live gnat free.