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Stinky shower drain! I tried bleach/hotwater method, but is it time to call the plumber?

gttommy — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 23:40:42 -0800

Stinky shower drain! I tried bleach/hotwater method, but is it time to call the plumber? This belongs to a house I bought 4-5 months ago, and it has been vacant for the last several months. Bathroom has been completely renovated since then (new tiles, bathware, etc).

However there is this Smell!

Tiny flies are hanging around inside the shower screen. I'm guessing they magically came from within the drain itself?

I've tried pouring bottles of bleach for it to sit, and then flushing it with hot water the following day, twice to no avail. The smell and tiny flies come back.

What could be inside the drain/pipe? Dead horse? Is there nothing else I can do?

A part of me suspects that a cause of this, is that the shower has not been used (for showering) in the last several months and therefore allowed something inside to fester.

Help, my house is being colonized by flies!

Tarumba — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 07:29:20 -0800

We are going to die under swarms of flies, how the hell are they getting in the house and how do we get rid of them? At the beginning of last week we found about 30 flies standing by our window. Out house is pretty clean, so we assumed it was a widow that had been open or maybe our back door. We got rid of them, completely disinfected the whole house and went to bed.

The next day, there were at least FIFTY flies! on the same living room window!

They are super black and kind of chunky. Buzzy and also not so quick. It pretty easy to kill them. Is it possible they get in through the AC vents? we have moved everything (fridge, cooker) and scrubbed and disinfected the floors. We thought for a while that our cat had brought in something, but have not been able to find any mice or birds.

I can't smell anything rotting, the house is spotless and all the windows and doors are closed. The only food that out is the cat's, but they don;t seem to interested in it.

Insect repellents for dogs?

COBRA! — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:16:37 -0800

Help me keep the bugs off of my dog when camping! I'm taking my dog camping very soon. She's been along for many trips before, and she likes it, except that the mosquitoes and biting flies of northern Minnesota love to give her hell. It always kills me to see her sitting at the campsite with a cloud of mosquitoes buzzing around her face, and it's even worse to see her muzzle get all bumpy from mosquito bites.

Are there any good insect repellents for dogs? I certainly don't want to douse her in DEET.

Flies in house (Seattle). Constantly. Really?

skybolt — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:58:33 -0800

I'm not sure what's happening here but I have a steady stream of flies into my house (I'd say 4-5 every five days) and none of my Interwebs explanations seem to apply. What the $@%@ is going in here? I have no idea what's going on with these $!%^# flies! I'll start by addressing the threads I've read and describe what they're not:

- They don't seem to be 'cluster flies.' They are however fairly large as flies go, about twice as large as flies are typically, but they still look like it's an average sized, if fully grown-up, fly. They're black, not shiny irredescent green or blue.

- I don't have a window open (anymore). About two weeks ago I did find an open, screenless window, and when I closed it (that's a whole other story) the flies cut down dramatically. For at least a day I thought they were gone.

- I don't think these are winter hatchling flies, if they were I would expect a more standard distribution of fly numbers, rather than the steady-stream of about 4 every three days, give or take some random amount.

- If they are coming in from the outside then the little buggers are going out of their way to get in. Will they try and come in via super-tiny gaps? If there is a secret passage in one of my window frames (all horrible aluminum frames seem to have a channel gap) would the flies really search for a way in just to bounce against the glass? If they are coming in from outside I sure can't find where. They seem to prefer upstairs, they seem to prefer the master bathroom. 'nuff said.

- It's Seattle, they're not coming in for water. In California I'd get ants from time to time coming in for water. That was always a real crowd-pleaser.

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.

Bee/ Wasp/ Fly - Why Did You Have To Die?

forallmankind — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 09:12:17 -0800

Every now and then I find dead bees, wasps or flies in my living room - like on the floor, feet up in the air. I don't have a bee/ wasp/ fly problem - i.e. I never come home to a live bee/ wasp/ fly - so it makes me wonder why the ones that do get into my house mysteriously die, and always in the living room. Any ideas?

How to get rid of these little black winged bugs?

Salamandrous — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:44:41 -0800

What are these little black bugs with narrow almost clear wings that seem to be growing out of the bathroom tiles, and how do I make them go away and not come back? They sound kind of like the "drain flies" from this question, but they're not in the drain. They are near a pipe, but I don't really have a way to pour anything down the pipe or to clean it (maybe scrub the outside a bit with a toothbrush?), so if they are drain flies what can I do about them? Or do I need to ask the super to do something?

Ugh they're gross. Thank you!

What's so cool about flying in squares?

dolface — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:21:12 -0800

vacapinta asked this way back in 2004 but the answers provided did not satiate my curiosity so I'm asking it again: What are these circling (or squaring) flies? I live in San Francisco but I saw them when I lived in Southern California too. I don't have a pressing reason I need the information, I'm just curious as all get-out about them. I'm not an entomologist but I'm pretty confident that they're Musca and not Drosophila (mostly because of their size). I'd be happy for just a species name, but if anyone has personal knowledge about them that would be wonderful.

Buzz buzz, your blood is delicious!

two lights above the sea — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:05:55 -0800

We have a mosquito/fly problem, but we live in the city. Help! We have a relatively small back patio (maybe 10'x15-20'?) that is concrete. There is a storm drain next to our back door, but we have no idea if there is standing water in the drain. The most likely culprit for the mosquito/fly infestation is the abandoned house next door. We've had some problems with the OTHER neighbor throwing trash in the back yard, and although we've tried to pull what we could from the tree, we don't have access to that yard. There's also an "empty" lot on the other side of the abandoned house with even more trash in it. We don't have access to that yard, either.

Short of burning the property to the ground, what can we do to get rid of these mosquitoes? We bought two of these because every time we open our back yard, about ten flies/mosquitoes get into the house. They work great even during the day, but we can't enjoy our patio at all without getting eaten alive. We can't even take out the trash without getting bug bites. We try to keep our trash cans as far away from the house as we can, but that doesn't help much with the flies.

We've looked into bug zappers and bait traps, but they all say that they should be set up far away from any houses or buildings. Unfortunately, our patio is only 10' deep and surrounded on three sides by other houses. We do have an "alley" that is unused, though it is still against our house. Is it safe to put a "bait trap" down there? Do you have any recommendations?

Bonus question: Is there anything we can do to get the owner of the abandoned to clean up his yard, at least, maybe even the house? We're in Philadelphia, PA. We've already handled the situation with the other neighbor, and she hasn't thrown trash again. It does stink a little on really hot days and/or after it rains, so getting it cleaned up would benefit us on so many levels.

Is there anything else we can do? We miss making s'mores by the fire and having guests on the patio. Any insight or suggestions would help at this point. It's really annoying!

How do I deal with aggressive flies in my yard?

KimikoPi — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:22:46 -0800

I like gardening, but I am put off by a few aggressive flies who never cease to buzz at me or very close to me whenever I go outdoors. Is there any way to deter them? I wouldn't say I have a fly problem. At any one time, I can only see 3-6 flies in the front yard or back yard. However, as soon as I step outside to do any gardening, 1 or 2 of these flies will territorially and aggressively fly at me or fly very close to me. I believe they are being aggressive rather than just navigationally challenged. They make an awful buzzing around and flies gross me out because they eat filthy things. They make me spin and swat at them like a crazy person.

Although I know one option is to "get over it" and another is "buy a bee keeper's suit off ebay" are there any other ways to deter the flies from coming close to me?

For example, are there any sprays I can spray on my clothing to deter them? Does mosquito spray work for common flies?

I also bought one of those fly traps, but I'm hesitant to use it as it will probably just draw all the neighborhood flies to my yards.

Help get rid of flies off shrub

roaring beast — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:26:43 -0800

How do I get rid of an infestation of flies from my euonymus (kiautschovicus/manhattan?) shrub? I have a large shrub outside my front door and the flies are swarming around the flowers on the bush and getting inside the house. Googling shows that this is natural and needed for pollination but it is driving us crazy.

I have tried spraying with bug killer spray, but it hasn't helped. I have seen some mixed reviews on using a dish soap spray, but I might give that a shot. I tried trimming down the flowers, but its hard to do it without cutting off all the leaves.

It also seems like this year there are a lot more flowers than usual, possibly because I have been trimming the bush more to keep it smaller. Is there a way that I could prune so there are less flowers in the future?

Can anyone offer any help for my fly problem? Is there an effective way to kill/trap/repel these flies?

What are these jumping flies?

miniminimarket — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:42:20 -0800

Fly identification question: we've got little black flies hanging around our fridge, garbage, and sink drain. Don't think they're drain flies because they don't have furry wings. They hop when you try to smack them. We've tried pouring bleach and hot water down the sink, keeping dishes clean, taking out the trash more often, without luck. Any trapping / killing ideas are welcome, but mostly I want to know what I'm dealing with first. Thanks in advance.

Lord of the Flies

jpdoane — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:02:53 -0800

Our house has recently been overrun by an inordinate amount of houseflies. Please help! Daily, we find 5-10 flies on most of our windows and doors throughout the house (including the finished basement) which reappear regularly after we shoo them outside/kill them. They all look identical (size/color). There does not seem to be an epicenter of the infestation. Our house is clean, with no obvious fly/maggot bait (our garbage was picked up a few days ago with no noticeable decrease in fly generation). We didn't have this problem last summer.

What is the best way of discovering the source of our fly problem? Are there common but non-obvious places that we should look for maggots? If we can't find the cause, what is the best way to deal with it - some sort of non toxin bug bomb?

sneaky little bathroom flies

KateHasQuestions — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:02:41 -0800

Little flies coming into the house through the pipes in the bathtub - how to get rid of them? My parent's apartment has flies that they have seen come out of the drain in the bathtub. They're bigger than fruit flies but smaller than regular flies. How can my parents get rid of them? Other than putting a plug/stopper/whatever-they're-called into the bathtub drain when they're not showering and then cross their fingers and hope the flies don't come out of other pipes while trying to escape, anything they can do to kill them inside the pipes? Would it keep the flies from coming back? This is an apartment building in Brooklyn, if that makes any difference.

Welcome to the jungle.

peggynature — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:00:47 -0800

What plants can withstand urban squirrel, raccoon, and bird assaults (and might repel flies while they're at it?) I want to have some plants on my balcony this spring. It is a desolate wasteland of urban ghetto.

There are lots of flies, as we are right above the garbage area, and my previous attempts to plant climbing vines for privacy (morning glory) were unceremoniously uprooted by ravenous squirrels. We also have nosy, hungry raccoons and some rather destructive birds.

In addition to a trellis, I also have a suspended pole that would hold hanging baskets. So, what should I plant? And should I grow my own from seed, or purchase grown plants?

(Thank you thank you thank you.)

Get rid of fruit flies.

Penelope — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:15:31 -0800

Get rid of fruit flies. My place has a lot of fruit flies. I am keeping all food in the fridge, washed under the fridge and the stove, washed the counters, ran hot water down the drains for a while.

I made 3 traps - the inverted bottle, the jar with banana in it, and one with balsamic vinegar. I put saran wrap on top of the jars and made holes with a pen tip. Supposedly they don't find their way out again, but these ones are!!! I have seen them fly back out.

Are my holes just too big? Or is there some better method?

These Flies are driving me Insane!

snsranch — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:35:22 -0800

We've had a series of kids parties here this summer, and now with all of the tiny flecks of pizza, cake and general kid residue, our yard has been overrun with FLIES! The only thing I can think of is to spray the yard with one of those on-hose fertilizer sprayers with some soapy water.

That's an effective method but I would really rather not infect our storm drain with a bunch of bubbly stuff that will end up in the bay.

Any suggestions? Should I just go for it?

FWIW, we've picked up and cleaned up everything humanly possible! It looks like the flies are here for the duration. Help!

Insect brownian motion

randomstriker — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:19:35 -0800

Why do these flies zig zag around the middle of my room in the afternoons if I leave the window open, and how do I get rid of them?

Vacation home ordeals

Amizu — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:24:39 -0800

Help my family protect our log cabin. Much My family bought land on forested land overlooking the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia about 40 years ago. (My father thought Nixon was going to take over the country in marshall law.) About 20 years ago, they hired a local log cabin builder to construct a traditional log cabin. It is beautiful, secluded, and very important to my family, because every year we spend unadulterated time together as a family, without TV, friends, or other distractions. And when my family lost everything else, we still had the cabin.

However, the cabin has problems, namely trespassers, flies, and mice.

Here's the scenario: The place has untreated logs (which are starting to disintegrate a little bit), and various small holes and cracks. The roof has wooden shingles. My father is a contractor, and has years of experience, but he's 65 and didn't build log cabins.

We used to have a small "camp" nearby, and had a few problems with mice, but hardly any problems with flies. The log cabin, however, has a fly problem, and so every summer when we show up, everything is covered in fly bodies - a dark, nasty layer of dead flies. Even if we think we've killed them all, they form into hives in about October, and by summer they're all dead and covering everything. And mice get into the mattresses. Also, vandals and thieves have entered the cabin a few times, as they do to other seasonal homes in the area. To protect the house, we have covered the windows and doors in heavy plywood and steel bars, but we know it's not impenetrable. We lock the cabin from the inside, and someone thin slides out the bottom of the cabin via a trap door, but my parents can't fit, so they can't visit their cabin by themselves. We live 12 hours south of the cabin. The result of all these problems is that it takes days to get into the cabin and clean it, and our ability to use the place is reduced.

I'm wondering if there are solutions to these problems. Are there ways to effectively protect a cabin from mice - especially mattresses, couches, etc.? Are there ways to stop this fly abomination? How about security for an isolated cabin with no electricity or running water? (We'd like to keep it that way, because it's a large part of the charm, but we would consider alternatives.) Is there some way to keep it secure without using the trap door? Nearby friends look out for the place, but it is mostly inaccessible in the winter, other than by sea, so it's hard to check on at the most vulnerable time of year.

What kind of bugs will hover above trees in giant, narrow columns?

elvissinatra — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:34:44 -0800

What kind of bugs will hover above trees in giant, narrow columns? This article about a hatch of mayflies showing up on National Weather Service radar reminded me of this time a few years ago that my wife and I were driving down the expressway in West Michigan and noticed these huge columns of tiny bugs circling above the trees on the side of the road. Sort of like very tall, thin, slow tornadoes.

The individual bugs were too tiny to see, but there must've been thousands of them because the columns extended probably 50 feet above the trees, and were probably two feet in diameter.

It was one of the weirdest, creepiest things I've ever seen, and I've never seen it again. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Any photos of it on the web?

I remember gnats flying over my head out in right field when I played tee-ball. But if I'd ever seen anything like this, I'd have been afraid they were going to lift me up and carry me away!

Nasty Landing

Aghast. — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:20:52 -0800

In between trash days -- Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday -- people in neighboring apartments deposit their trash on the first floor landing, outside the door to my apartment. I expected the super to put a stop to this practice but it turns out he condones it. I asked him to fix this and he said he'd try but I'm not sure he will. There are no trash cans or anything, just trash bags piled up. Is this against any NYC codes? How should I proceed?

Do I need to worry about maggots in my apartment?

TheIrreverend — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:24:55 -0800

Do I need to worry about maggots in my apartment? There was a fly in my apartment today, and when I finally found it dead on a bookshelf, I noticed that it was near a small pile of maggots (about 10-20). My first question is: should I worry that the fly left behind other piles of maggots in some unnoticed corner of my apartment that will eventually lead to an infestation?

I am also a bit confused by this. I thought that flies laid eggs in food, which then hatch into maggots. I am pretty sure there were no fly eggs on my bookshelf, and certainly no food. So how did the maggots get there?

When is it time to call the exterminator?

mathowie — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:09:42 -0800

I keep finding live flying bugs in my windows and lights and our house is very tight and doors open only rarely. I can't tell if this is normal springtime bug populations or if I have an infestation in my attic. When is it time to call the exterminator? We moved into a new house last fall and I remember seeing lots of dead flies on window sills for the first couple weeks. I assumed it was because we were always moving stuff into and out of the house, so the front/back doors were wide open for extended periods of time. The bugs eventually stopped.

It's now almost spring and suddenly I'm seeing 2 or 3 live ladybugs or house flies crawling on windows (trying to get out) and I'm again finding 3-4 dead flies and ladybugs every few days near windows. The trouble is, it's still super cold outside and we haven't been opening doors or windows much at all. It's a new house and tightly sealed (it's dead quiet, amidst nearby construction).

Are these bugs coming from inside the house, perhaps in the attic going back to when the house was being built last summer? Should I call an exterminator and prepare to bug fog the whole house? Or is 2 or 3 bugs a day a normal amount of bugs to be appearing out of thin air?

DIE DIE DIE YOU TINY BASTARDS!

Jon-o — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 17:57:52 -0800

How do I get rid of all of these fruit flies?? AHHH! There are SO MANY of them. I don't know how we wind up with these periodic infestations. About twice a year, fruit flies invade my kitchen sink. I keep my kitchen clean enough that I can't imagine what they live off of or how they survive long enough to breed as prodidgiously as they do. I don't leave dirty dishes in the sink over night very often and I run my in-sink-er-ator/garbage disposal unit, flushing out all of the organic material in my sink.
So, I've got a two part question:
1) Where do these bastards come from?
2) How do I kill them all? All of them. No survivors. But without poisoning myself or my welcome pets?

flies, pets, etc

edmcbride — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 13:43:31 -0800

Question for the masses: We keep getting flies in our house, and have no idea where they’re coming from. All the windows are closed up tight, and we don’t have anything laying around for them to be feeding on and breeding in (food, feces, decaying bodies, etc), and yet I can go around a room and kill 4 or 5 and the occasional straggler in another room. We can spray them with Raid/bug spray in any room but the living room because of Pickle, but short of running around swatting at them all night in here, does anyone have any pet-safe suggestions to get rid of them?

Fly problem!

xmutex — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 15:58:55 -0800

We have a small but persistent problem with flies in our house. Every other day we'll see one, maybe two. We can't figure it out! The house is kept very clean, there are no obscene smells such that would indicate a dead animal or something, there's no food left out. The flies are primarily in the kitchen. Any idea on a source or a solution?