Hi Gang,

Have not been active here in years, still own two dozen units and things doing generally well. I have a Texas renter who has complained about ants. She thinks these are "sugar ants". I have checked on what a one-time exterminator would cost to deal with this issue, and I have have been quoted $500 (yes that is for a one time spray with up to 2 follow-ups).

The pest control people told me that ants are impossible to forever eradicate, and of course recommended a monthly service, which on a $725/month small house is not cost effective without raising the rent to offset.

My lease is silent on the issue and the ants are more an annoyance and are not causing a habitability issue (this is what Texas law states triggers LL responsibility), but this renter hates bugs.

The house was built in the 1930s on a pier & beam foundation, so there is always dirt under the house and bugs are everywhere outside. I recommended that the boyfriend get some bait traps and set those out to mitigate the ants, and also recommended they get a monthly spray from a pest control at their expense if they want to never ever see a bug.

The houses built in that era are not as "tight" as units built today although ants find their way into my residence which is much tighter and much newer.

I think that what I am going to do is send a lease addendum to all renters in TX updating pest control policies, and that will go into effect 01AUG2026.

Ideas? Suggestions? I do not know how clean/dirty these people are in their daily habits, I know crumbs and sweet drinks left out can certainly attract ants, but I cannot control all that....we are pretty clean but the ants come looking for water at times both in the master bath and the kitchen, rooms that in my residence are adjacent to an outside wall.

Thoughts?

She may be thinking of crazy ants, which eat electronics. If they get into hvac, it will destroy your hvac.

Terro bait

They eat it for a day or two and then you don't have ants again until next year.

Just under $6

NE, we had some crazy ants/rasberry ants at my parents' home near Houston in the early/mid 2000's. They're actually displacing fire ants, and they have mega-huge multi-queen colonies.

Part of the reason why fire ants can't compete with crazy ants is that the crazy ants are so teeny. But the crazy ants also produce an acid that neutralizes the fire ant toxins.

We don’t have the type of problems you have there but I have found I can knock the population down by feeding the ants. I can’t eliminate them but keep them in check enough that they rarely enter the house.

I had aunts at a property that tenants were complaining about. They wanted me to hire an expert remediation consultant/team. So I called for an early morning meeting with my tenants on a Sunday at the property.

I said that if I hired experts and the tenants and their guest didn't cooperate on a solution, I'd be throwing my money away.

My tenants, guests and children wouldn't walk their trash to the dumpster, instead they place the trash bag outside the back door, until someone walked the trash to the rear dumpster. Also children dropped food wrappers on the ground that attracted ants.

So I demanded that all units contribute a $100 towards to trust account, holding tenants causing the ant problem to be financially liable for my extra costs. I had a security system that would now record other areas where trash was left by tenants or guest.

DE is good and safer than boric acid if you have pets along with the pests.

I puff the powder into every electrical box when I paint or do anything that involves removing the cover plates.

I have used the gel and it works great. The traps you get from the store are good unless they get really old, then they lose their potency. I spray with Talstar-P on changeovers. This will knock them down but it will not destroy the colony.

I do not supply pest control. I give 48 hours from when the tenant takes the place then it is all on them.

For me, it is in early spring. Just a fact of life. I've searched & sealed holes, etc - they still find a way in.

I've not had much luck with Terro. I find Combat Max Gel to work the best.

Didn't have roaches in our recent turnover (no self respecting roach would live there) but it is full of ants. Using the Terro at the moment.

Thanks all who replied. I agree with the DE strategy, and baits. Handy man was by the property last week to fix a window. I asked him to check on ant situation. He did not see any. He did tell the renters that ants are a typical thing everybody deals with this time of year, and explained what he & his wife do to keep them under control, echoing what I and my mgr have already explained.

Nothing more from renters on this....memos are going put next week to all units, so hopefully the girlfriend has simmered down..

DE also works on bedbugs.