Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Someone posted about flies in their house a few weeks back and I went through the suggestions. We searched high and low for anything gross that might be attracting them and found nothing.

We had a clog in our master bathroom pipes cleared a few days ago, and the only thing I fan figure is that they're now coming through that drain. Is there anything I can do to stop that, besides closing the drains when we're not using them?

Whenever I get stinky drains, I put some baking soda/peroxide down there. I'll try that but wanted any other suggestions.

Thanks

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Well when I was hooked up to sewers, we would use draino and that surely would kill them. Now with my cesspools, I am hesitant to use that. So I use baking soda, vinegar and hot water.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

All drains should have a P trap, which is always filled with water, so unless the flies are underwater swimmers, they really shouldn't be able to come from the drain.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

I had this problem last year. Someone recommended bleach and it worked like a charm!

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Thanks guys.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Posted by greenfreak

Thanks guys.

Posted by GoldenRod

All drains should have a P trap, which is always filled with water, so unless the flies are underwater swimmers, they really shouldn't be able to come from the drain.

The plumbers have told me more than once that the plumbing in the master bath (where they clog was) was a hack job. So it's possible there is no P trap. But that's good to know!

We had a bird fly down the exhaust pipe and come up through the toilet last year, so flies didn't seem out of the ordinary.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

No, thank God! My husband heard strange noises from the bathroom, next to his office. He was a little afraid to open the door And he found a sparrow floundering around in the toilet bowl.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Posted by greenfreak
We had a bird fly down the exhaust pipe and come up through the toilet last year, so flies didn't seem out of the ordinary.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Sometimes the drain flies come from somewhere else. I looked it up online, and they actually lay their eggs anywhere that stays damp. Many times, they will be behind the grout/caulk in your shower or tub. Take bleach or peroxide and saturate the grout/caulk line where the shower pan meets the wall (or floor meets the wall or tub meets the wall). If anything comes out (gross little worms) that is what would have become the flies. If you have a really bad case, you'll have to remove the grout/caulk, kill them, let it dry out and then regrout or caulk.

Hopefully you don't have any there but thought I'd let you know about it in case they don't seem to be going away.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

We had drain flies for 2 years before we figured out where they were actually coming from.

First, there is a powder my exterminator used (that he said is sold in places like Home Depot) but I don't remember the name. He said that is the best thing to use if they are in fact coming from the drains, because it isn't water soluable and keeps working in the water. That obviously wasn't the case for me because it didn't work.

We found out that the caulking around our sink was worn and water was getting between the counter top and sink. Guess where they were living

Once we re-caulked the sink they disappeared ONly took 2 years to figure that

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Gross information but thanks. Really, I appreciate it. Thankfully, they're totally slowing down.

We found a clog in our kitchen sink drain and the organic stuff hasn't worked so I'm going to call in the big guns tonight. Hopefully once that's gone, maybe our flies will be too.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

We bought this stuff at ACE hardware to get rid of fruit flies (which can come from the drain...we had them in my apartment and it got bad!). It was a round container and the flies would go in and that was it! Worked like a charm!

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Thanks! I have to go there tonight for something else, may as well try it.

These are big flies though - the ones with the iridescent wings and the big eyes. Which makes me worry that it's worse than just a fruit situation.

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?

Re: Flies - coming from drain? How to get rid of them?