Ignore (EOM)

[4RE KLR]

Yes, If you have a septic system there is your cuprit. They not only breed but thrive.

However the only way into the house is for a trap to be dry. Run water through all your sinks and toilets and keep the traps full of fresh water. Don't forget the laundry drain. They can still get up and out through the vents on the roof but that will keep them outside of the house. Some homes have an in wall vent that will vent into and between the walls. This would be a common situation if you have a sink that would be in front of an island or a serving bar usually in the kitchen. You will also want to look (if you have one) at the built in ice maker. The stand alone ice makers require (most of them) a drain behind them at the floor level. This is a straight raceway to the septic system. Just be sure you have some water in the drain. If you can't get to it just open the door and pour in some water into the ice holding bin and it will find the drain. I am not talking about the ice maker in your frig. These types of ice makers are usually found in a game room or a wet bar area. Our is in the garage. But I wanted it there and not in the house.

Yes the bleach is better for the pipes than draino, providing you do not leave it in there for long periods of time, please trust me on this one. Besides if you have a septic system you know you are not supposed to put large quantities of bleach in the drains as it kills the bacteria that keeps the septic working well. If you have allready put in large amounts of bleach go to the hardware store and get some "Rid-X" it cost about $7.00 and will help keep your sytem healthy.

Does you septic have an automatic cholinator? Those usually belong in the third tank of an areobic system, not in the first tank.

Another culprit could be your A/C evaporator coil. If it is in the attic go check it and see if it is full of water. Clean the drains on the bottom pans with bleach. Just pour it in the pan and let it set and it will kill the algie (sp) that stops up the drain. Yes run some hot to warm water when you are done. Also take the cover off of the unit. If your filter is by the unit it is very easy to get to. If not you should have four to six 1/4" srews you will need to remove. The coil should feel cool to the touch but not be soaking wet. Also the yellow insulation by it should not be wet at all. If it is contact a service man to inspect your system as it will soon fail if not tended to. A system check should run you about $75.00 -100.00 that should include up to two units. If you have a third or fourth expect a $35.00 for each one.

Hope that helps.

[Ron61]

Ah, fond memories of mosquitoes as big as house flies. Fortunately when they put the sewer system in several years ago and filled in all of the old septic tanks, the mosquitoes migrated SOUTH. I hardly ever have one at my house now.

Ron

[trularin]

We used to get them in the sump-pump tank when I was building the house. Do you have a ground water tank in the basement or crawl space??? They love those things as the water is stagnent for long periods of time.

How can you have mesq. in your house from the septic tank, that does not make sense. The septic system has to be a sealed system. If it wasn't you'd be sick all the time.

Just my opinion.

[4RE KLR]

The reason that is possible is because a septic system is not a closed system. If it was it would not work. The plumbing system of any building or house has to have a vent in order for the drains to work. That is how they originally get in. More than likely from the roof outside.

Once they are in they can take thier time and build a colony unnoticed. They usually make their way to the house through a dry drain. If all the darins have water in the p-traps they cannot get into the house easily but they can still get it.

Remember mosquitoes are looking for cool moist areas to lay more larve. They are most interested in reporduction, not food source. So they spend their short lives looking for a place tp reproduce.

If the septic is infected it is as simple as going outside and lifting the lid. If you have an infestation, you'll know it in a second or two. A qualified septic guy can tell you some cheap and easy remidies. I do not want to put that info here as there are so many different ways to solve this this that are good for one system while not so good for another type of system.

The mosquitoes can hatch inside the tank and come out through a vent on the roof. Then come straight down the side of your house and into the house by means of an expansion joint. Those are the small openings in the brick or stone on the bottom row of the brick. If you have sideing they simply come in under the laps. Once in the walls it is easy to get through the plug and switch openings on your walls. This is also how roaches get in.

Listen carefully............... DO NOT CLOSE UP THE EXPANSION JOINTS ON THE BRICK IN ANY WAY. If you do you will cause a future termite problem.

It is not that difficult to adversly affect their day. You can spray the house yourself or call an exterminator. Keep all outside water freshly changed every day, even the birdbaths. Don't let water stand anywhere in your yard. Keep chlorine in your septic system like your manual tells you to. Keep fresh water in all your plumbing pipep-traps.

The remidies are simple and you should be doing them anyway. There is nothing extra you should have to do to keep a healthy mosquitoe free home.

[flipper35]

Our septic system must be a little different than there in TX. There is no access hatch or lid to it, we would have to dig up the driveway and yard. The amount of bleach used would be the same as several loads of laundry. I hear Rid-X is good to put in anyway, I'll pick some up.

Our washer drains out under the yard into some drain tile, not into the septic system at all. That could be a place they are coming from, I'll make sure it is sealed.

Our A/C drain was checked a couple months ago before the heat wave and I'll check it again. It is near our back door and drains into my wifes flower garden but doesn't leave any standing water there as it gets absorbed quickly.

We have the drain in the bathtub in the second bathroom that doesn't get used often, but we have the drain plug in so nothing comes up there.

Our Cystern is open where the float is to regulate the water coming in from the canal, but that has a chlorinator and I think it is woking fine as it smells like chlorine and I have to check it every few weeks to make sure it has enough in it.

Ron, I turning the fans north so you can have our heat then.

[Ron61]

Brent,

A 357 Magnum works well on those mosquitoes. And it will let your neighbors know that you are getting rid of them.

We don't need any more heat. Yesterday morning I got up and it was raining and cold enough that everyone had their heaters on. At 11 AM, it had quit raining, the sun was out, it was 80 degrees and humid as all get out. I just came in from looking at the 8" tall weeds in my yards and upper lot and it is to hot to mow today. Those gravel yards are looking more appealing all the time.

Talking of septic tank locations, I was talking to one of the old linemen from the telephone comepany and he was telling me stories of things he had seen and gotten into back when they used to actually install the phones. He said once he had to crawlundera house to run the lines, and he fell through the top of their septic tankas it waslocated under the house and covered by wood that had rotted. When he got out, they gave him the rest of the day off.

Ron

[flipper35]

I hear Round-Up works well to keep your grass from growing. At least our septic system is a closed sysem. The leach field is under our driveway though so I am not sure if we could pave it. The driveway is not in it's original location.

We won't see temps as low as 80* in the daytime until September, but at least the humididty is only about 55%. This is a great time to visit home! (Wisconsin)

[4RE KLR]

Ok Brent,

What you have is the old style of septic system. Not saying bad style just the older version if you will. They work great and you should have no problem for many many years.

The amount of bleach you put in should not hurt a thing. Rid-X is indeed good stuff. We add some each month to our system. My septic guy says not needed, but we do it any way. When he does his quarterly inspections that are required by law and ordinance in Texas he always tells me we have the cleanest operating system. I credit the Rid-X for that.

You mentioned the bath tub in the secong bath. Now even though you may have the drain cap securely down you still will have access to the septic. The tub will have a drain in the bottom of the tub. Just above the drain going up the tub wall is a drain vent. If that drain runs dry the vent becomes your avenue for the mosquitoes to get in.

Also if the washer runs into the yard make ssure the area is not to saturated. You may need to wash a little each day instead of all laundry on Saturday, so to speak. At least until we find the nest. You will still want to check the washer drain and make sure there is water in it. If it gets dry, not being connected to the septic it will have a dirrect route to the great outdoors. This will let in mosquitoes and roaches.

Just a thought here. I am trying to think of all possible ways they could get in. Have you changed your a/c filter lately? If they are nesting in the old filter they could be recurculating themselves back into your home. I do realize they would need water, but if the coil is moist enough that could be your source.

I'll call my a/c guy and ask him. Although I would bet you the root problem is in the septic system.

[4RE KLR]

Has anyone heard from earl lately?

When we left he was just recovering and I was wondering if he was OK.

[4RE KLR]

Ok here is one everyone can look at and get mad.

How much did your real estate taxes go up this year?

Our rate stayed the same to honor a promise made by council members. Our values however went up 40%. Of corse we disputed the value. I told them they could just cut me a check and I would let them have it. We will see at the protest meeting.

They have the house valued at twice what it cost to build two years ago. The market here does not support that kind of value. The house across the street just sold for almost three hundred thousand less than they have ours valued at, and It is almost 1,000 sq ft larger.

[flipper35]

We just had the A/C serviced a few months ago with new filters but I will double check them. I forgot about the overflow in the tub too.

The washer never saturates the yard with all the dry sandy soil we have. We could water the yard and do laundry and the soil would only be damp for maybe two days. It has taken a few years to get grass to even start filling in some places that were bare because you have to water sooo much.

Given how these houses were built, it's hard to say where some of this stuff goes. We do laundry every 2-3 days so I doubt the washer drain ever gets "dry" but I will check. They seem to come from the other end of the house where the second bathroom is though. I will make sure the second bath gets used more and see if they thin out. After the one night, we only find a couple in the house now and then but I would like to get rid of them entirely. Especially with a 3.5 year old. This is the only year it has happened, but is has been a really wet winter. Just found out the holding tank off the canal that distrubutes the water to all the houses on our line was plugged and not flowing. We probably washed a bunch of the little eggs and larvae into the septic system.

[4RE KLR]

sounds like you are on the right track.

If you wash that often the washer drain is fine, don't bother. It would be my guess they are coming from the tub vent. All you need to do is run water throught it every few days.

[flipper35]

Mokey Hokey.

[flipper35]

Hey, anybody have any good cheese fondue recipies?

[Ibr8k4vetts]

Cheese and heat

[HI Cobra]

Like blue cheese on the header pipes for a wedding present?

[flipper35]

A friend put a bunch of smelly cheeses on his friends light bulbs all over the house while she was away on vacation. By the time she realized what was going on it was too late, the whole house was smelling prett bad. Personally I like the cherry kool-aid in the shower head trick to pull on the members of the fairer sex.

[Ron61]

I like the talking toillt paper roller that you can record short messages on. When anyone pulls paper off it will speak. Such as, are you really going to use me in that dirty location, please use both sides as we are trying to conserve paper and such. Great fun when they don't expect it.

Ron

[trularin]

That was not what I ment when I said the system was closed. I ment that there is no real way for the Mesq. to get in the house from the septic system.

Yes, there are vents, but they are on top of the house and each drain is supposed to have a water trap that prevents septic gases from entering the house.

I see the topic of this topicless thread has made it around to cheese and rocks... again.

[4RE KLR]

Rocks
I didn't read about no stinkin rocks. Did they have mosquitoes too?


Tru,

That's right the system does have vents on the roof. BUT the tubs will not drain if the tub vent is not open, try it.

Have you even lifted a manhole cover as kid? It is full of mosquitoes and roaches. That is how they get from one house to the other. A properly cared for septic system is far better than the City sewer but ONLY if it is cared for as designed.

Mosquitoes can get into anything. They can not reproduce or live without water. That is why you see them around standing water. There are fog treatments for septic systems if you truely have an infestation. It is a bit harder to do if the lids are covered but the process is the same. If the lid was accessable one could do it themselves.

My guess is they are coming from the septic system. I have seen it too many times in the last twenty years of new home construction.