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Old 02-15-2009, 11:27 AM
 
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,419,348 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CarolinaWoman View Post
You do have a problem ... flies are not around this time of year ... if so they seek a warm place and they sort of slow down in their flying during cold weather.

Unfortunately ... this is gross but ... maggots ... flies lay eggs ...maggots hatch ... and flies come from maggots ... you seem to have something dead or rotten somewhere as flies will lay their eggs in that matter, eggs hatch and you have maggots that grow into flies ... you really really need to contact the landlord, an exterminator or the health department as this is not normal. It is so nasty that you have to live there with fly infestation. You can purchase the fly paper, fly swatters and that plug-in insect thing didn't work for our daughter. But there is an underlying problem that has to be eliminated to get rid of the flies.
The OP already stated that the landlord is lax. I wouldn't call the health dept. unless thee was someplace to move to on short notice.

I had a problem with flies in the winter in South Jersey. After a trip to Europe where I discovered the use of the fly paper strips, I got some & pinponted the source. It was the washtub drain in the basement. Keeping a flypaper strip over it cured the problem.
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Old 02-15-2009, 11:29 AM
 
Location: State of Being
35,879 posts, read 77,077,446 times
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Wow. As a native, I can assure you . . . flies simply are not that kind of problem here - especially this time of year. Yes, I have had a fly or two in my house occasionally but only b/c a door was held open and a fly sneaked in. And if you are on a picnic, yes, flies may come around. But inside a house, this time of year, in that quantity? No way.

Are you sure these are even houseflies? Here are some pictures and descriptions:

Types of Flies

And after some research, I found this interesting discussion re: an apartment infested w/ what they are calling "drain flies." It sounds eerily like what you are dealing with, and I wonder if the landlord was fully aware of this problem . . . ???? Read the info yourself . . . see what you think . . . and note the methods for controlling those nasty flies.

Pest Control: drain flies in an apartment complex, psychodid, psychodidae
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Old 02-15-2009, 11:43 AM
 
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,419,348 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by anifani821 View Post
Wow. As a native, I can assure you . . . flies simply are not that kind of problem here - especially this time of year. Yes, I have had a fly or two in my house occasionally but only b/c a door was held open and a fly sneaked in. And if you are on a picnic, yes, flies may come around. But inside a house, this time of year, in that quantity? No way.

Are you sure these are even houseflies? Here are some pictures and descriptions:

Types of Flies

And after some research, I found this interesting discussion re: an apartment infested w/ what they are calling "drain flies." It sounds eerily like what you are dealing with, and I wonder if the landlord was fully aware of this problem . . . ???? Read the info yourself . . . see what you think . . . and note the methods for controlling those nasty flies.

Pest Control: drain flies in an apartment complex, psychodid, psychodidae
Good post, Ani.

My flies were common house flies. It was definitely not an infestation, maybe a couple a week. I had a plumber clean out the drain & sewer line & poured everthing conceiveable down it to clean it. I was told that, because of the mild winters, instead of being killed off by the cold, some would get into the basement, & seek the warmest spot, which was the drain. Also, since the drain eventually connected to the public sewer line, they could travel underground, in those lines. Keeping a flystrip over the drain totally stopped the problem.
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Old 02-15-2009, 11:45 AM
 
310 posts, read 1,694,724 times
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Thanks for all the replies. Now I'm getting really freaked out about these flies!!

But just to clarify, it's not like there's swarming flies in this condo, just a small number (4 -5 flies) each day & they're usually on the side windows lining the living rm/dining rm each day. What's mystifying me is that they're not in the kitchen (although 1 or 2 might fly in there every few days) but there's no windows in the kitchen, maybe that's why?

Also, there's no strange smells here - wouldn't there be funny smells if there was something dead in the walls or crawlspace? There's lots of birds & squirrels here, they run/fly from the tree branches to the gutters/roof, also go on the terrace & this is the top floor. So maybe one of these animals expired in the gutters or on the roof? But wouldn't we smell it? There's also a working fireplace which we've never used, could that be involved somehow?

My roommate is out of town this weekend, his cell ph# isn't working there but I'll talk to him tonight. As far as asking the neighbors, there's single elderly ladies living in the two condos beneath us but there seems to be some animosity in this condo complex between the owners & the few renters. We were told that the last tenants our landords rented to were real noisy/inconsiderate & think the owner-occupiers here have a problem with this landlord. Right after I moved in, there were a few days when all the water suddenly shut off for an hour or so (turned out there was a water main problem outside on the street.) Since I had the ph# of the lady downstairs -- from HOA list we were given-- I called her to ask if her water was working & she answered twice & then hung up on me as soon as I said hello (like she saw my name on caller ID, didn't want to talk & didn't want to give me a chance to leave a message!) Don't know why she felt so hostile toward me, as I said, we're not loud, partying college students! So I'm reluctant to ask these neighbors if they have flies too, they'll probably think we brought them with us!

And as I said, the landlord doesn't want to be bothered with anything here but the minimum-- just think he would NOT consider these flies to be a major problem at all! But I'll keep ya posted-- thanks again!
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Old 02-15-2009, 12:28 PM
 
310 posts, read 1,694,724 times
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Hey Ani & Southbound!
Thanks for those suggestions & the info! First of all, these are just regular houseflies, don't look unusual or exotic at all & they don't try to attack us or anything (they're kinda slow & easy to swat/kill.) About "Drain Flies" -- Wow, I hadn't thought about that at all! And it makes so much more sense than dead animals with maggots. Maybe they're coming from the garbage disposal drain in the kitchen-- that seems most likely. (but how would we constantly keep a "fly strip" right over that kitchen drain? -- how could that work or be practical if we use that sink all the time?)

And if I wasn't killing an average of 4 flies here every day & we both went away for a week or longer, we'd probably have hundreds of these flies here when we came back, right? Definitely will follow up on solutions suggested about dealing with drain flies. Just hope it's not a general problem here in the whole condo complex. Will speak to landlord & someone in the HOA if problem can't be solved soon.

Oops, I'm seeing two flies trapped in the dining room window between the glass & the outside screen (from when I opened & closed this window days ago.) First noticed last night but was sure there was just ONE fly trapped there, not TWO! So where did this second fly come from? Could this mean the "Drain Fly" theory might not be right? That is, if flies are getting in from outdoors thru the area around the window screen rather than thru a drain? But aren't the winter temps too cold for them to survive outside? Wish I knew absolutely for sure that previously there was only one fly trapped there rather than two!

Feeling like I'm a detective trying to solve a mystery!!!
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Old 02-15-2009, 12:59 PM
 
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,419,348 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newbie09 View Post
Hey Ani & Southbound!
Thanks for those suggestions & the info! First of all, these are just regular houseflies, don't look unusual or exotic at all & they don't try to attack us or anything (they're kinda slow & easy to swat/kill.) About "Drain Flies" -- Wow, I hadn't thought about that at all! And it makes so much more sense than dead animals with maggots. Maybe they're coming from the garbage disposal drain in the kitchen-- that seems most likely. (but how would we constantly keep a "fly strip" right over that kitchen drain? -- how could that work or be practical if we use that sink all the time?)

And if I wasn't killing an average of 4 flies here every day & we both went away for a week or longer, we'd probably have hundreds of these flies here when we came back, right? Definitely will follow up on solutions suggested about dealing with drain flies. Just hope it's not a general problem here in the whole condo complex. Will speak to landlord & someone in the HOA if problem can't be solved soon.

Oops, I'm seeing two flies trapped in the dining room window between the glass & the outside screen (from when I opened & closed this window days ago.) First noticed last night but was sure there was just ONE fly trapped there, not TWO! So where did this second fly come from? Could this mean the "Drain Fly" theory might not be right? That is, if flies are getting in from outdoors thru the area around the window screen rather than thru a drain? But aren't the winter temps too cold for them to survive outside? Wish I knew absolutely for sure that previously there was only one fly trapped there rather than two!

Feeling like I'm a detective trying to solve a mystery!!!
You're welcome.

Yeah, mine were garden variety house flies. Nothing exotic.

I wouldn't want to guess where they are coming from, but scattering fly stips should help in pinpointing it within a couple of weeks.

Flies are attracted to light, so it will take a little while to figure it out.
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Old 02-15-2009, 01:45 PM
 
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I don't have flies ... never had them except when the children were small and running in and out playing outside.

The flies you find clinging to the windows are seeking the heat from the window because this isn't the season for flies in the Carolinas ... whatever the case ... drain flies ... house flies ... flies come from maggots and that is nasty stuff. Flypaper is a bandaid and will rid the flies but they will continue to multiply if the 'cause' is not destroyed.
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Old 02-15-2009, 02:20 PM
 
54 posts, read 193,770 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newbie09 View Post
First of all, these are just regular houseflies, don't look unusual or exotic at all & they don't try to attack us or anything (they're kinda slow & easy to swat/kill.)
Cluster Flies

cluster flies maybe?? My MIL has had problems with them--they look like regular house flies except they are fatter, slower, easy to kill and are generally around the windows. They are more of a northern thing but maybe they've decided to move to South too......

Last edited by repotted; 02-15-2009 at 02:22 PM.. Reason: another thought
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Old 02-16-2009, 11:12 AM
 
310 posts, read 1,694,724 times
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Thanks again for all the feedback/suggestions/advice about this yucky problem!

The windows where the flies are found get very sunny all morning so they're probably clinging to them for warmth. My roommate came back at end of the weekend & said he doesn't think these are "drain flies." Instead, he told me that a few years ago when he first moved to an apt in nearby Mt Holly, he had the same problem with lots of flies at the windows. At that time he just sprayed around the windows & solved the problem. So that's what we'll try & hopefully it'll be that simple. If not, we'll take further steps.

BTW, roommate agrees with me about the landlord, that this guy (who's probably in his late 60s & told us he first started buying up rental units in Charlotte over 35 yrs ago!) is overextended with too many rental properties to take care of properly. So even though this condo is old, not recently renovated, and needs work, this landlord's not about to do much here. Especially since he figures we got a good deal w/ lower rent for this upscale area of town. I guess we're just stuck with that for now until the lease runs out in 8 months! While I like renting a condo from a private owner rather than renting in an apt complex, think it's better deal with someone who has fewer than 5 properties to take care of rather than a landlord overextended with so many properties that he can't devote enough time/attention to the one I'm renting!

On the positive side, we don't think there's any dead animal carcasses here causing the fly problem since we'd probably smell something "off" if that were the case! Again, thanks to all who responded. This is such a great resource for help in the local area!
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Old 02-16-2009, 10:28 PM
 
124 posts, read 359,688 times
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I have never had to used the "plug in's" for bugs but I know someone who has (not here) and she said she never saw any kind of bugs after that. They cost about $10 for a set of 3 in Walmart and a little more in Home Depot. Sounds like that is worth a try if the buggers are indoors.I keep a set on hand JUST IN CASE they come to visit.
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