If you notice tiny flies buzzing around in your bathroom or kitchen, then this could be drain flies. Even adult drain flies are incredibly small, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a problem and don’t need removing.
Thankfully, there is a simple way to handle drain fly issues: work with experienced fly control experts like Pest-Tech. Here is our guide to drain flies and what you need to do to get rid of them for good.
What Are Drain Flies?
Also known as sewer flies, sewer gnats, moth flies, or Psychodidae, drain flies are small flying insects that live in drains, which they use as their breeding grounds.
Drain flies have small, furry bodies and moth-like wings, and adult flies grow to around 1/8 inch in length. These minuscule flies lay in drain pipes and stagnant water but often fly out of the plughole and sit on nearby surfaces, such as sinks or work surfaces.
Are Drain Flies Harmful?
While drain flies aren’t known to bite humans, they can still cause issues, as they can contaminate food and surfaces by spreading bacteria. Because drain flies live in decaying organic matter, such as sewage, they can spread potentially dangerous pathogens throughout your home.
Drain flies aren’t usually attracted to human foods. However, they will sit on or near them, especially if they come out of kitchen drains.
Finding drain flies in your home can also be irritating. While a few drain flies might not seem particularly annoying, over time, a lot of them can aggravate house-proud homeowners. For anyone operating a commercial business, drain flies can cause reputational damage and health and safety compliance issues.
So, if you see pesky drain flies in your home, they’re not strictly dangerous, but it is still important that you eliminate drain flies quickly.
How Can You Tell If You Have A Drain Fly Infestation?
Seeing drain flies is the most obvious way to see that you have an infestation, however there are other ways to check. A simple test for drain flies is to place a piece of tape over your plug hole for a few hours. Then, you can remove the tape and check for flies.
If you still see flies near your drains but don’t spot drain flies on your tape, then you can remove the drain cover and check the pipes for drain fly larvae. They look like small worms and can survive in damp areas by trapping air bubbles to survive being submerged for days.
Why Are There Drain Flies In Your Home?
Drain flies usually like to hang around their breeding ground, which is usually a drain that has organic matter in it for them to feed on.
These tiny pests thrive in stagnant water, which is usually found in slow-flowing drains such as sinks or floor drains. They’re commonly found in bathroom drains but can be found in any room with a sink, such as a kitchen or utility room.
Because drain flies eat decaying organic debris, they live outside in storm drains and soil that is saturated with sewage. They make their way into homes through the outside drains, eventually finding their way into pipes that connect with sinks.
If you have a large drain fly infestation, this could be due to damaged pipes in your drain system, which could be leaking sewage onto your property.
How To Get Rid Of Drain Flies Permanently
The best way to eradicate drain flies is to work with professional pest control experts like Pest-Tech. While many people tout DIY drain fly removal methods, such as pouring boiling water down the sink or making an apple cider vinegar trap, the best solution is always to work with the experts.
Dealing with drain flies yourself can take a lot of time, and homemade solutions often don’t remove the fly infestation in its entirety. As such, you may find that the drain flies keep coming back, even after you think you’ve removed them.
An experienced pest control professional can remove the flies from your drain and any organic material they are feeding on. We can also remove their eggs, so there will be no chance of the drain fly problem returning.
Cleaning your drains regularly with a drain snake or pipe brush can help remove the food source and reduce the chances of an infestation, but this won’t help if you already have drain flies. Since drain fly larvae can survive even the harshest conditions and live deep in your pipework, professional support could be the only way to truly remove them.
As a trusted pest control company operating throughout Maidstone and Kent, Pest-Tech is the clear choice for anyone in the area dealing with a drain fly issue. Our team have the experience needed to deal with drain fly infestations of all sizes quickly and efficiently. For drain fly control services, call 01622 296055 today to get in touch with a member of our team.