Inconvenient Annoyances

My IA today is ants. Little sugar type ants coming up through the floorboards in our house where the landlord cut a hole to investigate a possible heating system leak. There's nothing for them to eat so it's just a random amount coming looking for food, nothing massive like when they've found it, but still quite annoying and has the cat on edge! (She watches them and attempts to stop them )

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Oh no! Is there anything your landlord plans to do about that???

Oh no! Is there anything your landlord plans to do about that???

We put some ant killer down in the hole under boards but it makes me super nervous with a kitty The mats she put down over the hole were wet when we picked them up just now so there's definitely a leak, she's working with her insurance company on the next steps.

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We put some ant killer down in the hole under boards but it makes me super nervous with a kitty The mats she put down over the hole were wet when we picked them up just now so there's definitely a leak, she's working with her insurance company on the next steps.

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Ugh that is utter crap! I feel awful that you've not had smooth sailing yet. Once you really settle, it'll all hopefully be a bad dream!

We put some ant killer down in the hole under boards but it makes me super nervous with a kitty The mats she put down over the hole were wet when we picked them up just now so there's definitely a leak, she's working with her insurance company on the next steps.

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Spray the area down with Febreeze. It disrupts their pheromones and they move on.

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My IA today:

My boiler seems to have stopped working, which means I have no heating or hot water .

I didn't notice until this morning...  when I woke up to cold radiators even though the heating had been on for 1.5 hours, but I think it may have stopped working yesterday when I tried to put the heating onto 'all day' and then noticed a while later that the radiators had gone cold.

Not quite sure what's wrong with it. The boiler seems to come on fine - I can see the pilot light and all the relevant lights are on (the burner light was off this morning, but came on again after a reset), but the water tank is not heating and the radiators/hot water taps are all cold. I can't seem to find the pressure gauge, so I have no idea what the pressure is. Earlier, I noticed a faint smell of gas when I turned the boiler back on, so I'm just leaving it switched off now until someone can take a look at it.

I'm grinning and bearing it for today, though (I have a kettle, a hot water bottle, a blanket and a portable heater), as I don't want to pay extra for a Sunday/emergency call-out, but I'm going to have to get it sorted tomorrow .

Spray the area down with Febreeze. It disrupts their pheromones and they move on.

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I'm severely allergic to febreeze and ant killer, but it thankfully isn't a large amount and powder so not airborne. But they're coming from under the house (boards are slightly loose from the hole but it's concrete directly below them) so no way to fully block the pheromone trail.

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I'm severely allergic to febreeze and ant killer, but it thankfully isn't a large amount and powder so not airborne. But they're coming from under the house (boards are slightly loose from the hole but it's concrete directly below them) so no way to fully block the pheromone trail.

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Oh that's right.  I didn't even look to see who posted this. Lol. I was just feeling like a pure genius. Lmfao.

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My IA today:

My boiler seems to have stopped working, which means I have no heating or hot water .

I didn't notice until this morning...  when I woke up to cold radiators even though the heating had been on for 1.5 hours, but I think it may have stopped working yesterday when I tried to put the heating onto 'all day' and then noticed a while later that the radiators had gone cold.

Not quite sure what's wrong with it. The boiler seems to come on fine - I can see the pilot light and all the relevant lights are on (the burner light was off this morning, but came on again after a reset), but the water tank is not heating and the radiators/hot water taps are all cold. I can't seem to find the pressure gauge, so I have no idea what the pressure is. Earlier, I noticed a faint smell of gas when I turned the boiler back on, so I'm just leaving it switched off now until someone can take a look at it.

I'm grinning and bearing it for today, though (I have a kettle, a hot water bottle, a blanket and a portable heater), as I don't want to pay extra for a Sunday/emergency call-out, but I'm going to have to get it sorted tomorrow .

Check the condenser pipe outside... Lots of people seeing that get frozen over the last few days.    I hope it starts working again quickly! At least it's a bit warmer today.

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Check the condenser pipe outside... Lots of people seeing that get frozen over the last few days.    I hope it starts working again quickly! At least it's a bit warmer today.

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Seconding this. We had one of our pipes freeze as well but thankfully wasn't the condenser pipe I don't believe.

I hope it's a quick and easy resolution, Ksand!

Yup, our condenser kept freezing up once we got our heating working again.  Hopeful that it's as simple as that!

Margo, this stuff is amazing.  Put it down once (outside if you know the point of entry) and you won't have them back again until next year.  But they will be back next year (or this summer when it's "warm"). 

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/raid-ant---cockroach-killer-300ml

When somebody shared that on my post, I f**king lost it. I was like "oh man, that's foul! and hilarious. WHY IS THIS A THING?!"

Isn't that just a donkey punch?

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Isn't that just a donkey punch?

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No-no. That is slightly different!

Check the condenser pipe outside... Lots of people seeing that get frozen over the last few days.    I hope it starts working again quickly! At least it's a bit warmer today.

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I only see one pipe outside - not even sure if it's the condenser pipe or not! I've just been assuming it's not a frozen pipe, since the heating was working fine on Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday, when it was even colder than it is today.

I only see one pipe outside - not even sure if it's the condenser pipe or not! I've just been assuming it's not a frozen pipe, since the heating was working fine on Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday, when it was even colder than it is today.

Ours wasn't outside.  The condensate pipe should be white PVC.  That's the one that may need warming.

But yeah, seems unlikely it would be frozen now...

I read off your description and my husband says that it could be one of many things.  He said the smell of gas immediately makes him say "talk to a professional". 

He is now asking what kind of heating system you have.  He said our doesn't have a pressure gauge as it is an open system (not a combi boiler).  Apparently only closed systems have pressure gauges.  He's saying, "it could be the pressure."  Helpful, eh?  LOL.   

Okay, I just tried to turn on the boiler again, but the pilot light wouldn't ignite (it lit right away this morning) - it was just ticking and then I smelled gas, so I turned it off immediately.

I'm not gonna mess around with it now - I'll just call someone in the morning to come and look at it.

After all, if I survived 3 days in a small cabin in the middle of Antarctica with no insulation or decent heating, I can survive a few more hours in my house with a heater and a hot water bottle .