How do I get rid of the flies on my deck?!

[milletpuff]

We have a deck that is attached to the back of the house. Part of it is covered. Every summer, as soon as the weather gets nice, there are always a ton of flies under the covered part. It's soooo gross! I have tried bags of water and flypaper, both of which helped a little, but we can't even leave the back door open because we'll have fly-fest 2010 in the house if we do.

The area that's covered is abt 8ft x 16ft and at one end is the gate to get into the backyard (we use this a lot since just outside the gate is the driveway) and at the other end is our back door, so we generally walk through the area a lot. There's no pet or human food there. The first year we moved in (2007) there was a racoon family that lived under the deck, but they are long gone and any entry points have been sealed up.

Help! I don't want to spend this summer in "The Fly"!

[NiteNicole]

My parents have this problem. They found they needed more than one bag of water. Their back deck is well off the ground so they hang two on top and two under the deck. I don't know WHAT the bags of water are supposed to do (but you see them around doors a lot here) but it helps. Maybe you can try another bag?

[Kidzaplenty]

I have just heard about the bags of water thing.

And I was wondering, would it work better if I had multiple ones hanging all around. So, like if I put stakes around the place with hooks and hung a bag on each one, would it work better?

I envision it like those "torches" that are placed around a cook out, I'll bet if given a little thought and work, it could look really cool. But, would it work? I am not sure.

On a deck, I would screw a "bar" with a hook at top about every 3-5 feet, maybe. Then, I was wondering if glitter would work better than a penny.

If only I understood the mechanices of the water/fly thing, then I could really make it work for me.

[Italiamom]

We have the same problem on our similar back deck. DH got an electric fly swatter (it looks like a tennis racket). We seem to still have tons of flies, but it can be very satisfying to go out there and zap 'em

I'll be watching this thread though. I know about the bag of water over the door, but hadn't really thought of applying it to the back deck...

[annettemarie]

Moving to Mindful Home Management

[Adaline'sMama]

Drink some beers.
or soda in glass bottles. I usually take 5-6 empty beer bottles and put about an inch of apple cider vinegar with 2 tbsp sugar in the bottom. Then, roll up a piece of computer paper and stick it in the top of the bottle to make a funnel shape. The flys will go in and drink the ACV and not be able to get out. Also works if you put whiskey or wine in the bottom of the bottle.

[luv-my-boys]

if the flies are that bad all the time I would start to look around for a breeding source which could by something as little as a small puddle or container to shaded vegetation. We had a problem and came to find out that they were breeding under some lush plantings so after we cut them back and made it less shaded and I would drier they moved to another neighbors house. We were also told certain plants attract flies, I dont remember what though as the nursery gardener who was helping us didnt mention anything we had planted in that area.

[AFWife]

I always heard the bag of water was to create a weird reflection...so the fly goes up and sees this huge, scary looking fly and leaves...

I don't know it that's true...but I've known a lot of people that believed it.