Mcploppy © wrote:
:: Hi All,
::
:: For the past few years I hve been having a lot of bother with ants
:: under my patio, the result is now my slabs are becoming uneven as
:: the little "things" are erroding the base away.
::
:: I intend to lift the slabs and relay the entire patio... but first
:: would like to find out how to totally erradicate the little
:: "things".
::
:: Over the years I have used many different powders and sprays...
:: still the little "things" keep coming back.
::
:: Suggestions ????
::
:: TIA

When you come to relay the flags, rake the sand base level and sprinkle in a
few shovel fulls of cement,[1] you don't need to mix water with it, there's
enough in the sand.
Rake it in to mix it up a bit and lay the flags directly onto the bed, do'nt
use 'blobs' of sand/cement as this just leaves voids underneth each flag,
moreover, this blobbing is no good IMV (I lay drives for a living) as the
rain will simply wash the sand from underneath the solid blobs leaving each
flag rocking...simply lay them on a dry sand/cement mix and the overall
effect will be a semi-solid bed with flags on top.
You will still get colonies of ants taking up residence but they will be
much smaller nests and will be unable to make much of a dent on the
foundation.


HTH

[1]
one bag of cement should cover about 8sq metres, mixed into a 50mm bed of
sand(don't worry about it not being mixed evenly - as long as the top inch
has /some/ cement in it, then it will set quite hard)