How to tell you have them
House flies and blow flies buzz around windows and patio doors. Tiny fruit flies hover over the fruit bowl, the trash and the recycling bin. Drain flies are small, fuzzy and moth-like, and rest on bathroom walls near a shower or sink drain. A sudden swarm of large flies indoors can mean something has died in a wall or the attic.
What they damage
Flies do not damage the house, but they move between garbage, pet waste and drains and then onto food and counters, carrying bacteria with them.
What treatment looks like
Every fly problem has a breeding source, and the treatment starts there. For fruit flies that means overripe produce, recycling that has not been rinsed, and the film inside drains and garbage disposals. For drain flies it is the gel that builds up inside drains, which we treat with a product made for drains. For house flies it is trash cans, compost and pet waste outside. Once the source is gone, we treat the outdoor resting spots flies use, check door sweeps and screens, and place baits where they gather. If flies point to a dead animal in the attic or a wall, we find it and remove it.
How long it takes
Fruit flies and drain flies usually clear within a week once the source is cleaned up. Outdoor house flies come and go with the weather, so the quarterly perimeter work keeps their numbers down at the doors.
Florida notes
Lovebugs, the black and red pairs that cover cars on the highway in May and September, are flies too. They do not bite, do not come inside in numbers, and no home treatment stops the flights; washing them off the car quickly protects the paint. Flies are covered on every plan, starting with Quarterly.