Getting rid of drain flies?

[Tradd]

Has anyone had drain flies? They're fuzzy looking little dark colored flies and leave behind a powdery residue when you kill them. They apparently love the organic gunk in tub, shower, and floor drains. Stuff like hair, etc.

I've had them during warm months for the past 2-3 years, mostly annoying. Always seemed to come from somewhere in the bathroom. I'd seen them before in work bathrooms. I finally googled drain flies last week. Lifehacker had an article. The best way to get rid of them seems to be to use an enzyme based drain cleaner to get rid of the organic gunk.

I got something called Drain Care at Home Depot. It's a powder you mix with a point of warm water, pour down drain, which you then don't use for 6 hours. You need to do this for three days in a row.I did it last thing before I went to bed. I did this in bathtub drain, as well as bathroom and kitchen sinks. I think you still will see flies for a few days. I've been keeping all these drains covered when not in use. This morning a fly actually came out of bathtub drain when I took drain cover off to take a shower. After I was done, I poured baking soda down the drain until it was full and followed it with a lot of vinegar. I did this twice, followed by a kettleful of boiling water.

Has anyone else had luck getting rid of these annoying little flies?

[Birdie]

I've never even heard of drain flies. Do you live in a warm climate?

[Tradd]

I'm in northern IL.

[danna]

To have them is NOT to love them....had a few in the lower level of this house when we moved in the spring four years ago.
Each year there where more ....last year I decided it was them or me. They go away in the winter months so I am watching
to see if they come back this year. I did about six different things to get rid of them last year so time will tell.
They seem like they are harmless but, from what I have read they are laid in bacteria and then fly around landing on things so
that can not be good.
I can tell mine are coming from the lower level shower but when I covered the drains they go to other damp spots.
Will let you know....

[Tussiemussies]

Hi Tradd, I found this for you and it really goes into detail...

http://m.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Drain-Flies

[Tradd]

Thanks, Tussie. That has been helpful. However, they're still coming. I found an article on Lifehacker. Someone mentioned in the comments about the flies coming out through a crack in the seal at the base of the toilet (where the toilet meets the floor). I looked closely at that last night. Sure enough, there were a few places where the stuff was gone. I got some caulk at Home Depot today and caulked all around where the toilet and floor meet. We will see how it goes.

[zeaxmays]

caulked all around where the toilet and floor meet.

ive heard its best not to do this because if you get a leak from the wax seal, you wont be able to tell from it being wet on the floor around the toilet and will seep into floors and such causing damage.

[rgwhitaker]

I've never heard of them and thankfully here in Northern California we don't have them as far as I know.

That being said, have you tried something like pouring bleach down the drain, or filling up the sink or tub with water, pouring in a good amount of bleach, then let it slowly drain.

Perhaps the bleach would kill the flies as well as their eggs.

That's where I would start.