DIY advice...?

[GazzaS]

I know...  "go to a DIY forum, asshole"....

But you guys are my friends, and I think you know more than plastic models.

A couple years ago, we got a new kitchen installed with a stainless steel range hood.

 

Since then, whenever something aromatic is cooked, or when the dishes pile up, we get flies.  More flies than I ever remember being in the house.  Like the other day I broiled chicken thighs with the skin on.  It was very nice....   anyway...  by the time I was done eating and walked back into the kitchen there were around 8 flies in there buzzing around.

 

Suspicious of the Range hood anyway, I had places some mesh over the side vents weeks ago....

Still the flies came....   My missus was sure they were using the dogs as aircraft carriers....

So...  after my chicken dinner, I taped every joint on that range hood with 3M tape, and killed all of the flies.  In the last two days I haven't seen more than two flies at a time.

Now...  here is my question...  can you think of any alternatives to seal this thing up other than clear silicone?  I can make neat beads, sometime...  using the soapy-water trick.  But I can't really think of any other neat, unobtrusive way of doing it.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Gaz

 

 

[GusMac]

Hi Gaz

Must be the joys of a hot climate! Flies ain't a big problem in Scotland but the midges we have..... 

Anyway, we have what looks like a similar hood and on it the stainless steel hood is just held in place by a few grub screws. I was wondering if you could pop it off and apply a seal up the inside using a draught excluder type material which might be more unobtrusive? Silicon will certainly adhere to the stainless steel but getting neat bead is hard although you can get tools like this online which certainly make things easier

Haquno 17 Pieces Kit Silicone Sealant Finishing Tool Grout Scraper Remover Nozzle and Caulk Caps (Yellow): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

[GazzaS]

23 minutes ago, GusMac said:

Hi Gaz

Must be the joys of a hot climate! Flies ain't a big problem in Scotland but the midges we have..... 

Anyway, we have what looks like a similar hood and on it the stainless steel hood is just held in place by a few grub screws. I was wondering if you could pop it off and apply a seal up the inside using a draught excluder type material which might be more unobtrusive? Silicon will certainly adhere to the stainless steel but getting neat bead is hard although you can get tools like this online which certainly make things easier

Haquno 17 Pieces Kit Silicone Sealant Finishing Tool Grout Scraper Remover Nozzle and Caulk Caps (Yellow): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Thank you for responding.  I hadn't considered sticking something inside the the range hood.  I will have to investigate some possibilities....  Like weather stripping.  One of the complicating factors is that the lower half easily pops away from the upper half like a box that won't stay closed.

 

I have seen those tools before.   When I tiled my bathroom I had forgotten to buy some and ended up cutting a radius on some scrap plastic, and it seemed to work alright.

 

I appreciate the tip.

 

Gaz

[krow113]

There is a dead animal somewhere creating the flys. Most likely in the vent.

MMmmmmmmmmmmm whats for dinner!?

[Clunkmeister]

Gazz, like Krow said, flies are attracted to rotting protein, so is it possible you have a buildup of animal fat inside from the grease fumes and splatter coming off the range? 

Flies need a food source and I'd be going on a search and destroy mission until I found them.  They don't just "happen".

That said, nothing bothers me more than "indoor mosquitoes".  I once traced them to the guest bedroom toilet bowl.  It never got used so the water served as a nice pond for the little buggers.

[GazzaS]

4 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Gazz, like Krow said, flies are attracted to rotting protein, so is it possible you have a buildup of animal fat inside from the grease fumes and splatter coming off the range? 

Flies need a food source and I'd be going on a search and destroy mission until I found them.  They don't just "happen".

That said, nothing bothers me more than "indoor mosquitoes".  I once traced them to the guest bedroom toilet bowl.  It never got used so the water served as a nice pond for the little buggers.

To help you guys understand that I don't have filthy appliances...  you need to understand that construction codes you know in the northern hemisphere don't exist here in Australia.  The average house in Australia is unsealed and not insulated.  My house is clad in dark bricks.  Every four or five bricks there is a drain hole the height of the brick just one layer of bricks from the ground.  Easy entry and egress for anything smaller than a red squirrel.  

At the roof of the house, there is no layer of plywood over the purloins.  No tar paper.  The concrete tiles have metal loops in them that hook over the purloins.  If you want access to the attic space, just lift the bottom edge of the tile and move it upwards until the loop disengages from the purloin.  And that's any tile, in any location.  There aren't 'special access tiles'. 

There are a million places for bugs to get in.  Hell, one day we discovered to our horror that a swarm of bees had taken residence in our attic.   But, fortunately they were just there one night.  Gone the next afternoon.  They had gotten a bit excited when I was whacking flies with the fly-swatter under the verandah.  Otherwise, I'd never known they were there.

In 2011 I added two whirlybirds to the roof:

I didn't even need a saw to cut a hole to install it.  (this is what my roof looks like except mine is red-brown....even the same tile profile)  There is no screen inside the whirlybird.

The flies are coming from outside.  They smell whatever is cooking...  or dirty dishes...  whatever...  and follow the scent until it brings them into the range hood which vents outside and is screened. 

I have dogs.  Little biting blood flies are always around.  ...but usually not too bad inside...  until I got the new kitchen.  I usually cook outside on the barbie.  I'd guess that the fan in the range hood has probably never operated more than 20 times.

FYI....   there are different kinds of flies.  Blue bottles, green bottles...  they like rotting stuff.  They aren't the kind getting into my house.  We usually get the amber ones, or the gray-brown ones...  as well as some biting flies.

[Clunkmeister]

Aaaah, ok..  around here if we get flies in a range vent it’s usually because of grease in the exhaust. 

But good to know.

[Wumm]

55 minutes ago, GazzaS said:

To help you guys understand that I don't have filthy appliances...  you need to understand that construction codes you know in the northern hemisphere don't exist here in Australia.  The average house in Australia is unsealed and not insulated.  My house is clad in dark bricks.  Every four or five bricks there is a drain hole the height of the brick just one layer of bricks from the ground.  Easy entry and egress for anything smaller than a red squirrel.

Modern Australian houses, especially north of the New South Wales border, are deliberately made to 'breathe'. North of the Tropic of Capricorn, Cyclone bolts are mandatory... Long threaded bolts secured by long nuts, that run internally from the bottom of the wall frame up to and through the roof truss, which basically stops the entire roof from blowing off in a Cyclone. Similarly, houses here are made a little draughty to alleviate internal pressure during storms, and allow hot air inside to dissipate. Possums, Rats, Mice and even Snakes can get inside the roof cavity easily; it's not unusual to find a shed Snakeskin up inside the roof occasionally. IMO up here if it's a hygiene or cleanliness problem, you're much more likely to see Cockroaches about the place than Flies.

Gaz, you mentioned that the Stove exhaust vents to the outside of the house... May I ask, how are the spaces above the vents in your Bathroom / Toilets? These might do with a screen across the top of them if they're just an open gap into the Roof cavity.

S

 

[GazzaS]

1 hour ago, Wumm said:

 

Gaz, you mentioned that the Stove exhaust vents to the outside of the house... May I ask, how are the spaces above the vents in your Bathroom / Toilets? These might do with a screen across the top of them if they're just an open gap into the Roof cavity.

S

 

No screens. 

[Wumm]

Might be a possible point of ingress?

We also have the same kind of Fly problem. We have an internal garage door leading to a covered courtyard, and if that door isn't shut when the cooking is happening, the Flies get in through this small gap in the internal sliding door.

Just Summer in Queensland!

[1to1scale]

Flies are just assholes! We don’t have a vent hood and they always get in the house in the warmer months, they just smell food and get in anyway. They sit there and wait by the doors, any small crack and they get in. My son and I usually go apeshit on them with flyswatters. I have even gone to far as to have a $1 per fly bounty on them, my son get a little extra cash and I get the satisfaction of knowing another little jerk got squashed.

 

[ScottsGT]

I was going to suggest fruit flies, but what you described sounds much bigger.   Maybe an Amityville Horror situation?