You walk into your bathroom in the morning, and there it is: a tiny, fuzzy, black moth-like insect resting on the wall. You squash it, but the next day, there are three more.
These aren’t ordinary house flies or fruit flies. These are drain flies (also known as sewer gnats or filter flies). And unlike other pests that fly in through the window, these intruders are coming from inside your plumbing.
Why Do I Have Them?
Drain flies do not live in clean pipes. They breed in “biofilm”—the slimy, gelatinous layer of decomposing hair, soap scum, and organic waste that coats the inside of your drain pipes.
To a drain fly, that slime is a five-star hotel. They lay their eggs in the muck, and the larvae feed on the decaying matter. As long as that sludge exists, the flies will keep coming back, no matter how much bug spray you use.
How to Stop the Infestation
Eliminating these pests requires a two-step approach: destroying the adults and removing the breeding ground.
At Clean Hits Pipe Cleaning, we specialize in the plumbing side of the equation. Our hydro-jetting service scours the inside of your pipes, blasting away the biofilm and removing the eggs permanently. If they have nowhere to breed, they cannot survive.
However, for the immediate infestation, you may want to try DIY methods to trap the adults and treat the drains yourself before calling in the heavy machinery. For a comprehensive deep dive into identification, home remedies, and chemical treatments, we recommend reading this detailed guide on how to get rid of drain flies.
The “Boiling Water” Myth
Many homeowners try pouring boiling water down the drain to kill the eggs. While this might kill some larvae, the biofilm usually insulates the eggs deep inside the slime. The water cools before it can penetrate the thickest layers of the muck.
To truly solve the problem, you need to physically remove the slime. That means:
- Mechanical Cleaning: Using a stiff drain brush to scrub the visible parts of the pipe.
- Enzyme Cleaners: Using biological gels that eat away the organic matter over time.
- Professional Hydro-Jetting: The only way to 100% strip the pipe walls clean.
Clear the Sludge, Clear the Flies
If you have tried the traps and the home remedies but the flies keep returning, it means the breeding ground is deep in your lines. It is time to wash the problem away for good.
Contact Clean Hits Pipe Cleaning at +1 702-808-3459. We will blast your pipes clean and send those flies packing.