In a dry year or at least during a dry spell, I spray around the foundation with a mixture of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap (the liquid version) and water. It works pretty well. In a wet year or an extended period, it doesn't work as well because the rain keeps washing away and you have to keep reapplying it. I've also had pretty good luck using orange oil. I buy a concentrated orange oil and dilute it as needed. One year, the red harvester ants had an anthill on our neighbor's property about 10' from our outdoor water faucet and they made a little trail that ran right by the faucet, so every time I was there hooking up a hose or filling up the chicken waterers or whatever, the ants would bite me. I just sprayed around that faucet with the peppermint soap mixture and the ants moved their pathway. The peppermint soap spray if sprayed on the ground acts as a repellent but doesn't kill them. (It might kill them if you sprayed them with it.) I think when I originally read about using the peppermint soap and water spray, the writer said that the aroma of the peppermint confused the ants and made it impossible for them to follow the scent trail. I don't know if that is why it works, but it seems to work. Your friend also could use Green Light organic ant killer with Conserve (the active ingredient is Spinosad). I use it in the veggie garden to keep fire ants out of my beds. As long as the rain continues, ant problems will continue as well. When we flood here in southern OK, the fire ants don't drown. They float. They form balls of ants and float around like islands in the floodwaters. I don't know if other ants survive in the same manner as fire ants, but it wouldn't surprise me to find out that they do. Since the ants don't like wet feet any more than we do, they start moving up into houses, garages, barns, sheds, chicken coops, etc. not only to stay dry but to search for food. Dawn

Thanks caseby- your results are somewhat reassuring. I've recently started purchasing the Clorox wipes and use them in my weekly "house blessing". I quickly wipe all knobs (including outside door knobs) and phones and I also use one to wipe my chopping blocks (which are wood - another story but I DO wash them in dishwater throughout the week as well.) Something about sponges which I read here eons ago is that they can be disinfected by putting them in the microwave for 2 minutes (of course not if they have metallic parts). I've been doing this daily when I fix my coffee in the morning. Makes me feel virtuous. I just checked google and found a whole bunch of hits recommending that sponges be microwaved anywhere from 30 seconds to 60 seconds. So I guess I will continue. (Now I don't know exactly when to toss the sponges, always more questions, LOL). Anyway, I think the microwave cleansing should be considered a non-toxic cleaning method (if you don't have a leaky microwave which could be toxic in other ways - check google for ways to test your microwave or just buy the cheap end of microwave ovens and replace every 5 years or so, that's what I plan to do. My last one I had for 25 years and was horrified to read here about someone who had actually had their leakage measured - it pentrates walls - yikes! always something to worry about, maybe I'm one of those obsessive compulsive wannabes's, LOL) --Alice

Your welcome Lenny and thanks for thinking that Iam a guy on the internet worth asking.. This gets a little opiniony knowing squat about your situation involving many variables but.. probably not, yes and no in the same order you asked. I have no idea what level of code is enforced in your area but I highly suggest sticking to the minimum levels of energy performance called for in the International codes. IECC 2012 is about to have its 2015 update and Iam excited to find out how wrong or right I am in squawking how they arent going to raise many insulation requirements but blower door testing will see a lot of very overdue attention. This thread is long overdue, for a serious plug on reducing uncontrolled air leakage. If your home is not a certain level of airtightness, then insulation can be an enormous waste of resources. If you are concerned about reducing your exposure to toxic air then focusing on the interior materials is a waste, if youre not building tight and ventilating it right with the "home as a system" priority. Insulation is expensive compared to airsealing and less effective in terms of overall energy performance. Uncontrolled, moving air carries a lot of moisture that does serious damage when moving through building cavities and thermal enclosures. It also leads to condensation and mold, especially in poorly installed fiberglass batt wood framed wall cavities with small levels of insulative sheathing. Add in a good vapor source, moisture reservoir cladding like stucco and brick that really soaks in the rain and drives it to the interior when the sun comes up and you contribute to much job security for those in renovation. But hey, it could be fine if the masonry has a good draining and ventilating airspace and that 1/2 piece of foam is well taped foil face isocyanurate, and the wall cavities are air sealed on all six sides with a dense batt filling all voids. I suggest pricing between OC spray foam and dense pack cellulose or FG (not batt). These are the things that best achieve a completely filled wood frame cavity. If not venting the roof deck, I suggest spray foam or insulative sheathing to the exterior. More important than insulation, is your ACH50 as measured by a blower door. The level of air leakiness in most homes is unacceptable leading to massive amounts of energy loss and unhealthy indoor air conditions. The code calls for an ACH50 of 3 or lower for building climate zones 5 and 6. I think that's pathetically leaky and not at all appropriate for a home built with the current international levels of insulation in the code. Homes in all climate zones should be pushing hard for an ACH 50 of 1.5 or less. Cost effective energy efficiency, increased durability and moisture resistance, and the ability to control the cfm rate of outdoor air exchange, which is probably the best way of improving Indoor Air Quality. As for levels of insulative sheathing, cant explain it any better than Martin at GBA. Its an important detail for everything weveve talked about, cost-effective energy efficiency, increasing indoor air quality and durability of the building envelope. Minimum For 2x6 in zone 5: R7.5 and zone 6: R11.25. Even 1" Isocyanurate with a foil facing the air cavity will be slightly below code and risky as far as interior condensation. I would do my best to get 2" thickness, even if it meant falling back to 2x4 instead of 2x6. I also suggest everyone to set a goal for ACH50, inform your builder that you expect to meet it and hire a third party to do a blower door test which puts a number on the value of the integrity of your home in terms of energy efficiency, indoor air quality and healthier building science. Here is a link that might be useful: Calculating the minimum thickness of insulative sheathing

Hi....sorry to take so long to respond. That kind of a week. [g] barb, fire retardants, I know. When did everything start having that applied? I just can't for the life of me figure out how they require that on all clothing and even on furniture. To me it's like poisoning everyone just in case they 'might' be in a fire. Even if you are in a fire, is fire retardant going to save you? It just doesn't make sense to me at all. Yes, finding organic is only half the problem. The cost and what you want being available is still an obstacle. Hi cyn427 :-) thanks for that link. I'll check it out. I guess I feel that they have gotten off balance in the way they approach this issue. How many people go their whole life without ever being in a fire and to try to protect the entire population by adding something to every product would be fine if they were not adding something that was potentially harmful. I also have to wonder about any statistics that can actually show that adding fire retardants have reduced deaths and injuries from fire. Yes, I am actively avoiding products from China too. Good idea. ideefixe, Great to have at least two names of companies who sell something without it. oopsie913, guess I'm not following your line of thought, in asking whether something that is free of pesticides is actually better than something that has pesticides. Pesticides are poisons that kill insects and are poisonous to humans as well in large enough amounts. And even if they don't kill you, what does a constant stream of these in small amounts do in a human body? Seems pretty simple to me, no poisons, vs. poisons, which is better? I think you could be right, some of the organic beds are just thick rubber with organic cotton around it. I don't think we could sleep on something like that either. Back problems in our family need firm mattresses. I hope there will be more available at some point. Thanks for that link, I'll check it out. mpmg46, I didn't realize that about products from Ireland, that's great! I'm going to have to look into that. chicagoans, I'm with you, I don't believe it's hype either. So many clothes now have this 'no wrinkle' finish and I was reading the other day that it is made from formaldehyde. Formaldehyde has been linked to illness and the EPA has identified it as a carcinogen and yet it continues to be allowed in so many products that who knows how much of an exposure you have to it. Even in amounts as small as 0.1 ppm, it produces symptoms. That is a tiny tiny amount. I try to find clothes without that finish. It's hard to find men's pants without it now. Yes, I'm glad they now offer the VOC paint. I love that! Thanks for the conversation and information. :-)