Keeping spiders out of the basement

[Badfish740]

Kind runs along the same lines as Wahoowad's thread but a little different. The wife is TERRIFIED of spiders-not like "eek there's a spider over there,"-more like drop-the-laundry-basket-and-run-upstairs-shrieking-and-refuse-to-go-back-in-the-basement-until-its-dead" :lol: She's not a big wuss or a city-slicker either. She loves animals, the outdoors, even snakes and other reptiles...but spiders just freak her out. What can I do besides the obvious (sealing cracks, etc...)? I saw glue traps but never heard of them for spiders before-do they work? I have a dog who can be curious so I'm not crazy about the idea of pesticides in the basement. And yes, I know how beneficial spiders are and I've tried to give her that talk, but it aint happening...you know what they say, "happy wife, happy life..."

 

[maverick06]

from my experience, you can use poison. A product like delta dust is quite good, lasts a long time, and supposedly causes no harm on creatures with kidneys, ie mammals. That being said, I totally agree, I dont like the idea, I wouldnt do it. I use delta dust, only as a last resort inside. Outside (under the siding) I have no issues using it.

The glue traps definitely work! I found a bunch in my house after moving in and they were covered in bugs. it was pretty gross. of course, you have to get a good spot to place them, but they do work.

Pesticide is probably the most effective, but somewhat of a risk....

 

[dave11]

I've read in many places that pesticides don't work on spiders unless directly applied. There's no residual kill.

Spiders love dust, and they love clutter. If you can get everything big up off the floor, at least a few inches, and keep the floor mopped/rinsed, you'll see no spiders. You might need to dust/vacuum the rafters once or twice a year. That's what I had to do in my basement and garage. Worked like a charm.

 

[jimbom]

My grandmother kept hedge apples in her basement to keep out the spiders. Worked as near as I could tell. She didn't use more than two or three. We generally had to change them every year.

We don't have spiders in our house very often. I think it may be because I was relentless with the sealing foam when we built. I foamed the heck out of every penetration, crack, and frame in the place as it was under construction.

I had a gibbon in Thailand. Ate every spider in the house. Plus ate the geckos, and dog's food. When he started drinking my beer that was all she wrote. It wasn't that he drank so much. But he got drunk easily and would miss his jumps and crash into things. That and he would pick fights with the dog. Mean drunk.

 

[heat seeker]

There is a spider spray that works, in hardware stores. You spray it where the spiders walk and hide, above where the dog can get at it - such as the sill and floor joists. It is residual, and the spiders walk on it and die. It works in my shed, and elsewhere.

 

[woodgeek]

If you have spiders, then you must have spider food (flying or crawling insects) and those are most likely coming in from outside through cracks around windows, rim joist, etc. Oftentimes the locations of spiderwebs will reveal where the 'prey' are coming in. A couple cans of spray foam and tubes of caulking can make a big difference--you will have fewer spiders and they will be less 'robust'.

I had a VERY buggy house, i.e. big spiders and 3" house centipedes (yuck). Turned out they were mostly scouts entering from my large attached garage, which was hog heaven for those guys (a trap for crawlers and flyers). After sealing the garage from the outside and the house with caulk, 90% fewer monsters and a much happier wife.

 

[Swedishchef]

I had a gibbon in Thailand. Ate every spider in the house. Plus ate the geckos, and dog's food. When he started drinking my beer that was all she wrote. It wasn't that he drank so much. But he got drunk easily and would miss his jumps and crash into things. That and he would pick fights with the dog. Mean drunk.

LOL~~~~ I had to read this 3 times to ensure I read it properly.

Andrew

 

[maplewood]

Have you tried posting signs?
What part of the continent are you in? You may have to post in English and Spanish or French....

 

[Swedishchef]

And if you're in southeastern NB you may have to post french and english signs with mixed language words!!