Ridding My House of Spiders?

[onewhippedpuppy]

I need suggestions. 3 year old, infant, lots of spiders. Many appear to be Brown Recluse. Not a good deal. Our new (to us) house sat vacant for almost a year, so they had plenty of time to move in.

I picked up some sticky traps, placed them along the baseboards, no dice so far. They are the tray style ones, my only thought is maybe the spiders just walk around, instead of climbing up. Maybe I need the paper ones. Also sprayed along the baseboards and exterior with a product claiming to repel/kill spiders and bugs.

Co-worker told me of using a bug bomb he picked up at the local coop, claims it killed everything. With the wife and kids out of town this weekend, might be a good time to give it a shot. Plus, it's a good excuse to camp out on a friend's couch and drink beer.

I also have a firewood pile in back that needs to be moved. What is the best way to store firewood without spider issues?

[Rot 911]

I have always used the bug bombs with very good success rate. They make ones now that don't even leave much of an odor. Make sure to set them off in the attic and basement along with the living spaces. The worst part is prep for the event. Remove all the food from the cupboards, same with dishes.

[Laneco]

Don't forget the outside of the house. Won't do you any good to rid the interior and leave the outside unattended, those guys will just move right in. We bought a rental that had been vacant for a long time. It was also built in 1951...

Go after it whole-hog. Treat the area immediately surrounding the house, porches, etc, toss a few into the crawl space under the house, and thoroughly bomb the inside.

Give it plenty of time. When you come back, open every window and door to air it out. Then clean thoroughly. By the time your wife and child get back, the house will be bug/spider free and clean. That makes you the MAN!!!!


angela

[legion]

Get a cat.

My cat pulls the legs off of spiders before he eats them.

[azasadny]

Spiders like drafty areas. Seal up the places where air is getting in and you'll reduce the spider population without using poisons...

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by azasadny

Spiders like drafty areas. Seal up the places where air is getting in and you'll reduce the spider population without using poisons...

I'll second that. When we bought our house, I could have had a small sailboat in the basement, it was so windy & wet. I have never seen so many spiders. My wife refused to go down there.

I spent a few weeks sealing up the drafts and that made a huge difference. I still get some spiders now and then, mostly because I keep 4-5 cords of firewood in the basement.

I really don't like the idea of using a chemical the necessitates removing all my food & dishes... puts me ill at ease. I just vacuum them up up when I see them.

[Hugh R]

A pest control guy told me to keep knocking down the webs. Spiders don't hunt for food, they spin a web and wait for prey to get trapped. I don't know that bug bombs work on spiders or not. If the can says it does, go for it. TURN OFF all sources of ignition, including pilot lights on water heaters and furnaces.

[rammstein]

I would vote to do EVERYTHING.

Spray, bomb, clean, seal drafts, bomb, spray, squish, cat.

Shock and awe!

[HardDrive]

Weird. My 3 year old got 2 spider bites in her bedroom last night. Part of our mission today was cleaning out her room.

[masraum]

See if you can buy "Demon" locally. My mother buys it local in Florida. It kills everything for a long time. Keep it away from food or anyplace that the baby will crawl, drool, lick, whatever...

[dhoward]

Raid Fumagator.
Works really well. Plus it's a cool water reaction thing. No propane propellant.

[onewhippedpuppy]

The house is really pretty tight, it was built in 1990. I think the issue is the amount of time it sat vacant, the damn things just took over. So, my plan of action: move firewood somewhere else, right now it's close to the house. Bomb the hell out of the place.

Steve, is Demon a spray or what? I would spray too, but the stuff I used before did absolutely no good.

[masraum]

Yes, Demon is a spray. The stuff that my mom gets comes in a foil bag. The foil bag has 4 small "plastic" baggies of powder in it. You take the baggie of powder and some warm water and put it in your sprayer. The plastic baggie dissolves and you have your spray. That stuff kills everything pretty darn well.

[masraum]

It looks like maybe you can buy it on the net.

http://www.google.com/search?q=demon+insecticide

[Burnin' oil]

Pitcher of Margaritas and a .22, which probably creates greater problems than spiders, but that's how I roll

[scottmandue]

Burn the house to the ground... that will show those durn spiders!

Invite the neibours, get some hot dogs, make smores...

[rammstein]

Hair-spray and a match is pretty sweet.

Also, you can fill a super-soaker with windsheild-washer fluid, mount a butane torch lighter at the nozzle, and have a sweet flame-thrower with a relatively low burning temperature. Just watch out for curtains or carpets.

Then again, your cleaning, moving of firewood, and spraying with insecticide will probably work too.

But where's the fun?

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

Pitcher of Margaritas and a .22, which probably creates greater problems than spiders, but that's how I roll

LOL.

[skipdup]

Just don't do this.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by masraum

See if you can buy "Demon" locally. My mother buys it local in Florida. It kills everything for a long time. Keep it away from food or anyplace that the baby will crawl, drool, lick, whatever...

+1 on the Demon, outside use only I believe. Take a trip, call a pro and get the place fumigated. Put up some purple martin(bird) houses, will eat bugs and remove spider food source.