How do I get rid of house spiders?

So, ok White Hy, how did it go with the exterminator? Don't tell us he didn't show. Jeanette

The exterminator has been and gone. Seemed like a real nice guy. He went down into the basement to spray and told me that he was walking through spider webs. Ewww! And I had gone down there a month ago, sprayed with Home Defense and put down spider traps. And the spiders flourished!

To top it all off, he found and destroyed a wasp nest that was in the siding on my front porch. It's a wonder I wasn't stung.

All the cats of course ran terrified and hid, except for Cocoa. He was very bold, kept following the guy around and purring. That cat has no fear. Everyone's his friend.

I chose to go earth-friendly, so it'll be a while before all the spiders are gone. Justin (exterminator) said it would take about a month, and in that time I might see MORE spiders.

Oh, icky.

I opted to have this done every other month, to make sure that the place is bug free.

Just the thought of all those spiders is making me itch. And I don't even want to think about all the spiders that were out of sight, that I didn't know about.

Give him his month to the day, and if you have any, call him back. I would imagine some have eggs that take a while to hatch. Those might be what he is talking about too.

Please keep us posted. Jeanette

did he tell ya what kind of spiders? I am going to check back exactly one month from today. follow Jnette's advice. Don't let an infestation set in before they address it, again.

He didn't say what kind. I didn't save any to show him, though.

I'm trying to go the bio-friendly route, in both house and garden, but I don't know what the owners before me used. For all I know, they used weapons of mass destruction that killed all but the most resistant spiders. Then the house sits empty for a year or more until I move in.

For all I know, they might have bombed the garden with every pesticide known to man, then I come along with my Shake-Away and Neem oil and wonder why the bugs are still swarming. I'm trying to use organic means, but really I have no way of knowing whether the veggies I raise in my little patch are organic or not.

On September 5, I expect to walk down into my basement and see nothing but spider corpses dessicating in the Colorado heat. I'd like to not even see that, but I probably won't have a choice in the matter. As long as I don't see any live, wriggling spiders. (Or a noose on the stairway made of spidersilk.)

With only a little remodeling, the basement could be a rather nice living area--for humans, I mean.

Meanwhile, the spiders have come out to pla-ay! I went out into the garage this evening to unpack some books, and there were spiders all over the walls. I scurried back inside the house.

Did you tell him about the work that had been done in the greenbelt behind your house?

I think it would help tremendously to have the basement finished. I am talking wall board. Light colors. Light ceiling and floor. No dark corners. And think about placement of any furniture.

Can't you have a TV or radio on playing music so you are not concentrating on spiders??? You really have got to get your mind on something else.

How about doing the same remodeling trick with your garage??? I would love to have mine insulated and wallboarded to winter over my brugs.

I do have some plans for both basement and garage. One area already has a walk in closet, although it needs a couple doors. That could be a spare sleeping room (not that I have guests, but I could if I had a place for them). I could also use it as a meditation room. One room was obviously a shop at one point. It could be again, or I could fix up a wood shop in the garage. I also wanted to start some home brewing, and I could use the basement for that.

The basement's an additional 900 square feet of living space. That was as big as my condo! And the garage is 2 car attached. That's a lot of living space that would be a shame to waste.

Yes, actually I do have the TV on as we speak. Probably a waste of juice though, considering that I'm up here on the computer.

Sounds to me like you have a lot to think about. Get into a project there. Jeanette

Any news on the spider problem ?

We moved into a condo one time that was just over-run with Brown Recluse spiders. I freaked !

We had the exterminator out several times. He told me that since spiders stand up on their legs off the surface,not exposing their bodies to the surface, and they don't lick and clean their feet like other bugs, they usually aren't eleminated by spraying. He sprayed several times anyway at my insistence
and put out sticky traps. We continued to catch them on the sticky traps in the hot water closet for the whole year we lived there.

The condo backed up to a golf course and I always wondered if that had something to do with it.

It had also been vacant for several months before we moved in. Once we were there for several months, the spiders did indeed become recluse............ we never saw them. But, we did still catch them on the sticky traps. So I knew they were still there.

I developed a strong urge to shake all my clothes before putting anything on, and check inside my shoes. I got kinda crazy about other things too. I sealed clean bed linens in clear plastic zipper bags in the linen closet, etc. And kept my dust ruffle around the bed pulled up like I was expecting a flood. LOL. It really is an unsettling feeling, living with that kind of fear in your own home.

I've seen Brown Recluse spider bites....... they're nothing to be casual about. But the only good thing about them is that they really don't want to be where 'you' are. People who get bitten, usually
put on clothing or pick up things where they are hiding and cause them to have to defend themselves.

What did the exterminator recommend if not spraying? traps?

moving. How did you stay there a year?

Didn't have much choice. We sold our home and had to move. We were in the process of building a new one, (doing most of the work ourselves) and that took a year, so we rented the condo, and were stuck in the lease, and had nowhere else to go.

I really don't know how I did it for a whole year, honestly. It still gives me the willies to think about it.

I'm just so thankful no one got bitten.

It was such a shame, because it was a lovely condo that backed up to a beautiful golf course. Very nice. But the spiders took the pleasure out of living there for me.

This message was edited Mar 6, 2007 11:52 PM

I honestly don't know how you did it. I could not have. Jeanette

Any Fall 2008 updates? Was it decided that spider traps are or are not effective?

Well now that you bumped it up to current, maybe someone new to Daves will have some suggestions. I didn't go back and reread the whole thread, did you check with any "experts" on it?

We haven't heard from her, wonder if the spiders carried her off. Really, that is not funny. Maybe she married the exterminator?? Wouldn't that be a trip?

Come on White Hy. We want to hear from you.

Jeanette

She's not a subscriber anymore and this is a subscriber only forum so she won't be able to respond even if she is still around at all.

That's too bad.

Haven't read the whole post, but I never use pesticides and have few spiders. My solution is to be aggressive with them. I suck them up in the vacuum. Knowing a bit about their habits helps. They come into the house in the fall to escape the cold. They are more active in the evening. They love any type of angle, from a wall corner to a doorframe corner. Brown recluses, I've heard, prefer warm dry places--so be careful in the attic. Most spiders I've seen either hang their egg sacs out where they are visible and can be vacuumed up, or they sit on top of them. And most important of all if you're scared of them:THERE ARE A FINITE NUMBER OF THEM IN YOUR HOUSE! :)
It may seem like there are hordes and hordes of them, but there's not, and you really can get rid of them, one at a time. Let the hunt begin!!