Shop Spiders

[Mike OMelia]

I hate them. They create webs in corners and along the ceiling. These in turn catch every manner of bug and bits of shop dust. Keeping them at bay during the warm months is an endless activity. What, if anything, can be done to keep spiders and other insects down to a bare minimum? Is there an automated pesticide system that works on spiders?

Mike

[Michael W. Clark]

I have had some luck with the spray systems that you spray around the outside and it puts a "barrier" around the building. Ortho makes one that you can spray inside and outside. It works good on most bugs and ants, but can't really comment that much on spiders. I think it would help with the spiders, but from what I understand, spiders are resilient.

BTW, I'm originally from New Market, just north of Huntsville.

Mike

[Peter Kuhlman]

Aerosol spray called Death Blow! Deadly to spiders.
I figure if I have spiders that they are eating things I don't want in my shop so I don't get concerned with them. I am always finding lizards roaming around too!

[Mike OMelia]

Well, it's not the spiders so much... it's the webs that can make a huge mess. Plus, invariably, Black Widows show up. And I have to imagine Brown Recluses are around. I'd just as soon eliminate the spider's food as well as the spiders. I'm gonna look into some of those spray systems. Lots of normal insecticides have little effect on spiders.

[Van Huskey]

My former neighbor used (and gave me) some sort of pesticide which has a sort of microcrystaline kinda stuff in it that sticks to the spiders hairs and they ingest it when the clean themselves, at least thats what the supply house told him, not a Borg product. It is expensive but we use it in the corners of our porches and it keeps the spiders away for about 6 months at a time, probably would last longer inside (if it is OK to use inside). I said it was expensive but I think he paid $75 bucks for the concentrate but it makes a lot and last a long time so not really expensive except upfront. If you would like me to call him I will, the only thing is he got divorced and move into a condo and may have forgotten what it was, then again his wife still lives down the street so I could ask her she may still have the bottle.

[Peter Kuhlman]

The Ortho Home Defense stuff works quite well and has residual action. I use it outside my house and it keeps the spiders off and stops them building webs all over.

[Mike OMelia]

Sure Van, find the name if you can. I kind of expected a working product would cost in that range. Peter, I might get some of that Ortho stuff to try, Thanks.

Mike

[Matt Day]

I was just using the search engine last night for "spiders" because I was sick of cobwebs and spiders everywhere - especially when I go into a corner to grab an unused tool and get a few strands of web in my face and hair. I don't know what they're feeding on though - I haven't seen any kind of bug in the webs nor on the ground/wall/ceiling.

I read a lot of suggestions for Raid Fumigator Fogger, which apparently fogs without any residue. I need to research more though, and find out about applying just in a basement and not whole house.

[Gordon Eyre]

We have a pest control place that comes by every other month and sprays a barrier around our house. We never have bugs in our house.

[Van Huskey]

Sure Van, find the name if you can. I kind of expected a working product would cost in that range. Peter, I might get some of that Ortho stuff to try, Thanks.

Mike


Will do, I just changed phones and I haven't been able to get my numbers switched over yet. May be a day or two but I will get in touch with him.

[Gary Radice]

You could also try boric acid as a less toxic alternative. Also works to keep crawly critters out of your lumber.

[Mike OMelia]

Hey Matt, glad to see I'm not the only one who can't stand the mess they make. I cringe EVERYTIME I reach under the compressor to purge the water. Messing with my son, I asked him to reach under there to get some dropped tools. He looked at me like I was crazy. Ha! I just got off the phone with our pest control guy. He's gonna add the shop to his rotation. Plus lay down one of those barriers. But I still want to know what that dust is Van. BTW, that bug killer from Raid won't touch a Black Widow. I foamed one up so much it looked like a snow ball with short black legs sticking out. I think it just wiped itself off and went about terrorizing the local bugs. I found it because it had a bumble bee trapped on a single thread. Gruesome.

[Shawn Pixley]

I guess I am more kindly disposed towards spiders. They don't bother me much, even though I have been bitten twice by black widows in the last 18 months. I found a nest of them in the lower roller crevice of my sliding glass door. I moved them so they could do what spiders do. If I had younger children, I would be clearing them out.

[John Hays]

Well if someone comes up with a sure-fire way of getting rid of spiders, then I'm very interested... no matter what the cost. I live in an island-type community on the southeastern coast, in which I negatively refer to as 'Bug Island'.

If you think you have it bad, here's an eye opener... Orkin stops by once a month and sprays inside and out and the spider problem still exists. I've tried all kinds of commercial insecticides on top of Orkin's service and the spider problem still exists. The only thing I've been able to do is reduce the number of furry visitors by about half, simply by destroying their food source, so wtf are they eating?

I can only imagine how horrible it's going to be when I actually get my shop filled with all of the cabinets and stationary tools I want. Now, I realize that it's unrealistic to think that I can eliminate ALL of the spiders, but this is ridiculous! :mad:

And I'm not talking about your common household verity here, these suckers are at least an inch long and spew out a web that's sticky and strong enough to catch a wolverine... scary lookin' buggers, too. In fact, I asked my Orkin guy what they were and he couldn't identify them. Not to mention that when I was putting up the walls in my garage I happened across a black widow the size of a quarter nesting in one of the exposed pot lights. :eek:

So yeah, I could use a good bug spray. If not, then I can certainly see a flamethrower as my next shop purchase.

[J.R. Rutter]

With all this talk of bug powder, I want to watch Naked Lunch again...

I would ask for an MSDS for whatever stuff you or a pest control service use.

[Mike OMelia]

In the South, we worry about Brown Recluses and Black Widows. There are plenty of harmless webmakers, but those annoy me the most (huge mess). I fear the Brown Recluse more than the Black Widow because of the physical damage they can do to your body. And I have kids. Wolf spiders, though creepy, like Brown Recluses, do not make webs. They are hunters. Because of the prevalence of spiders, I "shake" out my garage shop at least 3 times in the warm weather season. Never let piles of this or that get too comfy. I generally agree that nature should be left alone... spiders do a good service. Just not in my house where the pest control guy takes care of the bugs. At lease we don't have to worry about Camel Spiders!! Shawn, just HOW did you get bitten twice by Black Widows?

[Michael Peet]

Spiders don't bother me much either, although if we had some of the more dangerous varieties I might change my tune. As it is, I did notice that once I got the humidity under control, the number of spiders decreased.

Mike

[jeffrey bailey]

Terminix treats our house with some kind of powder they apply using what looks like a feather duster on a stick. I talked to the guy and he did the inside of my shop. Haven't seen as many big spiders. Still see the small ones. I have found black widows and huge wolf spiders in there before.

[Shawn Pixley]

In the South, we worry about Brown Recluses and Black Widows. Shawn, just HOW did you get bitten twice by Black Widows?

It must be karma for my blessings. The first time was just before thanksgiving helping a neighbor empty out his garage, so we could replace his water heater. I got bit right above my waistband. Very painful, but then it got infected. The second time was the day after Christmas. It bit the back of my calf while I slept. This one also became infected with drug resistant staph which then abscessed. I ended up in the hospital for five days. Still have the scar. Later I found a nest of them in my sliding glass door. They seem to move in when the weather gets colder here (50). We don't have brown recluse' in California despite hype to the contrary.

[Cody Colston]

The best thing I have found for spiders is a product called Demon WP. When I spray around the baseboards, etc. with it, I don't see any spiders for a few months.

I do wear a Tyvek suit, rubber gloves and a mask when spraying it, though. I'm not usually too concerned about toxic stuff but the label on Demon WP convinced me I needed to take precautions.

At one time I really stocked up on it because, since it works, I assumed the EPA would soon ban it.

BTW, a few days ago, I killed a nest of Black Widows that were on the bottom side of the inlet to one of the pool strainers. My daughter and a friend happened to see them while swimming. There were three large ones and a bunch of babies.

[Mike OMelia]

Shawn, if anybody should hate spiders, it should be you. If I had ur experiences, I'd be employing Cody's demon powder and Tyvec suit as well as following up with flame thrower. Argh. I'm all creeped out now!

Mike :)

[curtis rosche]

I dont mind the spiders so much, But i have my lathe right at the garage door, and I turn with the door open. As I turn i watch multiple bugs come in, mainly ants. I step on ever one i see but Im sure I dont get them all. Any advice on something that repels bug completely? Ive tried those store bought sprays, but they dont work so much when theres a layer of wood chips over them. I clean up when Im done, but so many get in while Im working

[Richard Coers]

I guess I am more kindly disposed towards spiders. They don't bother me much, even though I have been bitten twice by black widows in the last 18 months. I found a nest of them in the lower roller crevice of my sliding glass door. I moved them so they could do what spiders do. If I had younger children, I would be clearing them out.

I'm with Shawn. It's called an eco system, we need every part of it! Flood the place with insecticide, cover your yard with herbicide, cover your commercial vegetables and fruit with insecticide so they look as perfect as plastic replicas, and then wonder why the cancer rates seem to be increasing. My neighbor has gone to the extreme of cutting down trees so the birds don't poop on his deck. We shouldn't continue to try and make Mother Nature bend to our wishes. She will be here after we make this place unihabitiable. If you really must clear the room of spiders, use a shop vac, then relocate them outside, please.

[Paul Symchych]

Years ago my parasitology professor was fond of repeating "the insects will survive us and inherit the world".

[Richard Amabile]

I have a local exterminator spray inside and outside the house and garage workshop every few months and it seems to help but is not a complete answer. A few months ago I went outside and realized that I had a major infestation of what we refer to as Daddy Long Legs. There were thousands of them under the eves of the house. My local pesticide store recommended Demand CS. It is a concentrate that makes quite a bit of pesticide and as mentioned by others is rather expensive (about $70 for a small bottle). It is also supposed to leave particles that last at least 2 or 3 months even outside. It worked great. They all disappeared in a few days. I have also had problems with black widows both around the outside of the house and in our mailbox! The exterminators tell me they are notoriously hard to kill. I sprayed Demand CS around the mailbox, around the foundation out to about 15 feet and then around the woods surrounding the house for a few yards in as directed by the pesticide store. It seemed to keep them away for quite a while. I am told that what I am actually doing is killing what they feed upon and then when they eat their prey they ingest the pesticed which kills them.
I hate spiders almost as much as I hate snakes. But, that is whole different story!

[Richard Dragin]

I'm more concerned about pesticides than bugs but I understand if they bother you. I think an air conditioner would be a really good deterrent.

[John Maynard]

My first shop in TN was a 45 year old 2 car garage with so many places bugs, ants, and spiders could reside, and I had a wealth of them. We moved to a rental in another city that had a 30 yr old 12x20 building with a lot of open spaces in the floors and walls that all manner of bugs and spiders and insects of all kind could reside, and there were plenty there,too. When we purchased our current home, I had a new building constructed. I have the pest control company treat the shop building in the same manner as our residence, and so far, I have not had the spider/insect problem, but we have only been here 2 yrs. Outside of having pest control done on a regular basis the only other thing I could figure as to why my insect/spider problem has not resurfaced is the two previous shops above did not have regular pest control and both of them were literally surrounded by huge trees. My current shop only has 2 small trees of which neither overhangs the building at all. Although I mostly don't succeed, I try to keep my shop straightend up and try not to have a lot of stuff lying around that spiders can hide in. I also do not leave any food sources for insects to feed on. I do not discard any food wrappers or soda cans in my shop garbage can, they are discarded with the household waste. I also maintian my shop at around 74 degrees in summer and winter, 24/7.

[scott vroom]

I haven't read all of the posts so maybe this has already been suggested: spray insecticide periodically around the outside perimieter of your house/shop. This will create a barrier that will discourage insects from crossing. In my shop I set off a couple of those water-based insecticide "bombs" (aerosol cans) every 3 or 4 months or so to kill any creepy crawlers that mave have found their way in the shop. Very effective.

[Larry Fox]

Spiders don't bother me much either, although if we had some of the more dangerous varieties I might change my tune. As it is, I did notice that once I got the humidity under control, the number of spiders decreased.

Mike


+1

Every once in a while I get a garden spider in my shop big enough that I can hear running. :) My wife HATES spiders and she had a service for a while that came and sprayed the house and that seemed to keep them down. I really don't like mosquitos, at all, and the spiders and I seem to have an unwritten agreement that if they eat the mosquitos I won't shoo them out into my wife's clutches.

[Dan Schocke]

If they sell it in your area, there's a product called buggslayer (http://www.buggslayer.com/) that has been pretty effective for me the last couple of years. I started using it as a way to control box elder bugs that love to blanket the south side of my house in the spring and fall. Of course they invariably find their way into the house too. After I sprayed buggslayer I didn't see any bugs or spiders for about 6 months, but I was pushing my luck by not reapplying every other month like they recommend. I'm now spraying it every couple of months as I remember. It's not cheap (an 8 oz. bottle of concentrate was like $18), but it works for me.

[Kevin Bourque]

I've tried Ortho Home Defense and even though they say it keeps bugs a way for 6 month ( I think ) it never seems to last longer than a few weeks. I've gotten used to sucking them up in the vacuum cleaner once a week.

[Tom Rossman]

Centipedes eat the spiders. Since I convinced my wife not to kill the common centipedes that sometimes make it into our house from the crawl space, we have many fewer spiders. Black widows and brown recluses are common where I live, so I snuff them out whenever they show up. The others I capture in a bottle and return to the wild.

[Brian Backner]

+1 on the insecticide bombs - they work pretty well and are cheap and easy to get (Walmart).

If you absolutely want to kill EVERYTHING in your shop (down to the bacteria on the floor!), see if you can find a product called Bronopol. It comes as a whitish yellow crystalline mixture. To use it takes some effort. First, duct tape plastic over all windows and, except for the door you will leave by, all other doors, roof vents, etc. Then put an old Sunbeam electric skillet in the middle of the shop and load 5oz of crystals for every 1,000 cubic foot of shop. Before you plug the skillet it, turn it to the highest setting, plug it into an extension cord long enough to get you outside, then seal that door as well. Finally, plug the sucker in.

Bronopol has a melting point of around 135C. When it does melt, it generates formaldehyde gas! When you open the shop the next day to let it air out (for at least a day before you go back in), your shop will be sterile. Remember to remove any plants you might have in there as it will kill them too.

This stuff is obviously, seriously dangerous. I'd actually be surprised if you can still buy it.

Use at your own risk.

Brian

[John Hays]

spray insecticide periodically around the outside perimieter of your house/shop. This will create a barrier that will discourage insects from crossing.

Yep, that worked at my last house in Virginia, but here on 'Bug Island' that doesn't really work that well. In fact, I questioned my Orkin guy today about barrier treatments and he said that a good percentage of the bugs tend to fly or drop onto the house from the trees, so any ground treatment is going to be minutely effective. :(

Maybe I'll go the bug bomb route and see if that helps.

[Mike OMelia]

OMG Brian, seriously? Lol!

[Brian Backner]

OMG Brian, seriously? Lol!

Mike,

If you'll pardon the pun, Bronopol is deadly serious. I can't quite remember who developed it, but I know the military and the CDC still use it to sterilize really contaminated area. I remember one of my uncle's using it to help a neighbor kill a cockroach infestation in a house. The covered the entire house with a gigantic tarp and set up two skillets in every room, including the basement and the attic. When it was done, we used old coal shovels to remove the cockroach carcasses - in places they were over a foot deep. Bronopol is some nasty stuff, but it works like you won't believe until you see it.

[Jim Falsetti]

Any advice from our Australian members?

[Mike OMelia]

Brian, I was in a fraternity at NC State. We had a roach problem (who'd a thunk it?) During a Christmas break, a few of us stayed to clean the house and do some maintainance work. We decided to use bug bombs in the suspended ceilings to rid ourselves of the pests. We set off a bunch of them, then stood around talking for a bit. All of a sudden, we felt things dropping on us. Looked up, and the white metal tile dividers had turned solid brown. Millions of roaches trying to run away. It RAINED roaches for an hour! When it was over, they covered the floor in a thick layer. We pulled plywood panels off of walls and found them 2 feet deep between the studs. And we never got rid of them. I moved out not long after that.

Mike

[Greg Peterson]

I guess I am more kindly disposed towards spiders. They don't bother me much, even though I have been bitten twice by black widows in the last 18 months. I found a nest of them in the lower roller crevice of my sliding glass door. I moved them so they could do what spiders do. If I had younger children, I would be clearing them out.

+1. I get cobwebs in the shop, but the vacuum does a fine job of disposing of them. They wouldn't be there if there wasn't a food source, and I have even less interest in controlling their food source.

I've come across a brown recluse or two over the years, even got a nasty bite once. Can't blame 'em for doing what they were put here to do.

[Mike OMelia]

Update: Termidor is labeled for more than just termites. Turns out it is highly effective against most things creepy crawly. Haven't seen an insect in a while now. :) And the remaining few spiders in my garage are getting skinny.

[ray hampton]

I do not know how accurate this story are but a home in Kansas had close to two thousand spiders in it, my step daughter got bit by a spider this month and I found this story on the internet that grand daddy long legs will eat other spiders

[Ben Martin]

Mike,

Not sure that the Northerner's have a right to reply to this thread (Ok, I was a Northerner up until a month ago...) but I used to think that a spider was a Daddy Long leg or something of the sort.

So far in the South I have ran into more spiders than I can imagine, I am all ears if you find anything that works! I am not used to spiders that can do permanent damage to my body! I had my wife pick me up some Spider spray at the BORG, but I would like something a bit more permanent!

Termidor is actually what the company I have my house under termite bond claim to be using. I see that you can get Termidor on Amazon...

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp325/martbj/SC%20Workshop%20Build/2012-07-01_14-13-36_505.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp325/martbj/SC%20Workshop%20Build/2012-07-30_17-03-44_169.jpg

[Phil Thien]

Any of you guys ever try borax?

http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/20_Mule_Team_Borax_p/d1002.htm

[ray hampton]

[QUOTE=Ben Martin;1962873]Mike,

Not sure that the Northerner's have a right to reply to this thread (Ok, I was a Northerner up until a month ago...) but I used to think that a spider was a Daddy Long leg or something of the sort.

whom are you calling a Northern ? Yankee sounds bettewr

[phil harold]

two words
Diatomaceous Earth
the fine powder is abrasive and absorbs moisture thru insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate and then die You can buy it all over (okay maybe not CA) I bought my last bag at ace hardware
kills all sorts and spiders
I also add it to my chickens dust bath to kill mites
http://www.earthworkshealth.com/organic-pest-control.php

[Carl Babel]

I have had good luck with glue traps (intended for mice). They seem to catch EVERYTHING. Just don't step in them.
Oh, and they are non-toxic.

[David Weaver]

two words
Diatomaceous Earth
the fine powder is abrasive and absorbs moisture thru insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate and then die You can buy it all over (okay maybe not CA) I bought my last bag at ace hardware
kills all sorts and spiders
I also add it to my chickens dust bath to kill mites
http://www.earthworkshealth.com/organic-pest-control.php

Ditto the diatomaceous earth - they have to walk through it, though. Apparently popular with livestock, and the food grade stuff doesn't cost any more (if you can find it) and has less crystalline silica in it.

I used to spray the perimeter in my garage. Now that I have a small kid, I won't do it. I haven't seen anything substantial in the garage other than a bunch of daddy long legs, a house centipede or two and a few small hairy spiders. Once in a while, I go around with a broom and knock them all down, but that's it. If there wasn't something for them to eat in there, I think they'd go somewhere else.

[phil harold]

Ditto the diatomaceous earth - they have to walk through it, though..
You can add water to spray on walls, ceilings and even the spiders

[Phil Thien]

Well, borax is the ideal agent for killing wood-boring insects. But it also kills spiders, and fleas.

It is easier to find than DE, costs less, google it.