Is your basement filled with crawling web-weaving critters that disgust you?
Spiders are often frowned upon, even if they have their role in the food chain and could help you get rid of other bugs. But when dealing with an infestation, you should know how to get rid of spiders in the basement of your home.
Key Takeaways
- Use insecticides or natural remedies like essential oils and vinegar to eliminate spiders in your basement.
- Seal gaps and cracks in your home to prevent spiders from entering.
- Maintain a clean yard and use bug lights to deter spiders from approaching your home.
- Regularly clean spider webs using a vacuum cleaner or broom to keep your basement spider-free.
Why Do Spiders Like Basements?
While it’s true that spiders are attracted to the basement, they could easily find their way into an apartment as well.
Big or small, spiders want access to your basement for various reasons. To begin with, they are seeking cover, particularly when the weather is too cold, excessively warm, or excessively rainy.
Spiders, as solitary organisms, seek a dark, quiet environment. They are drawn to undisturbed regions, which could perfectly describe many a basement.
Spiders can readily establish homes in your basement, whether they locate a peaceful ceiling nook or box-filled storage space. These niches are ideal for concealment, prey capture, and mating.
Female spiders will deposit egg sacs in a relatively uninhabited region of your basement. In as little as one week, eggs can hatch into juvenile spiders, which can swiftly grow into an infestation.
Spiders, like any other living entity, require food to survive. Without access to food, they would struggle to survive within your home.
While their diets vary, web-building spiders often catch and ingest flying insects. Eliminating these pests deprives spiders of prey and makes them less likely to stay in your house.
What Kind of Basement Spiders Are in My House?
While several kinds of spiders are found throughout North America, it is critical to understand that only a few spider species voluntarily live inside houses. Other species occasionally make their way inside but are more usually brought in by accident on firewood or flowers.
Remember
Most spiders that work their way into your home are harmless, but it’s important to know which could be dangerous.
Common House Spiders
If you discover dirty cobwebs in the corners of your walls, they may have been placed there by a common house spider. These dust-covered cobwebs may be simply vacuumed or swept away without the worry of stumbling upon a spider.
Jumping Spiders
Numerous jumping spiders have white or red markings on their abdomens, making them look like black widows. Jumping spiders are not hazardous. They’re actually advantageous because they like searching and pouncing on nuisance insects.
Basement Spiders
Short and long-bodied basement spiders are the two most prevalent cellar spiders. They are widespread throughout North America and prefer dark, moist settings.
Many people assume, incorrectly, that long-bodied cellar spiders possess venom that is dangerous to humans if the spiders’ immature mouthparts are capable of biting the skin.
Long-bodied cellar spiders cannot puncture human skin with their jaws, but their venom is ineffective, rendering them harmless pest-eaters.
Harvestmen
Harvestmen, also referred to as daddy-long-legs, are technically not spiders. They are a distant relative of the spider and deserve an honorable mention for commonly being confused with the upper cellar spider.
Examine their body form if you’re unsure if you’re dealing with harvestmen or cellar spiders. Cellar spiders are yellow in color and contain two separate body sections, the longest of which is a long, slender abdomen.
The body of harvestmen is made up of a brown or gray single oval-shaped piece with eight spindly legs projecting from it. Harvestmen are non-venomous and are often found outside in woodland regions or gardens.
Getting Rid of Spiders in a Basement Permanently
Keep in mind that if pests truly want to get in your home, they will. But these methods will help make it as difficult as possible for them.
Use Insecticide
While most spiders are safe to humans, the black widow spider and brown recluse bites are particularly harmful.
Begin by applying some insecticide around the exterior of your home, unless you have cause to believe that spiders are reproducing or hatching indoors. Choose an insecticide with a long residual so it works as long as possible.
Safety With Kids And Pets
If you have kids or pets, be careful where you place the insecticide, ensuring they can’t access it.
Consider Ultrasonic Pest Control
These gadgets are cruelty-free, environmentally friendly, and chemical-free, so you won’t have to worry about your children or pets ingesting any harmful chemicals.
Simply plug the electronic pest repellent into an outlet. The ultrasonic frequency (which is undetected by humans and regular household companions) will keep spiders and other bugs away.
Use Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is a safe and natural approach to kill or repel various insects. This unique powder is perfect for controlling roaches, eradicating ants, and even silverfish.
This pest control sediment can be sprinkled about trouble areas. Like on window sills, beneath doorways, along loose baseboards, and within crevices to eliminate spiders and prevent infestation.
Diatomaceous earth is composed of microscopic, razor-sharp particles that lacerate the exoskeletons of insects and arachnids, quickly killing them.
It is the most effective natural approach to kill house flies, and it may also be used to prevent cockroaches and other pests from making their way into the bedroom.
How to Get Rid of Spiders in Basements Naturally
I hate spiders as much as anyone, but it can feel a little cruel to use poisons. If you agree, then here are some effective natural remedies.
Turn to Essential Oils
Numerous essential oils, particularly eucalyptus and peppermint, can be effective natural spider repellents for your house. The oil is too powerful for spiders, and they should flee in the opposite direction upon contact.
Use this DIY spider and bug repellent in place of commercial repellents that contain dangerous chemicals.
Make a Vinegar Solution
White vinegar is a moderate and adaptable natural, do-it-yourself acid. Plenty of people consider it the best natural spider killer out there. Though it does not have the most attractive odor, it is useful for various home purposes, one of which is spider control.
It’s a novel and safe approach to preventing spiders from entering. It also won’t harm children or pets, making it suitable for families as opposed to conventional pesticides.
Set Up Spider Traps
If everything else fails, trapping basement spiders is another option for keeping them out of your hair and sight. Similar to gnat traps, this can be accomplished in various methods, including using glue traps or fly strips.
Use a Vacuum Cleaner
Specialized vacuum cleaners for collecting bugs are available. But you should be able to clean up the culprits (and their webs) using any ordinary vacuum cleaner equipped with a hand hose.
Bonus Tip
Get a cat! They hunt spiders for sport and won’t charge you extra for it.
How to Prevent Spiders in Basement
Now that you finally know how to get rid of spiders in the basement, let’s cover how to keep spiders out of the basement for good. Follow these tips for spider prevention once you’ve successfully gotten rid of the spider infestation.
Take Care of Your Lawn
Maintaining proper lawn care practices and maintaining a clean yard are two of the most effective ways to ensure spiders stay out of the house. Good news! These methods will also repel other household pests such as mice, so your time will be well spent.
Avoid providing spiders with shelter against your home’s walls. Maintain a minimum of 12 inches between your trees and shrubs and the side of your home.
Regularly mow your yard and avoid stacking firewood against the foundation of your home.
Fix Gaps
This is considered the best way to remove spiders in the basement because it cuts off access points that won’t allow them to get in anymore. It’s really important to spider-proof your home to avoid future problems.
Examine the entry points for pipes, cables, and exhaust fans in your property and caulk any openings you discover.
Ascertain that your doors and windows are adequately sealed. Where necessary, use weatherstripping. Inspect the walls and foundation of your home for cracks and then seal or caulk problematic areas.
Use Bug Lights
Change the outside lighting near windows and doors to yellow insect lights. Regular lights attract insects, and where there are insects, there are spiders looking for a meal. Bug lights do not attract insects and so do not attract spiders.
Use timers to switch on LED daylight lamps for a few minutes multiple times each day in windowless basements. If there is nowhere dark for spiders to hide, you will notice a significant drop in spiders.
Sprinkle DE Around the House
Additionally, you can use diatomaceous earth, a non-toxic powder that rips apart insect and arachnid bones and dehydrates them. Distribute it over the external walls of your home and reapply it regularly or more frequently during the rainy season.
Best Indoor Spider Repellent
There are a few products to help in getting rid of spiders in the basement. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Best Natural Spray: Mighty Mint Spider Repellent Peppermint Oil
Mighty Mint Spider Repellent is a spray composed entirely of natural ingredients. Along with Northwest peppermint essential oil, this product contains components sourced from vegetable oils, palms, and soybeans.
This proprietary solution is completely free of typical petroleum-derived chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate.
Best Traps: TERRO T3206SR Spider & Insect Traps
TERRO Spider & Insect Traps are an easy solution to keep pests out of your home. Distribute this simple-to-use, non-toxic trap throughout the home to trap and kill various pests.
Place the traps in high-insect-traffic locations and check for captured pests regularly; dispose of them when ready or when the trap is full.
Best Ultrasonic Device: Neatmaster Ultrasonic Pest Repeller
The Neatmaster is an ultrasonic pest repeller that is efficient against insects and vermin that infest your home. It is a plug-in device that emits sound waves that repel these vexing pests using ultrasonic and electromagnetic technologies.
How to Clean Spider Webs
Spider webs are rather simple to eliminate. Use a vacuum cleaner (with a hose) or a broom. Simply remove the spider web once you’ve armed yourself with one of these cleaning tools.
Figuring out how to remove spider webs might be challenging at times. For instance, you may encounter difficulties attempting to remove a web from a popcorn ceiling.
Spider silk is strong and tenacious, making it tough to extricate from various kinds of uneven ceiling surfaces. To remove the web, in this case, wrap duct tape over a paint roller with the sticky side facing out.
That is about as difficult as spider web removal gets. When using a broom, it is preferable to gently lift the web instead of attempting to sweep it away.
FAQs
I rounded up some extra info to help ease your mind and help you prepare a plan.
Does Vinegar Kill Spiders?
White vinegar has acetic acid, which is poisonous to spiders. It effectively damages and kills spiders without placing your children or pets at risk of toxic exposure when diluted.
Why Am I Suddenly Seeing More Spiders?
The primary reason spiders enter our homes is to find food. If food sources are accessible to insects, they will thrive within your home. As insects thrive, spiders prosper as well, so it’s critical to prevent bugs in general if you wish to control spider numbers in your home.
Can I Seal My Basement From Spiders?
Check the fit of door screens, windows, and thresholds, and fix any cracks, gaps, or fissures. Turn off any lights in the basement during the day and inspect for light entering the room through cracks. Then caulk any possible insect access points.
The Bottom Line
Once you learn how to get rid of spiders in the basement, you’ll realize there are plenty of tricks, techniques, and products at your fingertips. However, when dealing with severe infestations and harmful spiders, it’s always best to seek professional help.
