Deterring insects from the home.

[Asa Samuel]

Hi, I've heard a lot of people talking about deterring insects by using smudge fires and wipes and all sorts of stuff when out and about but I have another problem - the walls in my bedroom are pretty much hollow with just a thin layer of wood covering them and inside there are tons of insects like spiders, some beetles and woodlice. There are also some gaps at the tops and bottoms of the walls where the creepy crawlies can come through in to the room, as a short-term fix I put some gaffa tape over the biggest gaps and that has helped somewhat but we still get some coming through. Does anyone have any ideas how I can deter the little blighters from coming through the gaps and into the room?

Thanks for any help
Asa.

 

[Shewie]

Get a tube a decorators caulk and fill in all the gaps.

It's that time of year when the big spiddys come in from the cold but they'll soon be gone in a few weeks, they'll always find a way in whatever you try though.

 

[Nagual]

I think that unless you cover up those holes / gaps, you will always get creepy crawlies coming in. Even if you were to somehow kill them all with sprays etc, more would eventually come in. Don't you get one hell of a draft from these gaps too?

 

[Mesquite]

As Rich says, use decorators caulk as a cheap fix. If the gaps are too big then use builders expanding foam.

Failing that, set bug traps everywhere

 

[Nat]

Or do what my wife does, hides in the bedroom waiting for me to come back and demand i wipe them all out.

Decorators caulk/filler in all the cracks and gaps, hoover them out first.

 

[calibanzwei]

http://www.spidercatcher.net/product.htm

Just bought one for the g/f

 

[Mesquite]

Just don't do what one of my colleagues at work did.

He got a load of fake spiders, tied them to fishing line and hid them on the passengers sunvisor of his car.

When his mother put the visor down they all dropped down on to her lap and face and gave her the screaming habdabs :yikes: and him a right clip round the ear

 

[dwardo]

Get a tube a decorators caulk and fill in all the gaps.

It's that time of year when the big spiddys come in from the cold but they'll soon be gone in a few weeks, they'll always find a way in whatever you try though.

Every morning for the past few weeks i have had to evict spider from the bath. Its becoming so frequent that its almost part of the morning routine
After living in OZ where pretty much every spider wants to eat you i dont mind our little arachnid friends...

 

[Asa Samuel]

The decorators caulk sounds like a good idea, although I'll have to check with the landlord first, that's why I was looking for a deterrent over filling in the gaps.

Nagual, no we don't get a draft as the gaps are just from the wooden inner-wall, the outer is stone.

Calibanzwei, that looks handy for the ones that get through. Some of the spiders we get down here are massive things, must be 3-4 inches across including their legs.

 

[Toddy]

Old fashioned good housekeeping...........hoover it *every* day, brush it out and keep it clean and dry.

What are the wooden walls covered with ? If it's varnish, wash them down with a well wrung out cloth that's been washed out in a bucket with washing soda, a small squirt of Fairy liquid or the like and a couple of drops of orange, pine or lavender oil. Buff it dry to a shine.
If the wood is untreated then you need to wash it down with soap and water and dry them thoroughly then use a furniture polish on the boards. The usual mix is turpentine, beeswax, a little soft soap and some essential oil.

The oils actually help discourage insects and insect attack as well as freshening the whole room.

If the walls are papered..........well it depends on the paper. If it's cheap sugar paper type stuff so long as it's sound you can brush it thoroughly (it'll be covered in mini bits of paper and the woodlice enjoy them with the starchy paste) and hoover frequently.

If your landlord will allow you to paint it then the smell of the paint will also help discourage the insects.......and it ought to allow for you to caulk (decorator's filler) the gaps too beforehand.

As you clear up one bit keep working outwards, otherwise the insects will just recolonise from elsewhere.

If you have such a problem with insects it's possible you might end up with mice too as the nights draw in. Keep it clean, all food securely stored and there's nothing for them to eat. You really want to discourage nesting if you can. They really don't like being disturbed.

Ten minutes a day with a hoover is worth the effort of keeping on top of the problem.

Atb,
M