Spiders eat insects. I feel that they are working for me. But the rest of my family is afraid of them so I am the one designated to take the found spider outside. We also find centipedes (usually dead) in the basement and I just vaccum them up. My next door neighbor uses a pest control service regularly. I think it destroys the balance of good/bad bugs and if they have to keep having them back, it doesn't appear effective.

Are you really having a big problem? Please explain.

Thanks, Kim

As Kimpa has stated you do not want to upset the balance of nature. There are times when pest control companies may be necessary but not for simple insects such as spiders that do little harm to you and are somewhat beneficial overall.

You need to protect your home against the termites. The best thing is to let the professionals handle that, but you can deal with the rest of it with little problem.

I agree, a little more information might be helpful. Do you feel like you are overrun with spiders and centipedes, or are you simply seeing them periodically?

I've had to deal with a population of both of those critters...in much greater numbers than I am comfortable with. This was shortly after we moved into this house. I was able to get them down to a manageable population without heavy duty chemicals.

I treat my home with boric acid. I realize it is not a naturally occurring material, but it sure does work against roaches, ants, and termites. We recently remodeled and I had them drill a hole between every pair of studs in every wall. Then they dumped a tablespoon of boric acid in each one.

I put diatomaceous earth behind all my cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms, and along the baseboards where the dog-beds lie. I figure that will take care of most of the bugs that come in. I have too many spiders, as far as their webs go, but the spiders themselves don't bother me. My SIL, on the other hand, is terrified of them, so one is too many!

I agree with Rhizo that termites are best handled by a professional company - many of them today use less-toxic compounds and will work with you - I think even Terminex will do so if asked. Because they can cause SUCH damage before they become noticeable to the 'naked' eye, I think they aren't something that should be reacted to on a basis of "I'll wait until I see a problem", but should be a proactive situation - "I WON'T have them"!. Usually, having the bait stations at regular intervals around the house, and having them monitored, is adequate - you can react when it becomes obvious there might be a problem.

Ok...first, terminix isn't treating for termites, to my knowledge, I don't have those.

They are only treating for spiders/centipedes/wood roaches/ants, etc... As for how many do I have...Well, this week I've seen 6 centipedes in the basement and 4 spiders in the house. I have ALOT of webs though..so I know there are more.

I do have a dog, and that's one of the main reasons I went with terminix, they have "safe" for pets/people treatments. But if I could do something a bit more natural, I'd love to.

Insects get into the house through openings in your siding and treating for them after they get in is really unhealthy for your family. The poisons used are not just toxic to the insects.
The best method to keep insects out of your house is to cailk all the points of entry they could use and that does take some real effort because you need to crawl around the perimeter and look.

I have a long teloscopic round brush (called WEBSTER?) to take down spider webs. Some spiders make a new web daily so most of the webs you see have been abandonded. If you don't want to capture the spiders or centipedes and put them outside, you could suck them up in the vaccum. Even though Terminix says it is safe, you are still concerned and I would be too. It makes no sense to me to "poison" the house to kill a few spiders when you can do the job yourself naturally. Think like a predator and go get em! And as you garden through the years you may come to think of spiders as your friends. They are doing good work in the garden and their webs are beautiful with the morning dew shining.

If you vacuum every bug you see up, and then replace the bag, seal up the old one and toss it in the garbage - do it the day before trash pick-up so it leaves your premises quickly - and then do what you can to limit the re-entry of bugs, as well as using either boric acid (which can be toxic to animals so be sure it's not accessible to pets) or diatomaceous earth (get food grade or garden, not the stuff used in pool filters as that is too fine and can cause respiratory problems) under, behind or along areas and spaces where bugs might be, then you should have little problem with insects in the future, once you have calked (use the expanding foam if it's an akward spot or shaped hole), or otherwise blocked access.

If you have an older house, then it might be harder to seal it up. Do the best you can, and just keep after them. I do know that ants and other insects don't seem to like the smell of some essential oils or herbs - cinnamon, clove, bay leaves, mint, cedar oil, etc. - so you could scatter leaves of the herbs or drip oils onto cotton balls and put them where you think the bugs are getting in. This would have to be replenished every few weeks, and I don't guaranteee it would would, but it might help in areas where it's impossible to seal off. Just be aware that many of the oils can ruin the finish on any good furniture it comes in contact with, not that fine furniture should be in the basement or crawlspace, but....

I use essential oils. Cinnamon is great for ants and lemongrass seems to do the trick on spiders. Put a few drops around areas where the little buggers get in or are hanging out. Be sure to use therapeutic grade oils otherwise you are not going to get the best results. Natural essential oils like citronella, lavender, lemongrass, Western red cedar, or rosemary can effectively repel moths and other insects. You can make a sachet by placing several drops of essential oil on a cotton ball. Wrap and tie this in a small handkerchief or square of cotton. Hang this cloth in storage areas or add it to your chest of linens. Refresh as often as necessary.

Sorry for jumping to the conclusion about termites.

I've lived in older homes, too, and they can be literally impossible to seal up good enough to prevent continued access by critters. BUT, that should be an ongoing goal of yours, over the years.

I, too, am a big boric acid and diatomaceous earth believer. Either can be placed into damp crevices (centipedes), around window wells, door frames, etc. I discovered an aerosol boric acid product that I KNOW helped prevent the march of the centipedes from the garage into my laundry room as well as from the fireplace.

But once we repaired the weather stripping on the doors, and fixed the chimney cap, I haven't seen but a little handful for months.

More on the centipedes....I am assuming that you have the common house centipede. Longish legs and long antennae? If so, THEY will eat your spiders, if that makes you feel better, lol! They thrive in damp locations, so doing what you can to make the basement environment unsuitable for them will be important. That means no places for them to hide and applying the boric acid or DE in appropriate locations.