my house was the same way. it is the cost of living in the country.

the easiest way to keep them under control is to either bomb the house or have sprayed professionally every few months. in my area, teh cost is about the same either way you go.

What spider is it? Different breeds like different things. Figure out the name of the spider you have and what it likes to eat then eliminate its food source.

If it eats bugs, get rid of the bugs and the spiders will go away on their own.

I've had spiders in the house for past couple of years. And they aren't the little ones or the skinny ones with long legs. They are ugly big brown ones that bite. One bite was there for months before going away. UGH. I moved to a house with lots of trees and a damp basement. Worked hard last fews summers to fix the basement and the yard so I'm hoping not to see them any more. I'm also going to spray this year. I hate bug that bite... well probably not as much as flying roaches, but I still hate them. LOL

In the fall I had an infestation. I don't know what they were eating, but they are preditory and eat other insects. I decided to have the house sprayed on a regular basis. Hopefully, it will eliminate the spiders and its prey.

My finace and I bought our first house last winter. We've come to learn this spring that it had a severe infestation of spiders (especially brown recluse which are poisonous) and ants. Last Saturday I spent a few hours spraying ant trails around my bedroom. (Ewwww!!!) My best recommendation is a professional. Which is exactly who we called. It's going to take a few monthly sprayings, but I'm determined to eliminate them!!

Don't give the spiders any were to hide buy cleaning if it looks clean clean it again when the langery is done fold it right then and vacuum a lot I used to have the most disgusting spider problem and i thought i was anal about being clean but once i clean picked up things off the floor that didn't belong and neating things up it went away by vacuuming your sucking up some of the bugs it eats and if you kill a spider put it in the outside trash because other spiders will come and feed off of it and don't leave food laying around because then other bugs will come and the spiders will eat them.

We have an old house and the basement is full of run-of-the-mill spiders, not many throughout the rest of the original structure - even the attic. But, we also have an addition which tends to have more vibrant arachnid life (for this area - nothing poisonous). We have wolf spiders and jumping spiders and others I've yet to identify. Some are skittish and others are bold. None are too bothersome, though I do "rehome" them to the outdoors whenever I can.
But really, as much as I like them, the jumping spiders are a little freaky - they WATCH you!

I use a dehumidifier in my basement and have seen less centipedes as a result. Spray Windex on your baseboards - it will at least keep centipedes away (though centipedes feed on the spiders - but I'd rather have a spider around than a centipede). Like you, I am terrified of spiders. Call an exterminator, just not those commercial places that charge an arm & a leg.

pest control told me they don't have anything for spiders - suggested moth balls

There is a wealth of free information that most people are totally unaware of.

Almost every state university has what is known as the "Extension Service"

The primary purpose of your state university extension service is to conduct experiments and testing in such areas as soil preparation, soil conservation, crop management, controlling insect pests or wildlife pests etc primarily for agricultural purposes, however they also have extensive libraries of bulletins and factsheets on Lawn & Garden and the Home.

The bulletins and factsheets are downloadable in PDF(Portable Data Format) and do require the Adobe Acrobat Reader program to open the files, however acrobat reader genrally comes prepacked on most computers and if you don't have it there are hundreds of sites where you can download that free as well.

As an Example:
Here is the Home page for Ohio State Univerity Extension:

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION HOME PAGE
http://ohioline.osu.edu/

Here is an Ohio State Univesity Extension "Factsheet" titled:

"Spiders in and around the House"
Free 5PG PDF download
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/pdf/2060.pdf

This bulletin has nice colored illustrations of the different types of spiders to aid you in identifying what type your dealing with and they offer complete data on how to resolve the problem.

I personally much prefer the extension bulletins because they offer a complete non-biased fact sheet rather than a long advertising hype trying to get you to buy into a product of service that may or may not work.

We have a lot of spiders, mostly smallish, very fast, black ones. My cat thinks they are delicious.

I was bitten by a brown recluse that hitched a ride in my nephew's toys (they are from down South). Those bites are horrible. I still have a white scar on my hand. It looked like I was burned with a cigarette - round and skin totally gone.

Sue, do you know the name of that black spider?
I sometimes get the plain old slow-moving grey spiders sitting in corners, but this morning a black, very fast spider (about 1/2 inch) tumbled out of my bath towel! Yikes!!!
Aren't those outdoor spiders?

C.

Lotsa spiders in my house, outside, and in detached garage. Not a wooded area, but is "rural" just outside the city limits. Don't know if any are dangerous to humans, haven't had any known incidents thus far (2.5 years). Also lots of ants, fireants, but they tend to stay outside except when seeking higher ground during heavy rains. Had a nest of 'em get into the attic and were coming through the bar and interior wall between kitchen and family room. Exterminator took care of that. Also had fireants in the bed one day, coming through a weep hole and along the wall. Didn't know it until that *evening* when I found them on/under the pillows. Then I realized it had started in the wee-morn hrs because I developed some stings on hand (I typically sleep with one hand folded under the pillow).

I've heard there's nothing can be sprayed as a preventive to keep spiders away, just to kill what's there at the time of spraying. There's a company in this area (I assume it's a national/franchise outfit) called No More Spiders or something like that. It's a spray nozzle system installed under the eaves, porches, patios and so forth, with a supply tank and timer that triggers spraying on whatever scheduled cycle is appropriate (I assume at least every few days).

This has been a bad year for spiders, they seem to like my daughter's room the best. I dust them and their webs off the walls every night. And they come back.
We are on a wooded lot. She is starting to not like to sleep in her room. Hopefully they will end once the cold sets in.

Anyone else have a bad spider year?

I just can't help it - they freak me out. The other day, there was one hiding in the sneaker I left by the front door. Ugh!

There are a variety of them inside, and I know there are black widows outside. This does seem to be a bad year for them.

I did get a spider bite last week on my arm. It itches like crazy now. Luckily we do not have poisonous spiders here in northern IL.

My 17 year old daughter had 12 spiders near her in one day. She carries Raid in her car. I killed three today in my bathroom. Little blach ones. Most spiders are not poisonous. And they do a decent job at keeping bugs away.

USE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH!!! It is completely natural & nontoxic & effectiveness lasts forever (as long as the dust doesn't get washed away or it's too damp). It is safe for people & pets if you use the FOOD-GRADE kind of Diatomaceous Earth (NOT the kind that is used in swimming pools). Just sprinkle some of it lightly in areas where the undesired insects are likely to walk through.
D.E. will kill almost ALL insects that encounter it, though, so be careful where you use it--you don't want to damage the environment by killing too many beneficial bugs such as earthworms.
You can find Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth affordably at some feed stores or garden stores ($10 for 1-3 lbs, $50 to 50 lbs at Steve Regan feed & garden stores). You can also buy it online at places like: http://www.earthworkshealth.com/products.php?gclid=COCEjLvhlacCFRQ8gwodmzprcw or http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

Here is a link that might be useful: One Diatomaceous Earth Retailer