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MARCH 01 2022 /
If someone were to make a computer model of your home and show all of the entry points that are big enough for spiders to pass through, you would probably be shocked.
However, spiders can easily find these holes and will use them to their advantage.
Spiders don’t view our homes the same way we do and spend a lot more time hanging out on our exterior walls, quite literally. And since they are so small, they can utilize any holes in the exterior of your home to find their way inside, holes you might not have even noticed.
Spiders also have a mobility that we as humans don't have.
They can scale our homes and explore our vulnerable rooflines without the need for a ladder. They can crawl under our decks without having to pull up boards up with a hammer.
They can explore every inch of your siding and exploit every gap. So right out of the gate, it is important to understand that it is extremely hard to keep spiders out of our homes. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try.
⭐ Damaged screens or gaps around screens can grant spiders entry into your home.
If you always keep your windows shut, that may be as far as those spiders get. But when carpenter ants, rodents, or other pests capable of chewing holes in the wood of our homes find their way inside, they can create holes that spiders can use to go from your window void into your wall voids.
⭐ Doors aren't always as well-sealed as you might think.
Some door frames can have tiny gaps that spiders can use to get inside. Spiders may also be able to slip past weather stripping on sliding glass doors or slide underneath doors that don’t have door sweeps installed on them.
⭐ Before finding their way into our homes, spiders often invade our garages by exploiting gaps around the garage door or by crawling in through the door when it is left open.
Once inside the garage, they oftentimes find small holes that have been overlooked as we don't put as much effort into maintaining the interior of our garages as we do with the interior of our homes. If you have overlooked holes in the interior of your garage, be aware that this could allow spiders to take advantage of ceiling and wall voids that connect through to the interior of your home.
⭐ Some homes have pipes or conduit that pass through their foundation walls.
These can sometimes have gaps around them or chipped mortar that spiders can use to gain entry to our homes.
⭐ Tree branches that touch the exterior of a home or hang over the home’s roofline provide spiders with quick and easy access to that home’s roofline, where there are many tiny gaps they can slip through to gain access to attic spaces.
⭐ Over time, chimneys can pull away from the side of homes and create a gap that spiders can use to get inside.
If you seal all of the potential entry points listed above, you will have fewer spiders in your home simply because there are fewer ways for they can get in.
However, even after eliminating these common entry points, spiders can still find a way to get inside. So, along with sealing entry points, it is important to reduce the spider populations near your home.
⭐ Spiders feed primarily on insects, especially flies.
If you have flies buzzing around your exterior trash cans, don't be surprised to find spiders creating webs there as well. To reduce flies and the spiders that feed on them, store your trash in sealed containers and routinely clean those containers.
⭐ Flies are also attracted to our homes by exterior lights, which is why you'll often find spider webs around light fixtures.
If you keep your lights off at night or replace exterior white lights with yellow lights, you can help resist flying insects and the spiders they attract.
⭐ Have you ever noticed a spider web in one of your windows? That is actually a very common place to find them.
This is because flies are drawn to the light inside your home. When they fly toward that light, they get caught in the webs that spiders leave on your window panes. Therefore, if you keep your shades drawn at night, you can help reduce the spider populations near your home.
⭐ Insects love plants.
If you have lots of plant life around the exterior of your home, you can expect to have spiders nearby. Spiders are attracted to the insects that can be found around plants, so everything that you do to reduce the population of plant-eating insects will also help reduce the number of spiders found around your home.
⭐ Many insect species are attracted to moisture.
If you have shaded areas on your property that get very little sun to dry them out, you can expect to have bugs crawling around in these areas.
And, in turn, you can also expect to have hunter spiders crawling around in these areas, searching for insects to feed on.
To reduce the moisture levels on your property, trim tree branches to allow the sun to dry the soil in areas that get a lot of shade, fix leaky fixtures, plumbing, and hoses, and unclog any obstructed gutters and make repairs to any gutters that are broken.
In addition, if you have a broken downspout that is allowing rainwater to run down your roofline, through your gutter system, and into the soil next to your home, this should be a top priority on your to fix list.
Some spiders don't squeeze in through holes in the exterior of your home, but are actually carried in on a variety of different items.
This can happen when you buy a piece of used furniture or pick up a free item off the side of the road. It can even happen when you park your car outside for a while and then pull it into the garage.
One of the most common ways spiders hitchhike into our homes is on trees and plants as eggs.
If there are spider eggs on a Christmas tree, when it is brought inside the warm temperature of a home can cause all those eggs to hatch and hundreds of spiderlings to emerge. And that’s a Christmas present no one wants to receive!
When the temperatures begin to drop in the fall, spiders often enter our homes for the winter. It is important to understand why they do this.
They don’t invade our homes to escape the dropping temperatures as spiders actually do quite well in the cold.
They actually invade our homes to gain access to the insects they like to feed on that take shelter inside our homes during the fall and winter months.
Therefore, if you want fewer spiders in your home, it is important to take measures to keep those overwintering insects out.
Even after following all the spider prevention tips listed above, you may still end up with a spider problem.
For the easiest and most effective spider control, reach out to us at American Pest! If you'd like help setting up a plan for your home, give us a call today.
We’d be happy to help protect your Maryland home from spiders and a variety of other home invaders!
