Bugs in the garage

[allinon72]

What do you guys do about bugs in the garage. My garage isn't the most airtight so there are opportunities to entry, and boy do they ever. I've tried the pellet stuff that you put outside, doesn't seem to help. I've tried the spray as well, no change. Nothing is more annoying than to have spiders build webs all over your garage and then sawdust and other debris clings to them. They flies are everywhere as well.

 

[RossABQ]

Be thankful that's all you have!

 

[G_P]

I have found there is practically nothing that will stop spiders from coming in and building webs.

At least spiderwebs catch the flying bugs!

 

[Swegner99]

I have Barons pest come and do my house once a month, we live in the desert so they do the inside and the outside because of scorpions and spiders, including the garage inside and outside. I have zero spiders or anything living in my garage. The only thing I do get is gnats and flies, especially at night with the doors open and the lights on, but that's unavoidable. Have you looked into any kind of commercial pest company?

 

[Displaced Hokie]

I've had good luck with sticky traps.

 

[srmofo]

I spray some ortho **** twice a summer. Its in a red and white bottle. I ditch the sprayer on the bottle and pour it into a bug sprayer and apply 2 feet out and 2 feet up.

The only issue I have is it seems to drive the bugs that are already inside the perimeter further inside. After killing a handful the first week I dont see them again for a 3~ months or so. I try to get the second spray in before the cold weather comes and they decide to move in

 

[gatewaysysop]

What do you guys do about bugs in the garage. My garage isn't the most airtight so there are opportunities to entry, and boy do they ever. I've tried the pellet stuff that you put outside, doesn't seem to help. I've tried the spray as well, no change. Nothing is more annoying than to have spiders build webs all over your garage and then sawdust and other debris clings to them. They flies are everywhere as well.

Surprisingly I don't seem to have much problem with this, at least anymore, even though AZ has its fair share of spiders and scorpions and the like. I have good vinyl seals around the outside of the garage door, plus the brush style seals on the inside of the garage to form a barrier on both sides. I topped it off with one of those sloped, heavy duty rubber seals that goes along the floor and mates up against the rubber seal at the bottom of the garage door.

It's not fool proof, but it works pretty good and was relatively cheap all around. My theory is the less light those buggers can see spilling out, the less likely they are to follow it inside. I have yet to need any chemicals to keep the pests at bay.

I should say, none of this was done to mitigate insect problems, it was more about keeping the wind from blowing through the edges and debris from sneaking underneath the door where the concrete was every-so-slightly uneven.

Hope that helps!

 

[Slowbra]

Surprisingly I don't seem to have much problem with this, at least anymore, even though AZ has its fair share of spiders and scorpions and the like. I have good vinyl seals around the outside of the garage door, plus the brush style seals on the inside of the garage to form a barrier on both sides. I topped it off with one of those sloped, heavy duty rubber seals that goes along the floor and mates up against the rubber seal at the bottom of the garage door.



It's not fool proof, but it works pretty good and was relatively cheap all around. My theory is the less light those buggers can see spilling out, the less likely they are to follow it inside. I have yet to need any chemicals to keep the pests at bay.



I should say, none of this was done to mitigate insect problems, it was more about keeping the wind from blowing through the edges and debris from sneaking underneath the door where the concrete was every-so-slightly uneven.



Hope that helps!

Can you take pictures of your seals and post them up? I'm looking for examples on how best to handle mine. I have your typical wether seals, but still have small gaps on the bottom corners.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Can you take pictures of your seals and post them up? I'm looking for examples on how best to handle mine. I have your typical wether seals, but still have small gaps on the bottom corners.

Not my picture, but same idea as you see in this post.

Whole thread is here.

 

[ScaldedDog]

I use the same Ortho Home Defense srmofo uses. Put it around the perimeter inside, in the garage and finished basement, then put it on the outside perimeter. Works well, but I have to repeat monthly this time of year.

Mark

 

[ddawg16]

Get a dog that likes to eat them.

 

[nicksnothereman]

What do you guys do about bugs in the garage. My garage isn't the most airtight so there are opportunities to entry, and boy do they ever. I've tried the pellet stuff that you put outside, doesn't seem to help. I've tried the spray as well, no change. Nothing is more annoying than to have spiders build webs all over your garage and then sawdust and other debris clings to them. They flies are everywhere as well.

You keep your garbage in there? That's probably the deal. Usually I just spray the entry ways and don't get more than a couple every 6 months. When I used to store recycling in there (i.e. beer cans/bottles) out in the open in crates in there got a bunch of bugs. Water bugs/roaches and crickets love beer...they call them "water bugs" because if there's water on the floor they go after it.

The garbage get's you flies, flies get you spiders. Water/beer will get you roaches/water bugs and probably crickets. Spiders don't bother me at all but rarely get them in the garage, I'll get sand scorpions sometimes and less lethal variety of spiders (non widows). I've found spraying a lot makes it a lot worse because you end up killing the predatory bugs and the pest bugs reproduce quicker. Don't ever spray for/kill crickets they're voracious omnivores, eat a lot of the pest bug larvae.

 

[ajchien]

I use the same Ortho Home Defense srmofo uses. Put it around the perimeter inside, in the garage and finished basement, then put it on the outside perimeter. Works well, but I have to repeat monthly this time of year.

Mark

I also use ortho home defense. I spray around the walls of the inside of the garage, and around the exterior perimeter of the house about every 6-8weeks.

 

[johnny]

I use glue traps.

 

[JoeFin]

Malathion is your friend

I have the concentrate which you can't buy anymore in Home Improvement stores. 4 Tablespoons to the gallon of water in a bug sprayer 2x a year and your problems are solved.

Here is the MSDS info

Malathion is an organophosphate parasympathomimetic which binds irreversibly to cholinesterase. Malathion is an insecticide of relatively low human toxicity. Wikipedia

Brand name: Ovide

Formula: C10H19O6PS2

Pregnancy risk: Category B (No evidence of risk in humans)

Soluble in: Water

IUPAC ID: 2-[(dimethoxyphosphorothioyl)sulfanyl]butanedioate, Diethyl

Drug class: Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor

Other drugs in same class: Edrophonium, Donepezil, More

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have found there is practically nothing that will stop spiders from coming in and building webs.

******** !

Buy some bug bombs at your big box store. The kind that you turn on and leave the building. Let of 2 or more (depending on the size of the garage) when you lock up at night. Sweep them up in the AM !

They may only last a month or 2, but you will be bug and spider free !

 

[Arps]

earwigs...lots of em

 

[Standard Gas&Oil]

Malathion is your friend

I have the concentrate which you can't buy anymore in Home Improvement stores. 4 Tablespoons to the gallon of water in a bug sprayer 2x a year and your problems are solved.

Here is the MSDS info

Actually this product breaks down very fast in sunlight and stinks really bad, I would not use it in or around shop. The best approach would be to seal cracks to exclude pests, hire a professional company to treat 4 times per year, a lot of new products will last 90 days and will be odorless.

 

[JoeFin]

Actually this product breaks down very fast in sunlight and stinks really bad, I would not use it in or around shop. The best approach would be to seal cracks to exclude pests, hire a professional company to treat 4 times per year, a lot of new products will last 90 days and will be odorless.

Spray in the evening and by morning there will be NO Bugs

For all extensive reasoning Malathion appears to be an equal opportunity eradicator. No Black Widows, No Wasp, No Ants, No Mosquitoes and screw the guy down the road raising Bees.

And Best of All - its Safe

Been using the stuff for years and it does a good job. As far as the smell - I only notice it when I'm mixing it up and its really not that bad.

But of course - should you decide to hire a Pest Control Service, I am sure they can provide you with some thing a little more toxic

 

[pantera1]

Demon WP. Best thing out there. Months of bug control. We use it in the spring (spidys, ants, hornets, etc) and in the fall (Asian beetles).

We buy it at our local elevator, but see Amazon, TSC, and others sell it too.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/demonreg;-wp-insecticide-in-water-soluble-packets-4-pk

 

[MDSPHOTO]

I use glue traps, but they catch a lot of other things beyond bugs, lizards, snakes, birds and anything else looking for bugs as a meal. I posted a trim kit sold by HotRod garage to see if anyone had used that to keep them out but no one had tried it.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I spray the soffit vents and the block foundation with Ortho Home Defense inside and out twice a year and also have 3 of those electronic pest repellers plugged in. Have very few bugs in an area teeming with spiders, due to the lake. See them once in a while, but not much. Give the house the same treatment. Place was lousy with spiders when we bought it.

 

[stingray1966]

I second on the electronic pest repellers plugged those things REALLY work used to have mice water bugs all kind of bugs had NOT had one bug since I plugged in one of those

 

[Standard Gas&Oil]

I second on the electronic pest repellers plugged those things REALLY work used to have mice water bugs all kind of bugs had NOT had one bug since I plugged in one of those

These actually do not work, If so I would be out of a job. The restaurant and hotel industry would use these inexpensive plug ins exclusively without having to use professional spray treatments or rodenticides for rodents. I had a customer use these in a 250k+ R.V. and rats chewed all the leather seats and destroyed that thing. Had these dumb things plugged inside vehicle and 12 more inside shop.

 

[jwvess00]

I use glue traps.

Hi there!

Just before I moved into my house I had a local pest control company spray the place. To combat spiders they placed a bunch of glue traps in the house, one by each floor register. These are flat rectangles covered on one side in the stickiest stuff I've ever encountered.

About 15 minutes after they left, I heard a loud crash and some panicked yowling. I went into the dining room to find one of my cats had stepped on the glue trap, gluing herself to it. In her attempt to get away from it she managed to also glue herself to a dining room chair.

That was the end of the glue traps where the cats are allowed to go in the house...