Cellar Spider Extermination Richmond VA

Cellar spiders are unique because they aren't just a pest—they are often an indication of a much bigger problem. While they are harmless to you, seeing a lot of them in a crawl space or basement should absolutely be a concern.

In my experience, you will rarely see a cellar spider in the main living areas of your home. They thrive on moisture, so they stick to:

• Basements and cellars

• Crawl spaces

• Dark, damp corners of a garage

They build massive, messy webs that look like a "canopy" stretching across your floor joists in basements and crawl spaces. These webs aren't pretty or organized; they are dense, sticky, and designed to catch anything that falls in.

Here is a secret most homeowners don't know: if you have a significant amount of cellar spiders in your crawl space, you might have a  Powder Post Beetle infestation or even a Old House Boring Beetle infestation.

The beetle larvae live inside the joists and sub flooring of a crawl space or basement and eventually exit through small holes. Cellar spiders seem to know exactly where these beetles are going to emerge. I’ve often seen spiders blanket an entire area of a crawl space with webs before there are even any visible exit holes from the beetles. When the beetles finally come out of the wood, they get caught in that dense canopy of webs. If I see a crawl space full of cellar spiders, the first thing I do is check for a beetle infestation.

The unique trait about cellar spiders is how they protect themselves. If you disturb their web or get too close, they won't try to bite you. Instead, they start spinning in a fast, circular motion or vibrating so hard that they become a blur. It’s a defense mechanism meant to confuse predators.

Despite the old myths you might have heard, cellar spiders are not dangerous to humans. wWhile they do have a tiny amount of venom to kill their prey, their mouths are far too small to effectively bite a human. They are completely harmless to your family and your pets.

They are in your home for two reasons: moisture and food. If your crawl space is damp and full of other insects (like those wood-boring beetles), the cellar spiders will move in and stay forever. To get rid of them, you have to address the moisture and the other pests that are inviting them in.

If you have a major cellar spider problem, Targeting them directly isnt the right way to go about it. That won't solve the issue. To get rid of these spiders for good, we have to address two main things: moisture and wood-destroying beetles.

Cellar spiders need humidity to survive. If your basement or crawl space is damp, itll be an uphill battle getting rid of them. However, unlike many companies in Richmond,  we DO NOT RECOMMEND FULL ENCAPSULATION. It’s often overkill and can cause its own set of problems. Instead, we suggest these practical steps:

• Seal the Vents: This keeps the humid air from getting under your home and gets rid of poor circulation.

• Commercial Dehumidifiers: We recommend installing a unit that is actually big enough to handle the square footage of your space.

• New Poly Sheeting: If your vapor barrier is old or torn, we lay down new plastic to keep ground moisture away from your floor joists.

• Sump Pumps: In extreme cases where water actually pools, a sump pump is the only way to keep the area dry enough to stop the cycle.

If those spiders are there because of Powder Post Beetles, we have to treat the wood directly. We use a professional borate product that soaks into the wood to kill the beetle larvae.

The Right Way to Treat:

• Remove Insulation: We can't get the product where it needs to go if the insulation is in the way.  It has to be removed.

• Remove Old Plastic: We also remove the old poly vapor barrier. If we don't, the borate product will drip down and turn into white crystals on top of the plastic. It looks messy and unprofessional, so we start with a clean slate.

• Power Treatment: We use a power sprayer to ensure the subfloor and every single floor joist is completely covered.

Once the treatment has completely dried, the wood is protected. At that point, we can finish the moisture control steps and you can have new insulation installed. Once the wood is dry and the beetles are gone, the cellar spiders will have no reason to stay.

Once we’ve handled the moisture and treated the wood, the results are very simple: no more spiders and no more beetles.

• The End of the Cycle: Since we took away their food and their favorite environment (the dampness), the cellar spiders will disappear on their own.

• One-Year Warranty: For the wood-destroying beetle treatment, I provide a one-year warranty. I stand behind that work because I know that once that borate product is in the wood, those beetles aren't coming back.

• A Healthier Home: You’ll notice that the crawl space or basement feels different. It won’t have that "heavy" damp feeling, and you won't have to worry about those thick canopies of webs every time you go downstairs.