Spider Infestation On My Boat

[eric-on-edge]

Good morning. With boating season approaching in my area, I would like to prevent an on going problem we have every season. We have Spider Investation on our pontoon boat continously through out the summer. I'm not talking just a few. Sometimes there are hundreds. We have our boat on a lift on the water. Is there anything I can do to prevent this besides using pesticides?? My wife and I clean our boat twice weekly and spray pesticides and we still have this problem. We will be taking our grandson and other childern out alot this summer and I would rather not be using pesticides or other chemicals. Are there any ideas out there??

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

You may not be using the right pesticides. If you are going to buy your own products, buy something with Permethrin in it. It will be more expensive, but Permethrin is a safe product that once appied cannot be transfered to humans or pets when contacted. You will want to treat all areas the spiders tend to infest. I assume the boat is always in the water, you must be carefull not to allow spray drift into the water, most pesticides are harmful to aquatic life. The only non chem approach you can take is a manual means of removeal, like a portable vacuum. There is nothing that can be done to repel the spiders, as they usually end up on boats from drifting in by air on web strings used as a sort of "balloon". I am a professional exterminator and I am asked this question all the time about boats, as I treat a lot of lake front property. I spray the houses with a professional strength mix of Permethrin and the spiders literally fall off and stay off. Every once in awhile I'll do a boat, but I usually have to do boats for wasps. If you do use pesticides, be carefull, keep kids and pets away while appying, and allow to dry before contacting treated surfaces. Good luck...

 

[pburchett]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

Thanks for asking the question Shifty as spiders eat me up every summer as if I am spider bait. Thanks to you Jason J for the reply of which ingredient to look for . Watch out spiders as I will be out in full force waiting for the black widows to fall dead. <br /><br />What do you reccomend for ants, inside (with children) and outside the house which is on a slab.<br />Thanks

 

[donzi5]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

Try placing fabric softener sheets [the kind you put in the cloths dryer] around the boat. Gets rid of spiders and other unwanted critters. I like Downy.<br />Donzi5

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

pburchet, it depends on the ants. You best bet is to have the house professionally inspected and treated. Each pest has its own unique problem and its own way it has to be dealt with. There is nothing on the market for the home owner that works for any great length of time or even works at all. You also have to think about cost. My average price to treat a house for general pest problems is $75. A home owner could easily waste that much on poor performing product, exposing themselves needlessly to sub-standard chemical formulations, and waste the dollar value of their time. What you get when you have a pro do it is the latest technology, newest safest products, and the newest techniques. The individual applying it is trained and licensed, and has seen just about every pest problem you can imagine. Gone are the days of the gross dirty fat exterminator who is illiterate and slopping DDT or some other highly toxic junk around.<br /><br />BTW, all those wives tales about dryer sheets and mothballs and plug in sonic things are all bunk. If a pest problem is reduced, its sheer coincidence, not those objects. I am not saying that because I do this for a living. I am just speaking whats true. Good Luck...

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

Hey JasonJ!<br /><br />Good contribution! Good to have you on board! Is there anthing I can do to keep the odd spider out of a mobile home. These are so small I can't see them around, but the ceiling is covered with fine webs. Would a "No-pest" strip detere them?

 

[terrysulli]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

Hi Jason,<br /><br />Thanks for the info on the spider control, I guess we all have them in our boats. As for the $75 treatment for a home thats a great price. Around the north east you cant even talk to an exterminator unless your willing to sign up for one year contract??? Hundreds$$$$$

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

HOT SHOT advertises Spider Killer. They claim it kills them on contact and the residule lasts up to 3 or 4 months. Is this a waste, or is there truth is what they say about it?

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Spider Infestation On My Boat

SS Mayfloat, You might get a few weeks out of it, you would have to keep applying it. The downfall to that is you are exposing yourself to the pesticides more often than is advisable. That is the main difference between the products the professionals use and the store bought products. The products we use are better engineered for our protection. We are exposed to this stuff day in and day out, so it has to be more safe. The stuff at the store, while may have lower percentages of the same active chemical we use, has a lot of inactive nasty ingredients that do nothing to kill pests, but smell nasty and have a fair amount of toxicity. The products we use have a minimal or no odor, and are much less toxic to humans and pets than the store products. There is a reason why a can of Hotshot costs $5 and our products cost hundreds to purchase.<br /><br />Terrysulli, We do have some expensive treatments as well. A homeowner can expect to pay hundreds for a Carpenter Ant treatment, but we do not do contracts. We have different programs for different problems and the homeowner can stop whenever they want. 90 percent of our clientel is from the south, as we are a resort community. They are used to the California pest problems, and are used to paying, and have money to pay. I probably only see a handful of skanky dives in a year, the rest are 5000 square foot "summer cabins" with the sweet boat tied to the dock and the Hi-Def home theater and all that. Its nice dealing with the nice places, those skank-huts are depressing...