LESLIE: Now we're going to talk to Joe in Oklahoma who seems to have some unwanted, eight-legged visitors - some spiders.
Are they gross? Are they everywhere? Tell me about it.
JOE: We have a rather large, stucco house and it's illuminated in the front with some - with a lot of lighting. The problem that we have is that spiders get up in the upper crevices, spin webs and cobwebs, and the only way I've been able to get rid of those things is just knock them down with a brush and a very, very tall ladder. I've asked the exterminating people if there's something that I might spray or they might spray to keep the spider families down but yet something that would not stain the stucco. And they ran from that question. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: (chuckling) Yeah, right. (all chuckle) "Oh, no. Don't hold us responsible." (all chuckle)
JOE: But if there's something that I might use - a pesticide or something. I really have to get up and knock those things down probably every six or eight weeks during the warmer months.
TOM: Do you have any idea what kind of spiders they are, Joe?
JOE: No, it's just a good garden variety and they spin enough webs and that traps all the lightning bugs. And I really have no idea. They're all different species, is what it looks like.
TOM: Well, the good news is that we can probably help you get rid of the spiders but then you're going to be infested with all the bugs that they didn't eat.
LESLIE: Yeah, that they keep away from you.
TOM: (chuckles) OK, Joe. So if we want to get rid of these spiders, first of all you have to understand that the spiders are there because there's an abundant food source with all these other insects.
JOE: Yes.
TOM: So that's why you're having such an issue. Most professionals will tell you to do exactly what you're doing to control them but if you want to do something that's going to last a longer term than that, then you're probably going to use a chemical control. Now there are various products on the market that are used to control spiders. They usually contain diazinon; they can contain malathion, tetramethrin, or other pesticides. But they all have to be professionally applied.
JOE: Yes.
TOM: It sounds to me like you're not talking to the right pest control operators, in terms of getting guys that just don't want to do this for you. Most of the insecticides, by the way, are diluted thoroughly with water, so the risk that it's going to stain your stucco is probably fairly small. But if you want to do something that's going to have a longer-lasting effect, you're going to have to use a chemical control because simply blasting them away with a water hose or knocking them down with a broom is not going to do it.
LESLIE: Well, there's also a non-chemical option and it's a product called the Cobweb Eliminator. And you would use this in areas where you're noticing spiders have a heavy web-building process. If they keep coming back and keep building spiders - and keep building webs, rather - no matter what you do, this product, the Cobweb Eliminator, if you use it on a quarterly basis outdoors, it can help control the amount of webs that they'll build; so in turn, sort of keep them away from that area.
And if you want some more information on that, you can go to a website called PestProducts.com. And if you click under their spider heading, there's a whole bunch of information on non-chemical procedures as well as chemical procedures to try to control the situation.
JOE: Great. That gives me several options, then.
LESLIE: Alright, well good luck.
JOE: Alright. Thank you so much.
TOM: You're welcome, Joe. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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