A lake house is meant to be a peaceful retreat, a place to relax, recharge, and soak up the beauty of nature. But nothing ruins that calm faster than finding spiders lurking in corners or hanging from rafters. While spiders do play a role in controlling insect populations, they aren’t exactly welcome guests indoors, especially when some species can pose a risk to people and pets.
Why Spiders Love Lake Houses
Waterfront properties are a magnet for insects like mosquitoes and gnats, which thrive near standing water. Unfortunately, that also makes them prime hunting grounds for spiders. The abundance of prey, combined with quiet, undisturbed nooks and crannies, makes lake houses the perfect hideaway for these eight-legged predators.
While most spiders are harmless and even helpful outdoors, they can quickly become a nuisance inside. And depending on the species, their bites can be more than just an itchy inconvenience.
Smart Ways to Keep Spiders Away
Tidy Up the Landscape
Spiders love dense vegetation, tall grass, and cluttered garden beds, all of which provide perfect hiding spots and easy access to your home. Keep the grass trimmed, pull weeds regularly, and avoid letting plants or shrubs grow right up against the house. Overhanging tree branches should also be trimmed back to reduce spider traffic from the canopy to the cabin.
Seal the Gaps
Tiny cracks and gaps around windows, doors, and siding are open invitations. Inspect your home regularly for holes in screens or weather stripping that’s come loose. Use caulk to seal gaps and consider adding door sweeps to exterior doors. Even without surrounding vegetation, spiders can be blown in by the wind and find their way inside through the smallest openings.
Skip Harsh Chemicals
Reaching for chemical sprays might seem like a quick fix, but it can backfire. Pesticides often kill both harmful and beneficial insects, which can disrupt the natural balance around your home. Without their usual prey, spiders may scatter temporarily, but once the insect population rebounds, they’ll be back, and in larger numbers.
Create a Less Inviting Space
At the end of the day, the best way to keep spiders away is to make your lake house less appealing to them in the first place. Keep it clean, reduce clutter (especially in basements and attics), and stay on top of regular maintenance both inside and out.
Your lake house should be a place to enjoy the water, not worry about what’s crawling under the porch. With a few simple steps, you can enjoy a spider-free stay all season long.
You probably already know that most people are repulsed by the simple sight of cockroaches. If you are personally dealing with a cockroach infestation, the feelings of disgust are probably even more intense. Unfortunately, the cold winter weather tends to be one of the reasons this pest ends up in your home in the first place, according to Any Pest. While you may know that you don't want to share your home with cockroaches this winter, there are a number of interesting facts about this pest that you've probably never heard.
Because of the high amount of traffic and the versatility of the facilities, pests are naturally attracted to long-term care institutions. Many nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and other care facilities include on-site kitchens and cafeterias as well as private rooms and common spaces. All of these places are susceptible to attracting pests because of the presence of food, water and viable habitats.
During the summer months, some people love to go camping with family and friends. Yet this fun trip can be ruined with a few unwanted visitors, most notably different types of bugs. Crawling spiders, hungry mosquitoes and buzzing flies can become annoying quickly. How can you avoid these pests when you're outdoors? Consider these tips to keep bugs out of your campsite.
Carpenter ants can chew through the strongest studs and stringers in a house as they hollow the wooden beams out for nesting. The resulting damage can weaken the home's structural support and require expensive repairs. Professional pest control workers can remove a colony of ants, but the best practice for homeowners is to learn the best ways to keep out an ant colony and prevent the problem before it begins.
As the weather cools, you'll probably see fewer pests than you did during the warmer months, but that doesn't mean they're all gone just yet. Some insects can actually come out in full force during the autumn, while others might seek refuge in your warm home. Here are some key tips to keep in mind as fall gets underway:
As the middle of summer approaches, you need to be vigilant about keeping your garden free of pests. Many insects breed during the summertime, which means they're on the lookout for great places to lay their eggs. For many bugs, that means near a source of food. In fact, some species of insects will lay their eggs inside budding vegetables and fruit so their larvae have something to eat as soon as they hatch. That's why you have to keep harmful bugs out without damaging the bugs that could help you, such as bumble bees.
You might have noticed that, with the exception of the kitchen, you find more pests in your bathroom than in the rest of your home. This is because insects and rodents see the bathroom as a convenient watering hole. Pests love leaky pipes and standing water because these offer them a hydrating oasis in the otherwise dry biome that is your house or apartment. And if your bathroom develops mold, all the better for pests, who may eat fungus or use it to lay their eggs.
The kitchen is largest gathering place for pests in a residential home. The reason is simple: pests can grab a bite to eat and take a sip of water while they're here. And when they find such a bountiful place, they will return home to their nests and report the finding - before you know it, your whole pantry is a buffet for ants! The problem could get even worse if a piece of food falls somewhere and begins to rot. Similarly, fruit and vegetables you bring into your home may be harboring unseen pests waiting to hatch.
