Help! What to Do About Spiders in Basement?

Spiders live where there is spider food. Leave the spiders alone and you will never have other bugs to deal with.

This will shock some. I admire a spider's work. Some of their webs are quite pretty. I leave them alone for awhile. I've left one Web in the bathroom for a couple of years. It's on the window. I've watched Web after Web build up. Because it's in the window, I can see the layers. When there is moisture, it sparkles.

I actually see very few actual spiders. My daughter screamed when she saw spiders. My granddaughter, who now lives with me tells me when a spider in her way and I move it. No more screaming.

I do not understand being afraid of spiders. They are beneficial. Mice and rats is a different story.

Having spent many, many, many hours in our local nature museum,I learned is that the good news is that spiders are actually beneficial...they are the ones which actually catch and defeat the stuff you don't want in your house, e.g., centipedes. We don't have an enormous number of spiders, but when we do have them, I leave them alone to do their work.

Ugh, I hate spiders. We have some icky ones here that do get killed if in the house. I leave the more tolerable ones (like daddy long legs) in the basement because they are great at taking care of all sorts of spiders and bugs. I don't know where all the bugs come from, but we don't have enough to warrant an exterminator and we aren't going to hunt for every little hole either, so we just live with the occasional nuisance. We have these nasty big red ones that will actually come at us and one went through the washer with the laundry one time and came out alive. Yea, those die by any means necessary. Ugh.

There's got to be a way they are getting inside.
Cut off their access point(s) and you'll finally be DONE.
Look for cracks/holes and caulk or plug them up.
There might be holes in your air ducts.
If holes are big enough for mice (they can squeeze into some pretty small holes) - then use steel wool to plug it up - they won't chew through that.
An exterminator might be able to help you figure out how they are getting inside.

Additional:
I have nothing against spiders - or snakes or mice or crickets.
BUT they need to be OUTSIDE my house - NOT INSIDE.
Plugging up the access points keeps them where they belong - outside.

My sister has a contract with an exterminator. I think they come monthly. My sister never sees bugs.

I don't think you can plug up every tiny hole in a house to prevent them from getting in. You might do better to make it unpleasant for them.

This is a time when Google can be your friend. Here's one possibility that is harmless to kids and pets:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Spider-Repellent-at-Home

If you Google the benefits of spiders, the kids might freak out a lot less. Doesn't mean you want them all over the place, but they really need to calm down.

Does your child freak out? If so, I would start by being a good example - calm and matter of fact. When I see one in my house, I say to my kids something along the line of: Oh, this little guy is lost, let's get him outside where he belongs. Then I get an old plastic bowl (like an old butter tub), get him inside with the lid, and move him outdoors.

If you don't get worked up, maybe you can teach your daughter and her friends that insects are not things to be afraid of.

I think you can spray around with some essential oils. Maybe even have an essential oil diffuser going, if not all the time, then while she goes to bed.

My mom has an exterminator come every summer. She never has bugs or spiders because of this.

Set off spider bombs every few months. We do this in our storm shelter.

Cotton balls soaked in Eucalyptus oil scattered around.

I have a pest company come every month to spray inside and outside of the house.