Help! Getting rid of basement bugs

[Tom]

How can I keep bugs and toads from invading my basement? The basement is an insect graveyard and a stomping ground for toads. There is usually one or two toads feasting on the bugs and worse, the toads leave droppings. Should I get the perimeter of the basement sprayed for bugs or should I run the dehumidifier every 24 hours? The basement walls and ceiling are finished but the floor is painted cement. I don't think the basement is too damp, however, it is a basement and sometimes it smells moldy. Even if it is too damp what can I do?

[Phisherman]

Check your gutters, downspouts, and grading for proper drainage. Clean out debris and items around the foundation to help keep it dry. Check for seepage or leaky pipes. A dehumifier and/or insecticide is just treating the symptom, although it may help.

[EL]

When I worked for a large semiconductor house in Dallas we had a dirt floor basement in one of the older buildings. I never saw anything that moved down there. The list of organometalics that were dumped there in years past was huge. It took care of the insect nd rodent problem.

There was a plan afoot to tear down this early building and rebuild. I pointed out the problem, and that once they dug they'd need to determine the contamination level. I suspect it would become their own Super Fund Site, not a good thing. A couple of years ago they abandoned rebuilding plans and moved in a bunch of functionaries to occupy the building.

No bugs or rodents though.

Boden

Tom wrote:

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) Should I get the perimeter of the basement sprayed :) for bugs or should I run the dehumidifier every 24 hours? The basement :) walls and ceiling are finished but the floor is painted cement. I :) don't think the basement is too damp, however, it is a basement and :) sometimes it smells moldy. Even if it is too damp what can I do? :) :) Depending on what insects you have may determine the treatment for them. Cutting down the moisture definitely won't hurt, so that might be where to start.

[mark Ransley]

Toads, well how do you think they got there. Holes in the walls. seal them up , remove toads, fumigate the place.

[Tom]

Hmm . . . I doubt I have holes in the walls. I'd probably have mud slides and severe water issues. I don't have a cover on my sump pit. A drain runs from the pit about 100ft to a river. Maybe they take a journey. I'll cover the pit. If only I could find some toxic waste in 55 gallon drums then I'd bury the barrells around the perimeter of the house. That's a great idea! That would take care of the weeds too.

[mark Ransley]

il bet the bugs and toads are from the river, you need a trap or something at the river or your pit will still have them and they will get in.

[Lyle Tuttle]

Hedge balls. Just place several in your basement, and the boxelder bugs and spiders are gone.....they don't smell, and you can pick them up free along the roads...at least in southern Iowa and Missouri

[e-mail] (mark Ransley) wrote in news:6803-3FC505C3-72@storefull-

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