My basement is getting zerg rushed by millipedes

[vi edit]

Arg. My basement has an infestation of hundreds if not thousands of these little critters. You can't take a step without crunching on the carcasses of little currled up balls of the dead ones...or a nice juicy crunch followed by a small splatter of the still living ones.

It's an unfinished basment and the slab has shunk and peeled back from the foundation walls enough to leave a gap that you could maybe fit a butterknife blade in.

These guys are crawling in through there.

I spent all weekend caulking all of those gaps...sealing all edges around the sliding door and windows, and swept up all the dead bodies and smooshing all the living ones.

But they still are finding ways in

They are mostly harmless...don't bite...eat things...or really come upstairs in the living area. But having hundreds of dead little currled up bodies on my basement floor isn't the most appealing thing having to clean up daily.

Anyone fought these things and won?

 

[Schadenfroh]

Any pesticides you can spray? You could also introduce predators...

 

[midwestfisherman]

I have no helpful suggestion, but I love the title of this thread!

 

[highland145]

Tell them bastards you have a home warranty and GTFO.

Nuke em from orbit.


Sorry, Vi. I got nothing.

 

[TwiceOver]

Have your house sprayed, inside and out. I haven't seen a live bug in 3 years.

 

[BeauJangles]

My parents had the same problem a few years ago. Their basement is from the 1930s and isn't made with concrete blocks. None of the walls are even and there are all sorts of cracks and crevices where water and bugs can seep in. We spent the better part of a month going down there and patching up any cracks we saw.

What really helped was working to eliminate the runoff that ran up against the foundation and forced those little bastards in through the cracks. We did that by paving over a big patch of dirt on one side of the house and doing some creative landscaping.

 

[Genx87]

Siege tanks, call in the siege tanks!

 

[vi edit]

Any pesticides you can spray? You could also introduce predators...

Since it's indoors, and in the basement where the AC is and circulates smells from I didn't want anything really wicked. So having the high levels of smartness that I do...I went with the kid safe mother approved non-toxic to puppies and full of sunshine and smells like bubble gum and roses ecosmart bug spray that I saw at home depot....

http://www.amazon.com/EcoSMART-Home-...d_sim_dbs_bt_8

The reviews don't do this stuff justice. I used maybe a 1/3 of the bottle in my basement and it practically killed my poor wife who's pregnant and has uber sensitive olfactory nerves right now.

This stuff is HORRIBLE. It was 95 degrees the other day and crushing humidity. And I had to open the windows up to try and air out the house. Walking inside the house was like getting punched in the face with boxing glove covered in Vicks vaporub with cloves sprinked on top of that. Even two days later it's not noticable when you've been inside for a while...but walk outside and you come back in and notice the obnoxious minty odouroma that's lingering all through the house.

So between the choice of eye burning and headache inducing mintalicious "ecosmart" and cancer causing bug slaying juice...I think I almost choose cancer.

Uhg.

 

[edro]

Are you talking about the little "ball bugs"?
Are you sure they are coming in through those cracks, and not some other place higher up near the ground level?
I doubt they would burrow all the way down (6ft+).
Most bugs enter in near the ground level, through openings in the outer floor joists (whatever those are called).

 

[metalfacepc]

I would check to make sure there isn't water seeping into the walls, if the walls are made of wood of course. This happened to me, it was terrible. The bugs were eating away at the wood because the windows weren't installed correctly (which allowed water to seep in and then came the bugs).

 

[vi edit]

Are you talking about the little "ball bugs"?
Are you sure they are coming in through those cracks, and not some other place higher up near the ground level?
I doubt they would burrow all the way down (6ft+).
Most bugs enter in near the ground level, through openings in the outer floor joists (whatever those are called).

Not pill bugs...tanks...sow bugs...whatever else they are called. These are millipedes.

EDIT...little fuckers are Portugese!

http://www.howtoaustralia.com.au/pest_control/a_guide_to_managing_black_portuguese_millipedes/

I've got a walkout basement and nearly the entire back of my basement is exposed. The top sill of my basement wall where the floor joists sit has spray foam insulation in it. So if they navigate in through that then they win an award for persistance.

 

[Imp]

Does RAID spray work on them?

Gubment recommendations... Half-way around the world:

http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=605

 

[Exterous]

Tell them bastards you have a home warranty and GTFO.

Yeah - I thought American Home Shield was supposed to shield your house or something. Does that mean they don't protect agaisnt nukes either??!!

I think you are supposed to spray the outside perimeter of your house or something as to keep them from getting back inside but IAMAT

 

[DrPizza]

Remember the story about the house that's become uninhabitable because it was the secret garter snake convention grounds or something - hundreds upon hundreds of snakes no matter what they did to get rid of them? You built your new house on the secret millipede convention center. Sucks to be you, there's nothing you can do. They're going to crawl up your nostrils and into your ears while you're sleeping.

 

[highland145]

Does RAID spray work on them?

Gubment recommendations... Half-way around the world:

http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=605

I'm liking the low voltage tape and the nematodes for the long run.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Set your basement on fire.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm with Shadenfroh. Install spiders.

 

[vi edit]

Yeah - I thought American Home Shield was supposed to shield your house or something. Does that mean they don't protect agaisnt nukes either??!!

Unfortunately American Home Shield was only a metaphor. Oh and only works on American/domestic threats. These guys are natively from Portugal and not covered under the TOS.

 

[BillGates]

This stuff keeps insects out of my house/basement -- spray a stream around the perimeter of your foundation (outside) and spray a pattern around your windows/doors, a line across floor of the garage door opening, around the inside perimeter of your garage, etc. Once a year does the trick. They also make granules that you can shake into mulch, etc along the perimeter of the house.

http://www.amazon.com/Ortho-0195310-.../dp/B000A0LFLS

Also works indoors and has very little smell.

 

[Exterous]

Remember the story about the house that's become uninhabitable because it was the secret garter snake convention grounds or something - hundreds upon hundreds of snakes no matter what they did to get rid of them? You built your new house on the secret millipede convention center. Sucks to be you, there's nothing you can do. They're going to crawl up your nostrils and into your ears while you're sleeping.

I've heard about those! They make you susceptible to suggestions made by an old genetically engineered guy marooned on a planet

Unfortunately American Home Shield was only a metaphor. Oh and only works on American/domestic threats. These guys are natively from Portugal and not covered under the TOS.

Sounds like an illegal immigrant problem. Off to P&N with this thread!

 

[BurnItDwn]

Remember the story about the house that's become uninhabitable because it was the secret garter snake convention grounds or something - hundreds upon hundreds of snakes no matter what they did to get rid of them? You built your new house on the secret millipede convention center. Sucks to be you, there's nothing you can do. They're going to crawl up your nostrils and into your ears while you're sleeping.

It is refreshing to see that there are still optimists left in this day in age!

 

[vi edit]

Remember the story about the house that's become uninhabitable because it was the secret garter snake convention grounds or something - hundreds upon hundreds of snakes no matter what they did to get rid of them? You built your new house on the secret millipede convention center. Sucks to be you, there's nothing you can do. They're going to crawl up your nostrils and into your ears while you're sleeping.

I know you are joking but I actually know people that had to move out of a house in Phoenix after they were beseiged by scorpions. With scorpions if they get into a house and declare it their own, nothing short of a full on nuking from orbit will get them out. I've heard the same thing about brown recluses around the southern part of the US. At least my pest doesn't come with a side effect of skin necrosis and a chance of death.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Nuke your foundation with chemicals -- spray the foundation and out about 12" to 18". Next, spray the baseboards of the basement walls. The problem will be gone in no time.

 

[xanis]

can of hair spray + lighter

 

[blackdogdeek]

Siege tanks, call in the siege tanks!

no efficacy against melee range. install bunkers and fill with 3 fully-upgraded marines and a firebat.