# Protecting Your Shop/House



## JR Custom Calls (Jul 11, 2014)

I did a search and didn't come up with anything, so thought I'd ask... how do you protect your shop (which, in some of our cases is a garage or basement attached to our house) from bugs and such associated with woodworking? 

I got to thinking last night after killing probably 5000000000000000 ants that came out of a log I was cutting up, that there has to be a better way than using the shop vac, then spraying them while they're in there. Also got me wondering what sort of problems I may be introducing in to the house. I haven't run across anything real nasty yet, just lots of ants, some beetles of some sort, and lots of tiny icky spiders. I have sprayed all of the walls, corners, etc in the garage with ortho home defense, as well as some ant and spider killer that I mixed up. Also sprayed that outside around the house. This was all prior to ever thinking about bringing something in with the wood, just the normal stuff to keep my wife from burning down the house if she sees a spider.

So... what, if any, steps do you take to protect your house from an infestation of bugs that you may or may not bring in with the wood?


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## Schroedc (Jul 11, 2014)

I spray one of the perimeter defense sprays regularly both inside and out plus the nooks and crannys in the corners of the shop, I also bag up pieces of wood that might have bugs in a heavy black trash bag and leave in the sun for a couple days. For me it's not quite such an issue as the house and shop are 4 miles apart but I'd rather not have a ton of bugs in the shop either.

Reactions: Like 3


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## NYWoodturner (Jul 11, 2014)

JR Custom Calls said:


> just the normal stuff to keep my wife from burning down the house if she sees a spider.


 She related to my wife?

Reactions: Funny 5


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## David Hill (Jul 12, 2014)

Hmm...might be more than one wife related--
Since scorpions and wasps are really common here, I "bomb" my shop about once/month, works pretty well.
Shop is not connected to the house, not air conditioned either (gets kinda warm in these parts)


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## JR Custom Calls (Jul 12, 2014)

Not sure bombing my shop would be practical once a month, but definitely something to keep in mind if I start seeing a bunch of critters. Just afraid of it getting in the house somehow. The twins room is right above the garage, and definitely not a chance I want to take.

Unfortunately, my garage isn't air conditioned either (or heated for tha matter). It's always 10-15 degrees more miserable inside (whether that means hotter or colder haha)


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## Blueglass (Jul 12, 2014)

My dad soaks boards that he is worried about down with mineral spirits. A wood working friend of his apparentlly has done this for years and so far, so good?


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## SubVet10 (Jul 14, 2014)

It is a constant war here. When it gets hot(ter) the roaches get in and when it rains, everything else. 
The big problem was rodents and solved that by getting sonic devices that plug into an outlet. 
Seems all our wives are related.


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## Kevin (Jul 14, 2014)

My wife hates everything except wolf spiders, one of the meanest looking spiders there is. But she understands they kill the bad spiders and most all other insects, so she lets them live. Everything else to her are mortal enemies. All women are related in a way. They were all born on Venus you know. 

I had a pet black widow I named Amandible when my kids were young. We called her Mandy. We used to feed her other spiders and watch her kill them and see the carcasses turn to dry sacs over the next day or so. One time I "fed her" a wolf spider. That was the end of Mandy. I thought black widows were at the top of the spider food chain but it seems wolf spiders rule. 

Jon I gave up the battle with the bugs in my shop a long time ago. As for the house, I encourage the wolf spiders to party hard and breed like rabbits.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Locksmth (Jul 28, 2014)

I live in the Northeast and we have like all of you bug problems .Found out the house we inherited had black carpenter ants so invested in Termite killer from the big orange store now I spray the perimeter once a year no more carpenter ants and also no ants or bugs .May be radical but we haven't had an ant or crawling bug since I did it and it killed all the Carpenter ants.

Reactions: Like 2


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## JR Custom Calls (Jul 28, 2014)

Carpenter ants being the ones with wings? Found a few when I started remodeling our downstairs half bath soon after buying our house (and prior to any woodworking going on). Scared me, because the house was just built in '07, and we had a pest inspection prior to closing. Haven't really thought much about them since. I do spray every spring/fall around the house though.


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