Many of us dread hearing the word “spider”, but these eight-legged creepy crawlies are a reality during the summer season, especially for cottage owners. Whether they’re leaving cobwebs in your windows, doors, and siding or making their way into your home, spiders and their webs can be a real nuisance for Muskoka cottage owners. Spiderwebs can make cleaning your house a much more difficult task, making your cottage look like a Halloween horror house all summer long. If you struggle with cobwebs and spiders during the summer season, there are a few things you can do to minimize the problem.

Why do spiders gravitate to windows, doors, and siding?
Spiders are an important part of keeping other bugs away from and out of your home, but can be a nuisance to homeowners, especially if you’re particularly squeamish. Spiders can be found in and around just about every home in the country, meaning that millions of home and cottage owners deal with the problem each and every year. They tend to build webs in your cottage windows, doorways, and siding, making an unsightly mess that needs to be cleaned up on a regular basis.

Spiders gravitate towards windows and doors for the same reasons that other insects do – light. The light emanating from windows and doors in the evening and night attracts a wide range of bugs, which can become a pretty attractive home for hungry spiders looking for an easy and reliable meal. They often make their way onto your siding because it provides them with a safe home where they’ll be able to catch bugs that have made their way onto your property. Spiderwebs on your siding often collect dust and debris, leaving a scary sight that can be a real pain to clear away.

Clearing spiders off your siding
When clearing spiders off siding, it’s important to be careful not to damage your home’s exterior. This can be done by using a broom to clear away any low-lying cobwebs, and then using a garden hose to spray away anything that might be out of your reach. A steady stream of water from a garden hose will work to quickly and effectively remove webs, and doesn’t run the risk of damaging your siding like a pressure washer might. 

If you’re looking for a solution that will keep spiders away from siding, you can spray insecticide around your home once all the cobwebs have been removed, and work to ensure that grass, shrubs, and plants near your foundation and siding are kept trimmed all season long.

Keeping spiders away from your windows and doors
The biggest reason for spiders gravitating towards windows and doors is the light emanating from them. If you enjoy using lights in the evening and at night, the best way to keep spiders away is to simply draw the curtains whenever possible. 

This will cause spiders to search for food elsewhere, keeping your windows and doorways mostly free of our eight-legged foes. If you’re looking for ways to keep spiders away from windows, you can apply a vinegar wash (about ¼ white vinegar, ¾ water) on and around your windows to deter them from building their webs. Remember not to wash off too much of the solution, as this will counteract the entire point of the vinegar wash and remove the deterrent entirely.

How to keep spiders out of your cottage
Sometimes, no matter what you seem to do, spiders will make their way through closed windows and into your cottage. This can be a horrifying revelation for cottage owners, so it’s important to take proactive steps in order to keep them out. The main cause of spiders getting through closed windows is cracks in and around your windows, or windows that are simply showing their age.

Filling in cracks with caulk can keep spiders at bay, but might not do the trick if your windows are getting on in age. In this case, the best solution would be to professionally replace your aging windows to ensure that no cracks or openings in and around your windows exist, and that pests stay outside where they belong. Not only will your pest problem be a thing of the past, but your cottage will be more comfortable year-round.

The showroom at Muskoka Window & Door Centre features many high performance window and door products that will keep pests out of your cottage, and keep your home more comfortable all year long. For more information on the products and services offered by the team at Muskoka Window & Door Centre, get in touch with us today.