You open the crawlspace door and see a ton of spiders and other crawly things

[Snapperhead]

What are you guys doing in this situation ?

Close your eyes and dive in ?

I carry a case of Hot Shot foggers

Toss a few down there and come back in 2 hours .....

House I was at other day had Ratts running around , that was creepy. I kept on eye on them and one on the unit

[socotech]

I just try to keep an eye on them and get in there with them. I can handle a snake but I can't stand a spider. I have been spider bit many times from working in plants.

[coolwhip]

Was in one years ago, took a broom with me and it came out looking like a world record Q Tip. Plucked one spider off the back of my neck after feeling its pointy legs crawling around.

Ever have a cornered wild squirrel jump on your head? I have twice in my garage....reminded me of the spider on my neck with its pointy toe nails.

[Tommy knocker]

When I was younger and invincible I would just dive in. Today? Forget it!! The fogger is a great idea!!

[jtrammel]

Use a stick to knock down webs and dive in

[tedkidd]

Tyvec suits are like $12.

Not much fun to wear when it's hot...

[jetstream]

Disposeable coveralls, bright lights, put cardboard or similar down if it's a crawlspace, and a broom, preferable the customer's to sweep away webs etc. I used a fogger once, found that spiders were dropping like rain from the joists around me, I'll never do that again. I hate the thought of a spider on me, but as long as they stay in their place all is well.

[tedkidd]

Chemicals that aren't good for a spider can't be too good for you.

[Snapperhead]

oh yes there are definately a bunch of dead bodies on the floor after fogging. I just flick them out the way and keep crawling.

If the crawlspace has plastic down and a good 4 foot high gap I dont bother with fog. Theres enough room to duck down and work. Its the really tight spaces I dont care for , where you have to belly crawl and its dirt. I then feel like the Perfect meal for critters.

I know couple boys ended up in the ER from spider bites.

[Hwolfe]

You could take a bottle of map gas with you and burn what ever gets close to you. Just don't burn the house down. Other than that never really thought about I just dive in head first. But then again I like to play with fire. Been known to catch myself on fire from time to time (accidentally of course).

[Hwolfe]

You could also tell the customer your not going in their crawl space until they get there infestation taken care of. Told one I wasn't going in his attic when it was 115 outside this year. He wasn't happy but I didn't go in his attic either.

[cavalieri85]

i have been bit by all kinds of stuff and have seen it all. rattlesnakes,coral snakes your everyday corn snake. and of course a wide aray of spiders. i havent been bit by all those things but did get it from a black widow that was hiding behind the control board on a 40 ton york condenser.

[tedkidd]

You could also tell the customer your not going in their crawl space until they get there infestation taken care of. Told one I wasn't going in his attic when it was 115 outside this year. He wasn't happy but I didn't go in his attic either.

"you go first". Lol.

[Aerovox]

Usually just hope they stay away from me. One house had hoarders living in it and their two foot crawl had an infestation of common house spiders:



Everywhere I looked I saw one and they scurried around in the open too instead of staying in their webs like normal spiders. Thats what I really hated. Those spiders infested because of the moisture problem the people had which also caused the ground to be covered in some kind of white web looking mold and the occasional mushroom patch. I felt like I was in some kind of weird alien movie.

Then another house we did a change out on, the homeowner wanted a lead put back up that kept falling down at the very back of his crawl where you had to crawl flat. The only problem was the black widows everywhere

[Brent Ridley]

I went to call this past July for a poor airflow. I climbed into the attic and found myself being swarmed by 15-20 bees. I climbed out and told them to call pest control.

I went back when the pest control guy/bee keeper was there and he had cut open the spray foam in attic to find honey combs! There was a colony of 50k to 60k bees living in this customers attic! Crazy!

But with spiders, I usually take a long screwdriver and move them accordingly.

[tedkidd]

Open or closed cell foam?

Open cell, right?

[Brent Ridley]

Open.

[ga-hvac-tech]

Most of my customers have newer houses with basements or slabs. And the attics are usually larger and not that tight.

I have come across a few houses with 'poor conditions'... when in serous doubt, the customer can make it safe or find someone else. Life is too short to take a chance with a black widow or a brown recluse, or rats/snakes or haunta virus.

Having said this... I do have a house to go to later this week with a 24-28" crawl... and I will need to go half way across (including over and under ducts) to get to the equipment. Probably have to go in and out 3-4 times for all the work needed. I think I will take my helper with me and let him do the 'pest patrol' first...

[Freightshaker]

Recently worked on a 15 ton Borg warner with a long abandoned rezner duct heater/ wasp high rise luxury sweet hooked on it. I was impressed how well a 6hp shopvac could fix that problem. Of course you need a few inches of water in the bottom of the vac. It worked good it was all I had. In crawls I just try to ignore the nature as much as I can. Maybe they will ignore me.

[monkeyspanners]

I can't stand those spindly spiders, did a dairy that was full of them, every time i lit the oxy the heat made it rain spiders on me...

Another site, found a wasp nest by a loft hatch, figure they'll leave me alone if i leave them alone as i make my way to the air handler, customer climbs ladder 'Hey theres a wasp nest!' starts hitting it ffs, yeah thats right wake them up for me.

I don't mind rats or mice, i do a lot of farm work so used to them!