Woodlice in house

[curious000george]

Does anyone have any tips to prevent woodlice from coming into my house!? They come in, walk around for about a day then die (I guess because it's not damp enough for them). I don't know how they get in, whether they come from outside or are breeding inside but they are in every room and are driving me mad!

I know conkers are supposed to keep spiders away, but what about woodlice? I'll try anything! Thank-you :)

Watching as I sometimes get them and I have an irrational hatred of them.
I had overcome it, until a gerbil bit one and a load of tiny baby ones crawled out from underneath

I had woodlice in my old house.

found out that the previous owners had laid laminate flooring over old carpet which was pretty damp.
As soon as we got rid of that there were no more woodlice.

might be worth investigating where they are coming from.

woodlice feed on damp wood which is mouldy and rotting. They have to lay their eggs in wet conditions.

If you have them in your house, most likely there is a water leak affecting a timber floor. This usually happens in a bathroom or under a kitchen sink, but can also be a radiator pipe or (more rarely) roof or window leak.

If you have them in every room it is probably damp under the floor. Have you got plenty of airbricks? Are they choked with dust and cobwebs?

I think I know where mine come in, under the patio door there is a very badly fitted sill with gaps galore. They stopped coming in when we put a rolled up fleece along the gap, but is it going to be okay to just fit some wood to block it up or is more investigation required?? Thanks

We get earwigs and ants.
In my old house we got silverfish and woodlice.
In a previous flat I used to get slugs.

I've always ignored them.

Ivhav wood lice too, I'm not liking the sound of PigletJohns post they aren't here all the time though. Are you sure they aren't just coming in for day trips or some other innocent reason?

onedogatoddlerandababy

you can seal gaps with silicone sealant, available in a colour to match the sill or mortar, or for large gaps, expanding foam first, which can be knifed off flat and painted or sealed top prevent it degrading from sunlight.

However any sealant must be applied so that it does not prevent water draining out of the gap, if it can get in somehow. Modern plastic doors and windows usually have concealed rainwater drains, you can find them by opening the window and dribbling water into the frame from a teapot, see where it comes out.

FoxSticks

Do yours appear during or after rain?

Thank you it's not the actual frame to the door, but the wood/brick underneath the sill, gaps used to be covered by skirting/carpet which has since been removed.

Mine also tend to appear after the rain holds breath for fear of something even more sinister but prays that they're just taking shelter

if it's after rain, there is probably a leak which encourages them to march into your moist home.

I'm not sure to be honest - maybe during the rain? Is that bad?

It

It

It

I

It suggests that the inside of your house gets wet when it rains outside. This is wrong, your house should be waterproof.

Perhaps you have paving sloping towards the house, or a leaking downpipe or gutters.

Your house should not be damp enough for woodlice to like it. They are not sheltering from the rain.

Ah crap.

Find where they are coming in and block hole. I get them - they are either put outside again or in a pot plant - aint their fault they wandered in. But I don"t mind a few critters .

Ah crap.

But we have no smell of damp and concrete floors under the laminate, damp proof course isn't compromised, all PVC windows and doors, not sure where the wet wood is

Actually I may have an idea and I may have read your opinions on this before wood for the woodburner, but we do only buy kiln dried stuff.

And OP, apologies for hijacking this

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. Yeah I don't mind them either, it's just because they come in and die, so our beige carpets look like woodlice graveyards and I'm forever having to hoover them up!

I had thought that because they do die when they come in (after about a day), it's because it isn't wet/damp enough for them to survive. Is that not right? I don't think we have damp anywhere but maybe will need to investigate further.

It is interesting though about the rain. We do seem to have had ridiculous amounts of them this week, hence my original post, so maybe that's due to the heavy rain we had all week.

Laminate floors are made of woodpulp, I don't know if woodlice will eat it if wet, but you might see bulges or blisters if it swells. It could also be damp skirting.

I wouldn't expect very many to invade from outside.

Could your woodshed be damp or have an earth floor?

Thanks PigletJohn, don't think it's the shed as pretty certain that's not damp or near enough to the house, we do have laminate throughout the downstairs though. I haven't noticed any bulges but will look closer. Thanks again!

I was thinking, could the wood in the shed be damp and harbouring wildlife, which then gets carried inside?

Ahh, we don't store the wood outside, but it's all kiln dried, so I believe naive and want to stay that way that this means nothing lives in the wood. But the chucky pigs don't come from there, they def appear from under the patio doors. Will check the floor for ominous bowing/blistering and if all good, will block up the gaps and rejoice in the icy cold air no longer chilling my ankles

Hi am anyone help plz we moved in our home about a year one half ago just before summer time and one day I seen a woodlice in small room didn't think to much in to it and then more and more appeared this went on for a while then near xmas it got less and less so we thought it had stopped but it didn't then we noticed the filling summer it got bad again we then realised it was when it was really sunny they were all over bed room so i put powder down think there coming up cavitys or floorboards

Do you know where abouts the woodlice are getting in to your home from? If you do then i would recommend spraying this around the area where they are coming from and this will kill them off and stop them coming back.