Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Just moved into new house, returned from holiday to false widow filled house of horrors

30 replies

ObviouslyNotAMandy · 04/08/2026 08:52

Just returned from long weekend in UK, 4.5 hour drive. Tired. Front door has 2 fat false widows dangling from it- very welcoming! Went inside and they are EVERYWHERE! I’m a massive arachnophobe and cannot cope with this, they are literally everywhere, dc room included. What on earth?!
For some weird reason, loft hatch wide open, could be where they’ve come from, but why the hell is it open? I definitely didn’t leave it open.
Icing on the cake… I’ve had some sort of algae bloom in my beautifully maintained, filtered pond and all my fish are dead. What the hell?!
Feels like a house of horrors, no idea what to do about the spiders so stayed at mums last night as worried about dc. We were only away 4 days!
Dream home now feels like Addams family home! Anybody got any suggestions on how to deal with invasion?

OP posts:
Greekgoddess2000 · 04/08/2026 08:53

Burn the house down?!

AnotherVice · 04/08/2026 08:54

Greekgoddess2000 · 04/08/2026 08:53

Burn the house down?!

I second this.

Globaltravel · 04/08/2026 08:57

Contact a pest control company for advice?

maudelovesharold · 04/08/2026 08:59

This is the second recent post about a clean filtered pond being left for four days and turning into an algae covered fish graveyard. What’s going on?

SusanJJ · 04/08/2026 09:00

How awful! Do you mean this is a new build house? Is the loft hatch faulty? Yes pest control could help.

Endorasdress · 04/08/2026 09:04

It took me a moment to realise you were talking about spiders! I thought you were being victimised or pranked, with black veiled dolls or something. I clearly read too much strange fiction.
No idea on the spiders, but your pool is not being aerated enough in this heat. We used to add a couple of extra pumps to keep the water moving in summer.

OhFeyreDarling · 04/08/2026 09:10

Greekgoddess2000 · 04/08/2026 08:53

Burn the house down?!

Oddly enough when I'm reading this the ad in the page is this, it's highly flammable and if you've seen Arachnophobia you'll remember the scene.....

Just moved into new house, returned from holiday to false widow filled house of horrors
wishingonastar101 · 04/08/2026 09:21

Dyslexia brain read 'false windows' and thought you had been broken into....

ObviouslyNotAMandy · 04/08/2026 09:22

Ha! Thanks everyone for the arson advice, that’s really how I feel right now!
Ive just done some research and rentokil offer a false widow control service, but the fact they seem to take it quite seriously has unnerved me even more.
Not a new build, although we did some alterations before moving in which might have unsettled the little buggers, all I need now is a pissy poltergeist who doesn’t like the changes as according to Danny Robins, this is a thing too!

OP posts:
NotSureNeedSomething · 04/08/2026 23:23

What area of the country is this? Praying it’s no where near me in North East 😭 I need a good bit of country between me and this horror

numbandexhausted · 04/08/2026 23:25

Greekgoddess2000 · 04/08/2026 08:53

Burn the house down?!

Agreed I would not be stepping back in that house EVER cos I could never trust this wouldn’t happen again.

ObviouslyNotAMandy · 05/08/2026 20:49

NotSureNeedSomething · 04/08/2026 23:23

What area of the country is this? Praying it’s no where near me in North East 😭 I need a good bit of country between me and this horror

Don’t worry… south east!

OP posts:
Gettingbysomehow · 05/08/2026 20:51

Nuke the house from space.
Also get it thoroughly fumigated by experts.
Bloody hell.

Gettingbysomehow · 05/08/2026 20:53

I suspect your house has been built on a native american graveyard....even if its in the UK.

fizzyroselemonade · 05/08/2026 20:54

Greekgoddess2000 · 04/08/2026 08:53

Burn the house down?!

I 100% would do this

Just moved into new house, returned from holiday to false widow filled house of horrors
Ineffable23 · 05/08/2026 20:56

Crikey. I'm not anti spider, I'll pick most of them up with my hands, but even I would be a bit stumped at an entire house full of false widows!

Kingdomofsleep · 05/08/2026 20:57

maudelovesharold · 04/08/2026 08:59

This is the second recent post about a clean filtered pond being left for four days and turning into an algae covered fish graveyard. What’s going on?

The drought I think

Growlybear83 · 05/08/2026 21:04

I think they lay their eggs between May to July, so they have probably hatched during the period you were away. I am very scared of spiders and can’t imagine how scared I would be if it was me. They can also give you quite painful bites. 😬😬

notafraidofthebigbadwolf · 05/08/2026 21:06

Buy 2 or 3 cans of Indorex flea spray. Hoover and then spray on carpets, curtains and back of sofa and beds etc. I do this every August and it really helps. Spiders don’t like it. Good luck!

Bananacrepewithnuts · 05/08/2026 21:09

Globaltravel · 04/08/2026 08:57

Contact a pest control company for advice?

This. Now.

BelleEpoque27 · 05/08/2026 21:09

Can you buy a spider catcher and systematically evict them?

I'm not keen but we have one living in our conservatory, it never moves anywhere but I wouldn't want it in a bedroom. They probably did come from the loft. I wouldn't leave them in the house, just because they can give a nasty bite.

Bananacrepewithnuts · 05/08/2026 21:10

ObviouslyNotAMandy · 05/08/2026 20:49

Don’t worry… south east!

Where SE. Nowhere near me I hope!
London Kent Essex?
X

HereForTheFreeLunch · 05/08/2026 23:56

Cool the water down and aerate the water in the pond. Some of the fish may recover.
The fish in my friends pond seemed dead during the heatwave but quite a few recovered overnight and even after a day or two

Hotwheelsletsrace · 06/08/2026 00:01

This is stuff of my nightmares. I didn't think this was even possible, new fear unlocked now 😭 We have a loft and a basement that could be full of them in this old house!

StopGo · 06/08/2026 08:43

Obvious answer is that someone has been in your house and the loft. Did you change the locks when you moved in and who has spare keys? Pond issues are due to the heatwave. Algae is rife in the south east. Sorry to be so boring.