Slugs / snails in my living room?!

[FusionChefGeoff]

Suddenly been noticing slug or snail trails across the carpet! Could they be hiding inside or am I looking for holes they could be coming in?? 1930s semi detached house so no obvious ways for them to get in I am baffled!

They usually come under small gaps in your front door frame or letterbox.

They like to get in through any gaps between the outside and inside. We had a load last year in our old house and we traced their entrance to a small gap by the pipe that takes the water from the washing machine out into the drain. It was a small gap that had formed and they were coming in there! So look under your sink, round your washing machine or dishwasher and anywhere where there may be gaps from outside to inside. Even small ones, they can squash through. 😬

We closed up any little gaps we could find, including round doors and letterboxes etc and that stopped the little slimy bastards.

However, if they are hiding inside, you will just need to keep chucking them back outside until you have got rid of them all. Closing up the gaps will stop them coming in but if you already have some inside, once nighttime comes they will just go walkies.

My DH got up one night in the early hours on a slug hunt one night and threw 4 out. A few nights later he chucked out another and then that was it. No more. We had got rid of all the ones that were already inside and blocked up the gaps to stop more getting in.

Could they possibly be hitching a ride on your pet? Our cat used to bring them in years ago 🤢🤢

No pets and the trails are only in the living room so don’t think it’s doors. DH is a fan of NFL so often up at stupid o clock watching games I will get him on slug watch!

Slug watch is the key! When we lived in a Victorian terrace we used to find slug trails in the back room. The wall under the window was quite damp.
DH got up in the night to see what they were up to and they were on his drinks coaster which had splashes of his very sweet coffee. Seems that’s what they were after! Yucky!

We get these too. Moved in last year and I’m sure it’s after we started doing work. We blocked gaps in the kitchen and by the back door but still get them. Sometimes get trails in hallway near kitchen other times in back lounge. It’s really weird. We’ve removed some.

When I lived in a Victorian terrace we used to get them, pretty sure they came between small gaps between skirting boards and floor. Get them in this house too, 1920s, they seem to get in where some pipes come into the house at the front.

Have a look at the outside of the house. Find the DPC and the airbricks. How high are they above ground level?

I’ll move all the furniture and have a look at the outside walls on Saturday. It’s just odd that we’ve lived her for 8 years and this is the first time it’s happened and nothing has changed?!

We had a gap in the corner of a room between the skirting and floor. I only found it because it was also drafty. Blocked that and fortunately no trails since.

We found them coming up in the cupboard under the stairs from a small hole in the floorboards by the stop tap.

They were living the high life under the house because of a leak on the incoming supply pipe was making the ground under the house damp and slug friendly. As soon as the old lead pipe was replaced and the ground dried up we never saw them again.

Yes, a leak is common, but more often in kitchens and bathrooms.

This is so weird. We’ve had this problem! Coming down to trails everywhere. We’re all usually well in bed by this time but I’m up late due to usual circumstances. Read this thread and thought oh right I’ll have a look around then! One huge fat slug less than half a meter away 🤣

This made me think about something that happened in the 1960s when we lived in an old terraced house. Mum kept finding slime trails on the carpet and they thought it was the cat having flu or something at first. Eventually my dad took the floor boards up in that room and it was seething with slugs underneath.

They poured salt on them and my dad did the clean up (unusually brave for him I must say)
I never saw this because I was only a child at the time but they told me about it afterwards.
That house was rented and they needed us to move shortly after that.

Strangely enough we get an odd one now and then in our current house by the back door.

Slugs are normally a sign of rotting or damp wood somewhere. It could be under the floorboards or be due to a leak by a window.

They stopped coming into a relative's house after she started using a dehumidifier.

I’m on the slug hunt at night, they seem to party from 1-2 am and I’m like the party police, slinging them out. I know where they come in and I’ve put salt down, but it’s like they jump over it to gate crash, what the hell ? It is this warm wet weather that gets them going. Strangely, none of my plants are affected. My house is very old and insects and creepy crawlies love it. It’s a very desirable resident, and I have to say to anyone staying for the night that there are 2 rules I have. No complaining about the wild creatures outside or inside the house 🤣

Tiny holes basically, through gaps in cement if you have solid walls is likely, cracks also which in a close to 100 year old building is likely

Urgh I am really not looking forward to moving our huge couch and investigating properly tomorrow