New Build house, loads of silverbacks

Senna

Just wondering if people have encountered these small white insects that are seemingly common in new builds?
Our house (we rented) was completed last june and now we're starting to see them on the walls and floors.
I've heard that they are only found in houses that weren't left to dry for long enough, dont know how true that is.
Should the landlord do something about them? he hasn't been informed yet.
We were also told they get worse in summer, so i'd like to do something about them now.
Thanks

tbh

do you mean silverfish?

silverbacks are gorrillas I think.

to quote from the link:

* By far the most effective way to be rid of silverfish for sure is to keep an area or room tidy, limiting the possible number of breeding grounds they have.
* Ensuring showers, baths etc. are rinsed clean and free of any residual toiletries that may attract hungry silverfish.
* Leaving the bathroom door open after a shower to lessen the humidity
* To capture silverfish, trap in small glass containers -- silverfish cannot climb up the smooth inside walls.
* Silverfish can also be caught by sprinkling plaster on a wet white cotton cloth put in a corner overnight, near the silverfish's hideout.[citation needed]

Lethal

* It is important when filling crevices in which silverfish are living or may potentially live to use a filler material which is either toxic to insects, or does not contain materials which would supply the silverfish with a source of food.
* A 1:1-ratio dispersion of borax or boric acid and sugar is a reliable bait to kill silverfish (relatively non-toxic to non-insects).
* Adults can be killed by freezing, but it is difficult to kill the eggs.

How Strange

Tell the landlord.

You can get a pesticide treatment for them as well.

I used to live in an old flat which had them...urrgghh. I hated the little f*ckers. Damp conditions would encourage them but I've never seen as many as what you describe. To me that is a pest control problem for the landlord.

Senna

No not Silverfish, these things are much much smaller, just like white dots that move.
I've talked to a few people and someone said their called 'plaster spiders' or something similar. They come from wet plaster, or plaster that hasn't been dried properly.

Also just found out a relative of my partners had to move out of her house for 2 months while it was fumigated, the local pest control company told her they are inundated with calls to irradiate them. Her case was fairly bad and they first noticed them a full year before they called the pest company, the builders had got them de-humidifiers and said that these would get rid of them. Before they moved out, they were in every drawer and surface of the house.

Its nothing to do with dirt or an untidy house, before someone says that, our house is imaculate.;)

SimpleSam06

tbh wrote: »

silverbacks are gorrillas I think.

Heh. I also thought his house had been taken over by elderly gorillas. No, what you have there sounds like booklice, I've seen infestations of them before. The best control method is to eliminate as much unnecessary dampness as possible (they are quite soft-bodied, and therefore susceptible to drying out in unprotected environments), and reduce clutter in the house. If chemical control is necessary, just about any off the shelf product labeled for household use should do. Book lice may also eat wallpaper adhesive.

tbh

good resource here if it is booklice:

http://www.northampton.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=251

A Random Walk

And if I did have an infestation of silverbacks what should I do? They've stolen my remote control and are guarding the fridge.

SimpleSam06

A Random Walk wrote: »

And if I did have an infestation of silverbacks what should I do? They've stolen my remote control and are guarding the fridge.

A few 1920s-era biplanes should do the trick.

Senna

A Random Walk wrote: »

And if I did have an infestation of silverbacks what should I do? They've stolen my remote control and are guarding the fridge.

Its alright now, they've given back the remote, but they've taken the wife.
I really like these gorillas:D

Silverfish

tbh wrote: »

do you mean silverfish?

Lies. I wasn't in anyone's house.

tbh wrote: »

* By far the most effective way to be rid of silverfish for sure is to keep an area or room tidy, limiting the possible number of breeding grounds they have.
* Ensuring showers, baths etc. are rinsed clean and free of any residual toiletries that may attract hungry silverfish.

* To capture silverfish, trap in small glass containers -- silverfish cannot climb up the smooth inside walls.
* Silverfish can also be caught by sprinkling plaster on a wet white cotton cloth put in a corner overnight, near the silverfish's hideout.[citation needed]

* Adults can be killed by freezing, but it is difficult to kill the eggs.

Oh steady now. :mad: