Woodlice in ground floor bathroom

Howdy folks.

Wondering if anyone can help me with this. It's annoying me now.

We built an extension onto the house about 2.5 years ago. We're effectively a Semi-D in that we have that alleyway of space at the side of the house. We used that alleyway to add to the extension (wrap-around L shape) and the side of the house is now a long narrow utility room, and bathroom (shower, sink, toilet).

The bathroom (and utility) are effectively a corridor with doors separating them. Neither have windows, and the bathroom has an extractor fan.



The bathroom always seems to have some woodlice hanging around though. Usually (not always) in the same general area, which isn't beside any obvious holes or cracks, and rarely do they appear directly beside the extractor fan (which makes me think they're not getting in that way).

The bathroom is often dark as the door is closed, but is always well ventilated after anyone's had a shower (fan left on, door left open etc) and there are no signs of plaster peeling, mould growing, etc. that would indicate any real dampness issues.


Can't see any silverfish, or anything else that would generally be attracted to dampness.

I'm a tad bewildered as to how they keep getting in, or what they want. At first I put it down to the extension having just been built, and the plaster being wet, etc. that might have been attracting them, but that's well since dried out by now.

Has anyone faced off with them before and won? I don't generally mind bugs or such, all part of the food chain somewhere along the way, but it 'bugs' me that they keep re-appearing despite no obvious reason to be there. The utility room has clothes drying in it now and again, over a radiator (again always ventilated to avoid dampness/mould etc.) so in theory this would be a much damper room, yet I never see them in there.



(I should probably also point out they may not actually be woodlice. Possibly another variation of woodlice or baby woodlice? Normally when I see a woodlice out and about, they're about this size, but these ones are tiny, tiny ones. A couple of mm long. Just long enough to barely able to make out their scales, but they're very much woodlouse in appearance).

Anyone any ideas?


Cheers

feargale

Epsom salts.

feargale

feargale wrote: »

Epsom salts.

Do you mean like barter with them? Offer to buy them Epsom salts if they leave me alone?

(Really though - I've no idea what you mean).

listermint

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Do you mean like barter with them? Offer to buy them Epsom salts if they leave me alone?

(Really though - I've no idea what you mean).

This made me chuckle .





Could be coming in from the shower drain. That may not be filled in correctly under the pan ?

feargale

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Do you mean like barter with them? Offer to buy them Epsom salts if they leave me alone?

Yes. That's exactly it. But don't engage orally with them for the present.. Put your offer in writing and leave the note where they can read it. Social distancing must be observed at this time.

colm_mcm

You must communicate with them through the medium of dance.

feargale

colm_mcm wrote: »

You must communicate with them through the medium of dance.

Not if time is of the essence. Dancing during Lent is frowned upon.

auspicious

Forgive the smart asses on here. There's always one or two. Or three. They're no addition.
Anyways get an extension lead, roll it out and connect it to a stereo and play any Daniel O'Donnell album on repeat. They can't stand that noise and will have disappeared a few gardens away by the night's out.

Class MayDresser

I'd recommend some Latin music ahead of wee Daniel OP, they'll be doing the conga out the front gate before you know it.

okidoki987

For a minute there, I thought I was in "After Hours!:rolleyes:

browner85

Could be silverfish ? Maybe google a pict of them

feargale

[Deleted User] wrote: »

(Really though - I've no idea what you mean).

Pouring salt barriers across entry points such as under doors dehydrates the woodlice resulting in death. I said epsom but any salt will probably be ok. Epsom salts are recommended for outdoors as being less harmful to crops, flowers etc.
To dispose of residents, brush them into a dustpan or hoover them up using the appropriate nozzle.
Another method is to put some bait such as potato or cheese on newspaper, place it in a damp place, and wrap it into a parcel when disposing of it. Woodlice love damp, and their presence may indicate faulty apertures.
If you have a resident spider show him hospitality. They are natural predators of the woodlouse.
The woodlouse is not harmful to humans.
I had a different intruder and I googled a very good American site. I can't remember the name but it belonged to a wildlife organisation. They took a jaundiced view of professional help, saying that there are money-making rackets out there, and expressed a preference for simple remedies. My personal experience would tend to bear that out.
If you want to know more google British Pest Control Association (BPCA) or familyhw.com

P.S. Hairspray is a recommended substitute for salt.

feargale

Smartasses? Would dumb asses who rush to post before reading the thread, however short, in full, pause to reflect please.

auspicious

Surely if you read the post again you'll see it was self deprecating humour. I've reflected. You should too.

Seth Brundle

feargale wrote: »

P.S. Hairspray is a recommended substitute for salt.

Eh? But insects don't have hair!

Ah I've enjoyed the silly humour to be fair.

I took a pic of one I seen on the wall. Crappy photo but can anyone ID him? Keep in mind he's no wider than 1mm and no longer than 5mm. He's tiny. Killing them can be as simple as just tapping my finger on them.

Looking at him closer i can see he's less like a lice and perhaps more built like a centipede or millipede or such (loads of little legs?)

jippo nolan

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Eh? But insects don't have hair!

But it might give them a permanent wave 👋