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I have hundreds of crickets in my basement every fall. I see them crawling up my foundation so when I looked underneath the siding I see this. There is what looks like ripped plastic paper but then just a large gap into my basement around the entire house.

Is there supposed to be a direct entrance into my basement under the siding? (Maybe for moisture reasons or something?) If not what should I fill this with. Would like to do it once but do it right.

If the gap is supposed to be there could I install a mesh like this to help with the problem?

enter image description here

enter image description here

JPhi1618
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ACD
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    Have you considered renting your basement to a lizard family? – longneck Nov 26 '19 at 16:52
  • I know this is old but did you find a solution? I have a similar problem but with rodents. If you used hardware cloth, how did you attach it? Just curious for update. – nwilson5 Dec 31 '21 at 23:46

3 Answers3

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You can buy rolls of 'bottle or bristle brush' type material in different diameters. Essentially plastic bristles with a twisted wire core, simply cut to length and pushed up into place.

Originally designed to deter mice, but it'd work for crickets just as well. enter image description here

handyman
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  • Where can I buy rolls of this? Googling just brings me to handled brushes. – ACD Dec 02 '19 at 14:58
  • Try "rodent brush" in your favourite flavor of search engine. But, it does look like the suppliers are mostly UK based. I suspect Google tailor my results based on my location. Hopefully you may get different results depending upon your location. I've seen them called 'filter brushes' too... – handyman Dec 03 '19 at 16:26
  • A more time consuming alternative is to use stiff, fine metal mesh (do you guys call it 'hardware cloth'?) and cut it into narrow strips and fold them over to create a kind of mesh angle iron. Push these up into the gap with a drywall blade and they usually grab and stay in place pretty well. – handyman Dec 03 '19 at 16:29
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Bug/Insect screen is typically used here. It is made of nylon and typically installed before the rainscreen but after the building paper.

Fresh Codemonger
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That is 99.456% likely to be a plastic house wrapping such as Tyvek found in this picture:

enter image description here

Source: https://seamlesschoice.com/wp-content/uploads/tyvek-vs-fanfold-insulation-01.jpg

DO NOT seal the bottom with any sort of impermeable caulking nor spray foam. The bottom should remain permeable so that if water gets behind your siding for whatever reason then it has an escape path.

Albeit tedious, you can choose to install that mesh if you wish because it is permeable. I am really not sure how you would attach it to the foundation though.

Not really a permanent solution but you can also try spraying https://www.ortho.com/en-us/products/bugs/ortho-home-defense-insect-killer-indoor-perimeter2-comfort-wand around the perimeter of your house and see if that improves things.

MonkeyZeus
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