Short answer
A licensed pest manager, if you have a genuine problem rather than a normal number of spiders. The honest position: most spiders in and around a house are harmless, eat other insects, and a general spray kills them along with everything else. The cases that justify treatment are dangerous species around areas where children play, and heavy webbing infestations.
What to do before anyone arrives
- Identify what you have if you can. In most of Australia the species that warrant real caution are a short list, and a photograph settles it.
- Clear webs, cut back vegetation touching the house, and reduce outdoor lighting that attracts the insects spiders are eating. That is most of a spider treatment's lasting effect.
- Check where children and pets spend time outdoors, and whether that is where the problem is.
- Seal gaps around doors and windows.
What to ask when you book
- What species am I actually dealing with, and does it warrant treatment?
- What is being treated — the perimeter, the eaves, the whole garden?
- What is the effect on other insects, and how long does the residual last?
- How long before children and pets can use the area?
What changes the price
No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.
- Property size and how much of the perimeter is treated.
- Whether roof space and subfloor are included.
- Frequency, since these treatments have a limited residual life.
What you can do yourself
Is this licensed work?
Pest management is licensed in every state and territory.
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.
Common questions
- Who should I hire for spiders around the house
- A licensed pest manager, if you have a genuine problem rather than a normal number of spiders. The honest position: most spiders in and around a house are harmless, eat other insects, and a general spray kills them along with everything else. The cases that justify treatment are dangerous species around areas where children play, and heavy webbing infestations.
- Does a spider spray last?
- Residual treatments have a defined life measured in months and are degraded by sunlight and rain, which is why these are typically sold as an annual or seasonal service. Anything that makes a house permanently spider-free would have to be permanently toxic, which is not how modern residual products work.
Find a Pest Controller near you
1,396 pest controllers in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.
Who to hire for
- Who to hire for a wasp or bee nestFor wasps, a licensed pest manager. For honey bees, a beekeeper or a swarm collector — many will remove a swar…
- Who to hire for cockroaches in the kitchenA licensed pest manager. Identification matters more here than in most pest problems: small German cockroaches…
- Who to hire for birds nesting in the roofA pest controller who does bird proofing, and for a protected species, one who knows the state wildlife rules.…
- Who to hire for termites in the houseA licensed pest manager, and do not spray, disturb or break open anything you have found first. Termites aband…
General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.