# Sealing foundation from slugs entering house



## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Startingover said:


> posted a year ago in carpentry forum how to seal baseboard from slugs coming into a bedroom. Ive always gotten 1-3 slugs a week. I find them dead on the carpet. I was advised to try an seal from outside. (30 yo brick house). What I've done meanwhile is to keep putting a line of Diamatious earth under the window. And inside around the room.
> 
> Bought a qt of premixed concrete and a tube of concrete caulking.
> 
> ...



Ayuh,.... The grade outside the house, needs to be Lowered,....

The dirt is too high,....

Also make sure it pitches Away from the house,....


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Pour some rock salt under the windows and doors, they won't cross that. Just a thought.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

I put salt around the bedroom. This house is slightly U-shaped so this bedroom is on the end with 3 exterior walls.

I have to be careful with salt outside as there is shrubbery in front of this window.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Startingover said:


> I put salt around the bedroom. This house is slightly U-shaped so this bedroom is on the end with 3 exterior walls.
> 
> I have to be careful with salt outside as there is shrubbery in front of this window.


I was afraid of that, I wonder what will eat slugs. I know you can place a plate of beer out and you can kill many slugs, they get over in the beer and drown. Well at least they die happy. LOL


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## LeakyHawaiiRoof (Oct 21, 2014)

I think toads and snakes will eat slugs, but both sort of freak me out so I'd rather not attract them to my home. 

I'm no expert in concrete and I don't have a clear vision of what your work area looks like, but let me give you my 2 cents (remember, free advice on the internet is worth every penny it costs):

Applying concrete to the wet brick should be ok. Generally, before applying concrete, the surface should be moisten to prevent the surface from sucking out the moisture from the wet/uncured concrete. Now, this assumes that the brick is wet because it is touching the soil and the soil is wet because of rain. If there is some sort of leak coming out of somewhere or there is a drainage issue, that should be fixed first.

Alternatively, IMHO, the easiest thing to do is apply some Corry's Slug and Snail killer around the area you think the slugs are entering the home. It isn't "organic" and is a very harmful to other animals, including dogs, but hot damn does it annihilate slugs.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Big jim, ducks eat slugs but none are roaming around here. The trouble with beer is then you're the party house and you end up attracting your neighbors slugs.

Leaky H.R., I wish I could stay awake and lay on the floor with a flashlight and catch a slug sneaking in since they're nocturnal. Living in Fla. we're used to creepy crawly things, but this is a nice guest room and it would freak out visitors. I don't have pets so will look for Corry Slug & Snail killer. Thanks. And thanks for the hint on the wet brick. I'll actually be applying it to the concrete slab right where it joins the brick. Thats where someone said there could be a seperation.

Of course nothing is ever easy for me. That's why I've postponed this task.

I thought I dug up a root so I kept pulling on it. It really looked like a root. But I finally realized no root would be 6' long an come up that easily. Its some kind of tube about 1" in diameter with wires coming out of it that continued along the front of the house.

Around that corner are a bunch of white pipes sticking out 14" which have something to do with the sprinkler. I guess these wires go into the garage ? I don't use the sprinklers. I'll turn off the breaker for the sprinklers and REbury this hose/tube thing with the wire in it.

Meanwhile I have this litte trench along the house. I hope to finish tomorrow.

Question: the foundation or slab where I dug away dirt is sandy since our soil is very sandy. Should I hose off the area where I plan to spread this concrete so it will adhere better?

Thanks


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## LeakyHawaiiRoof (Oct 21, 2014)

Startingover said:


> Of course nothing is ever easy for me. That's why I've postponed this task. . . .


 let me give you an empathy laugh, hahaha.

True conversation I had with my wife:

Me: Should I start replacing the _____ now?
Her: No, because it's late and something is going to go wrong.

So I waited until morning to replace the thing and sure enough, something went wrong. If I didn't wait, she wouldn't have had hot water until Home Depot opened.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

I'm very excited!

I may have found the problem. On the corner is a 30 year old shrub, 5' high with thick roots. One root, 3" inches thick is growing along and into the foundation and I think I can see a crack without even digging. 

I have a mini chain saw but perplexed how to cut this root away without cutting that wire I mentioned before (for the sprinkler) as that runs along the house also. They're very close to each other.

Or I'll cut the root at the base of the shrub and hope I can just pull it away from the foundation.

The wire has give to it so maybe I can hook it up out of the way. Yes, I'll make sure the breaker is off.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

. Hope this is what repair should look like.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

What the heck happened?

Checked my hard work this morning an the croncrete is gone. It slid down to the ground.

either it was too runny or I put it on too thick.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Didn't want to jinx myself by coming back here and announcing I fixed the problem. But, No slugs in guest room for 10 months. 

Of course in those 10 months the room was empty and it was easy to check. Now, one if my kids moved back (waiting to buy) and the room is wall to wall boxes and darn if we didn't find a slug!!! :vs_mad:

I'll repeat my previous procedure (from last January) of scooping a little sand away from brick and putting concrete on foundation joint.


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## Wildbill7145 (Sep 26, 2014)

Broken up eggshells. Non poisonous to other critters and the slugs cut themselves open on them. They also don't wash away in the rain.

Of course, this is just a temporary thing until you fix however they're getting in.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Wildbill7145 said:


> Broken up eggshells. Non poisonous to other critters and the slugs cut themselves open on them. They also don't wash away in the rain.
> 
> Of course, this is just a temporary thing until you fix however they're getting in.


Ayuh,.... I hear diotamacious(sp) earth, aka; pool sand will do that too,....


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

My theory is when a slug enters this bedroom others follow its path. I've gone from one slug, to this morning 2 dead slugs near baseboard where I emptied a carton of salt along edge of carpet.

I'll try one more time before hiring a mason guy.

QUESTION:

I'm going to dig below my brick house (on slab) to the foundation, for a length of 6'. I didn't see visible cracks last time so I know I won't this time.

Home Depot had 4 clerks helping me, deciding which concrete in a tub was best.

What kind of concrete should I buy to patch the perimitet? Maybe instead of tubs I should buy a sack of dry and put it on super thick.

I think slugs are like mice up north in that they can squeeze into tight places.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

here's an excerpt from a U K leaflet,might help.


 Another effective deterrent is copper tape or strips. These will give snails an electric shock as soon as they come in contact with it. Placing the strip on the floor by the doors will act as a barrier.


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