first dead, now alive

[homie27]

Hi all, I've lived in my new home for about 9 years now. In the entire 9 years I've never seen a live spider in my unfinished basement. All spiders were dead and only around the perimeter and all fairly small. I would also see some spider eggs stuck to the bottom of the vapor barrier. Now that my basement is finished, I've seen a few live ones and the other day I seen a huge one with its leg span a little over an inch. so why are the spiders now alive and much bigger? we haven't been using the basement yet as we don't have any furniture.

[xdarrylx]

They were waiting for you to finish your basement too and are now enjoying the warmth and infinitely more places to hide!

[homie27]

can the humidity of a basement increase when it gets finished? maybe its the humidity they like? but i don't see how finishing it would increase it.

[GregS]

Building materials contain moisture.
Wood, drywall, carpet, paint, all of these dry out over time.

Anyone moving into a new home will notice just how humid it can be for the first while. This is why in a new home it is always a very good idea to have a dehumidifier running in the basement to deal with all of this extra moisture.

For a finished basement it is going to be the same thing.

[homie27]

hopefully it will be the end of the spiders when I get a de-humidifier.