Black Widow Treatment for Garages, Sheds, and Woodpiles

The Central Valley spider with a bite that's a genuine medical concern. We build the treatment around the webs and egg sacs, not just the surfaces you can see.

Black Widow Spider Control treatment by Fortis Pest Control in the Central Valley.

Why a surface spray doesn't end a Black Widow problem

Black Widows don't chase anyone. The danger is that they sit still in the spots people reach into without looking, a box in the garage, a stack of firewood, the back of a shed shelf. Knocking down the one you can see misses the real problem, because a single egg sac holds 200 to 400 spiderlings, and the next batch is usually tucked into a corner you haven't checked.

Fortis treats Black Widows as part of the HomeShield plan, starting at $49 a month. We find and clear the webs and egg sacs, treat the harborage where adults shelter, and seal the perimeter so new ones don't move back in. A widow bite is a real medical concern, more so for kids and older adults, which is exactly why it's worth handling properly the first time instead of hoping a hardware-store spray got all of them.

How to tell a Black Widow from a Brown Widow

Two widow species turn up in the Central Valley, and both have a bite worth taking seriously. The Black Widow is the one everyone knows. The Brown Widow is newer here, spreading through residential California over the last 15 years or so, and it shows up in the same places: garages, fences, eaves, and outdoor furniture.

  • 01

    Black Widow

    Glossy jet-black body with a bright red hourglass on the underside. Mature females are about half an inch long. Hangs upside-down in a tangled, messy web in dark, undisturbed corners.

  • 02

    Brown Widow

    Mottled tan to dark brown with banded legs and an orange or yellow hourglass instead of red. The egg sac is the giveaway: spiky and beige, with a texture like a golf ball. Less venomous than a Black Widow, but a bite still warrants medical attention.

If you find a spider that fits either description, don't get closer to identify it. Take a photo from a comfortable distance and send it when you book your quote, and your technician will confirm the species on the visit.

Where they live around Central Valley homes

Black Widows pick low-traffic, low-light spots with rough surfaces they can anchor a web to. In Central Valley homes, that almost always means:

  • Detached garages and storage sheds. Boxes against the back wall, the underside of workbenches, behind paint cans, under stairs.
  • Outdoor furniture and play equipment. Under patio chairs, inside table legs, in the corners of swing-set platforms, around BBQ covers that haven’t been moved in a while.
  • Wood piles and lawn debris. Anywhere wood has been stacked against a structure and left to settle.
  • Eaves, soffits, and exterior light fixtures. Especially on the cooler north side of the house and in spots where webs collect insects drawn by the lights.
  • Block walls and fence corners. Particularly the inside of decorative cinder block and the joins where two fence panels meet.

If you have any of these around your home, they’re worth flagging when your technician arrives.

Pricing Made Simple

Pricing scales with home size.
Quotes are free.

HomeShield

Proactive residential service

Starting at

$49 /month

  • Proactive, recurring visits throughout the year
  • Covers Central Valley's most common pests
  • Establish a pest barrier around your home
  • Re-services between visits included

HomeShield+

HomeShield with expanded mosquito treatment.

Starting at

Add-on

  • Everything in HomeShield
  • Expanded with targeted mosquito treatments
  • Yard-focused coverage through warm months
  • Best for outdoor entertainment!!

EcoShield

HomeShield with an eco-friendly product line.

Starting at

Add-on

  • Everything in HomeShield
  • Eco-friendly active ingredients
  • Same coverage, gentler products
  • Complete peace of mind for your family and pets
See full plan comparison

What you can do before we arrive

You don't need to prep the house for a Black Widow visit, but two things make the treatment work better.

Clear access to the high-risk spots

Pull stacked boxes a foot or two off the garage and shed walls so the technician can reach the actual harborage points, and leave any webs you find in place.

Skip the hardware-store spray

A contact spray usually kills only the spider you can see, leaves the egg sacs intact, and can push survivors deeper into wall voids where they're harder to treat.

How Fortis Treats Black Widows

A Black Widow visit is built around finding the webs and the egg sacs, not just spraying surfaces.

01

Inspection

A detailed pass through the high-risk spots, garage corners, shed shelves, outdoor storage, eaves, and fence lines, looking for active webs, egg sacs, and the harborage where adults shelter.

02

Web and egg-sac removal

At every spot we can reach. This is the step that actually drops the local population, because one egg sac can hold 200 to 400 spiderlings.

03

Targeted treatment

Of the cracks, voids, and corners where adult Black Widows shelter during the day.

04

Perimeter treatment

Around the foundation, eaves, garage thresholds, and fence lines so spiders coming in from outside don't reestablish.

05

Follow-up visit

Included if activity keeps up, with re-treatment between scheduled visits at no extra charge under HomeShield. For homes with steady Black Widow pressure we set a rhythm that hits before the spring breeding ramp-up.

Frequently
Asked Questions

A Black Widow bite is a real medical concern, though it's rarely life-threatening for a healthy adult. Symptoms usually start within an hour and can include muscle pain, cramping, sweating, and nausea. Bites to children, older adults, or anyone with a heart condition deserve immediate care. If you've been bitten and the symptoms are spreading beyond the bite, go to urgent care and tell them it was a widow spider.

The first visit handles the spiders and egg sacs that are present on the day, but lasting control comes from the recurring perimeter treatment under HomeShield. That's what keeps new spiders from settling back into the same garage corners and shed shelves season after season. Most Central Valley homes see Black Widow activity drop off sharply after the first two quarterly visits and stay low with ongoing service.

Yes. The products we use are family-friendly once dry, typically 30 to 60 minutes after application. Your technician will let you know which areas to stay out of for the first hour. For households that want a gentler product line, our EcoShield add-on uses eco-friendly active ingredients.

Usually not. Black Widows almost never set up inside the living area of a home; they prefer the cooler, less-disturbed exterior structures. The exception is a garage with a door into the house, where the line between outside and inside gets blurry. Your technician checks the garage and any attached storage as part of the standard visit.

Call or text us. Re-services between scheduled visits are included on every HomeShield plan, so there's no extra charge to come back out. We'd rather make an extra trip than have you find another one in the garage a week later.

Get your Black Widow Spider Control quote

Share a few details about your pest problem and we'll get back to you with a free quote, usually within the same business day.

  • Free consultation

    Walk through your pest problem with a real Fortis tech, not a sales script.

  • Same-day quotes

    Most requests get a response within the same business day.

  • Family-friendly service

    Treatments are family-friendly once dry, typically 30 to 60 minutes after application.

  • Local and licensed

    Family and veteran owned. California license PR 9962.

Hours

Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm Pacific

By submitting this form, you agree to be contacted by phone, text, or email about your request, and you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms . Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out.