Centipedes Control in Brampton: How I Finally Got Rid of the Damn Things in My Basement

The building I live in is a semi-built in 1998, Fletcher Meadow, Brampton. Two children, a dog, and all the spring of 2020, another group of house centipedes running around the floor of the rec-room as if they are the owners of the house. Last April I turned on the light at 2 a.m. to get a glass of water, and was surprised to see one of them coming up the wall and round the back of the wall. That was it. I declared war. This was my playbook–no fluff, no AI voice, pure what worked in a real house in the Peel Region, with clay soil, a sump pump in it and a landlord who did not care.

Step 0: Know Thy Enemy (So You Don’t Waste Money)

House centipedes. Not the fat brown garden ones. These are the skinny, stripey, 15-pair-of-legs speed demons. They eat spiders, silverfish, and anything smaller than them. If you see one, there are 20 you don’t see. They lay 35-150 eggs in damp soil or cracks. Hatch in 30 days. Boom summer takeover.

They don’t bite hard (feels like a paper cut), don’t carry diseases, don’t chew wires. But they’re gross and they mean your house is wetter and buggier than it should be.

Step 1: Kill the Buffet (Starve Them Out)

Centipedes don’t live on crumbs. They live on other bugs. My basement had silverfish because the previous owner left cardboard boxes on the floor for 15 years. I did this:

• Threw out every soggy box. Replaced with plastic bins from Dollarama ($8 each).
• Vacuumed every corner, baseboard, and window sill. Emptied the canister outside into a garbage bag, sealed it, walked it to the curb.
• Dusted food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE) everywhere. $12 bag at Home Depot. Looks like flour, slices bugs like glass. Re-apply after vacuuming. Safe for dog once dry.
• Set 12 sticky traps (Victor brand, $6 for 4 at Walmart). Caught 47 silverfish and 3 centipedes in the first week. Proof the food chain was collapsing.

Two weeks later? No new centipede sightings. The traps went from daily corpses to dust.

Step 2: Dry the Hell Out of Everything

Brampton clay holds water like a sponge. My sump pump ran every time it rained heavily. Humidity in the basement hit 78 % in June. Centipedes love 75 %+. I fixed it:

• Bought a 50-pint dehumidifier (Danby, $229 at Costco). Emptied the tank daily for the first week, then every 2-3 days. Set to 45 %.
• Ran a box fan 24/7, pointed at the cold room corner where the washer drains back up sometimes.
• Fixed the gutter downspout that was dumping water against the foundation $ 40 Home Depot extension kit.
• Caulked every visible crack with DAP Alex Plus ($5/tube). Inside and outside. Took 3 tubes.

Humidity dropped to 48 % in 10 days. Centipedes hate that. They dry out and die or leave.

Step 3: Seal Every Damn Hole

Centipedes squeeze through gaps the width of a credit card. I went full paranoid:

• Door sweep on the garage-to-basement door: the old one was shredded. $18 at Rona.
• Weatherstripping on every exterior door: $22 kit.
• Steel wool + spray foam in foundation cracks: steel wool stops mice too.
• Window well covers: the plastic bubble kind. $25 each, two windows.
• Moved the mulch pile 3 feet from the house, was touching the siding. Rookie mistake.

Took one Saturday. Zero centipedes entered after that.

Step 4: The Nuclear Option (When DIY Wasn’t Enough)

By July, I still had 1-2 stragglers a week. Called Pestisect Pest Control in Brampton. Jack showed up in a beat-up white van, no fancy wrap, just tools and a clipboard.

What he did (and why it worked):

• Inspected with a UV flashlight: found centipede highways behind the water heater.
• Drilled tiny holes in baseboards and puffed in DeltaDust (waterproof, lasts 8 months).
• Perimeter spray outside with Demand CS: micro-encapsulated, sticks to legs when they cross.
• Sealed the sump pump lid with silicone (mine had a 1-inch gap).

Cost: $189 + tax. 90-day warranty. He came back once for free when I spotted one in the laundry room. Haven’t seen one since August 2024.

Local Brampton Companies That Actually Answer the Phone

Pro tip: Ask for the technician’s pesticide license number. If they hesitate, hang up.

The “Is It Worth $200?” Math

• DIY cost (my house): $229 dehumidifier + $12 DE + $60 caulk/foam + $24 traps = $325
• Pro cost: $189
• Time saved: 12 weekends of stress
• Peace of mind: Priceless

I’d pay the $189 again in a heartbeat.

Maintenance (So They Never Come Back)

Every spring and fall, I do this 2-hour routine:

1. Vacuum + DE refresh
2. Check the dehumidifier filter (rinse it)
3. Walk the perimeter: look for new cracks or mulch creep
4. Replace sticky traps (they dry out after 3 months)

Takes longer to read this than to do it.

Myths I Believed (And Wasted Money On)

• Peppermint oil sprays: smells nice, does jack shit.
• Ultrasonic plug-ins: $30 down the drain.
• Bleach down drains: kills drain flies, not centipedes.
• Bug bombs : centipedes laugh at foggers. They hide in walls.

Final Word

Centipede control in Brampton isn’t rocket science. It’s dryness + cleanliness + sealing + (maybe) one pro visit. Do the work once, maintain twice a year, and you’re done.

I still check the basement light switch like it’s a horror movie, but it’s been 15 months centipede-free. My kids play down there without screaming. The dog stopped staring at walls.