Crickets are small insects that become a real nuisance when they move inside. They are attracted to warm, moist areas where they feel safe: pet food and water bowls, fruit left on the counter, and leaky pipes all draw them in. Clutter near and inside the house gives them more places to hide, and because crickets are nocturnal, most homeowners hear the chirping at night long before they see the insect.
Removal does not require an exterminator. Seven methods, most of them natural, clear an active infestation, and a set of building-maintenance habits keeps crickets from returning. The practical details that keep a home tight are the same ones on display in showcase homes that inspire real-world design: sealed thresholds, snug window casings, and clean transitions between foundation and siding. This article covers detection, the seven removal methods, and the prevention work that makes them stick.
How Crickets Get In and Where They Hide
Crickets enter through gaps most homeowners never inspect: the sweep under an exterior door, a cracked foundation, a loose window screen, and vents without mesh. Once inside, they head for dark, damp spots. Check under sinks, behind trash cans, in basement closets, and around water heaters. A chirping cricket at night is usually within a few feet of one of these areas, because the insect stays close to moisture and cover. Crickets that wander in through an open door rarely stay long, but the ones that find a damp corner settle in and breed.
The route in is a building-envelope problem before it is a pest problem. Sealing those gaps follows the same logic as routine maintenance: inspect the joints, repair the failures, and re-check on a schedule. The smart building maintenance routine for keeping crickets out of your house walks through the specific seals, sweeps, and screens that matter most.
Signs of a Cricket Problem
- Chirping that starts at dusk and continues after lights out.
- Live crickets in the basement, garage, or bathroom at night.
- Dark droppings and chewed edges on paper, fabric, or cardboard in storage areas.
- Camel crickets, the humpbacked, spider-like crickets that favor damp basements and garages, alongside the familiar field and house crickets.
Where to Search First
Work from the outside in. Check the foundation line for gaps, then move to door thresholds, window screens, and vent covers. Inside, search kitchen and bath cabinets, the utility room, and any storage box that touches the floor. A flashlight held low catches crickets that freeze when the beam hits them.
Seven Natural Methods to Remove Crickets
The methods below work for the crickets that invade homes: house crickets, field crickets, and camel crickets. Mole crickets are a different case; they are soil-dwelling lawn pests that tunnel through turf and rarely enter houses, and the treatment for mole crickets targets the yard rather than the interior. Mole cricket tunnels in the lawn need their own treatment, because indoor methods will not reach them.
- Peppermint oil spray: mix a few drops of peppermint essential oil with water in a spray bottle and mist baseboards, door frames, and window sills; crickets avoid the scent.
- Diatomaceous earth: dust a thin line of food-grade powder along baseboards and behind appliances; the sharp particles damage the insect’s exoskeleton.
- Sticky traps: lay glue boards along walls where chirping is loudest; crickets hop into them during the night.
- Vacuum: suck up visible crickets and any egg clusters; empty the canister outdoors so none escape.
- Boric acid: apply a light dust in cracks and behind cabinets, keeping it away from pets and food.
- Soapy water spray: a squirt of dish soap in water breaks the surface tension and drowns crickets on contact.
- Reduce outdoor lighting: porch lights and bright windows draw crickets to the house at night; switch to yellow bulbs or motion lights.
| Method | Effort | Time to results | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peppermint spray | 5 minutes | A few days | Repelling light activity |
| Diatomaceous earth | 10 minutes | 1 to 2 weeks | Crawling routes and baseboards |
| Sticky traps | 5 minutes | Overnight | Locating the hiding spot |
| Vacuum | 10 minutes | Immediate | Visible crickets and eggs |
| Boric acid | 15 minutes | 1 to 3 weeks | Cracks and wall voids |
Why Natural Methods Work First
None of these methods requires a professional, and none introduces heavy chemicals into a home. They also attack the population from several directions at once: repellents push crickets out of daytime hiding, traps catch the active population, and vacuuming removes eggs before the next generation hatches.
Safety Notes for Dusts and Sprays
Food-grade diatomaceous earth is safe around people and pets when applied as directed, but avoid breathing the dust while spreading it. Boric acid should never be placed where children or pets can reach it. Always test a peppermint spray on a hidden patch of painted surface first, since some formulations dull finishes.
Handling a Heavy Infestation
When chirping continues after two weeks of traps and sprays, the infestation may be breeding in a crawl space, a garage, or a wall void. Concentrate treatment on those areas, seal the access points, and consider a professional pest service if the population does not drop.
Cut Off Food, Water, and Shelter
Crickets survive on crumbs, pet food, fruit, and each other. Store pet food in sealed containers, clear fruit bowls overnight, and take out the trash regularly. Fix leaky pipes and dripping faucets, because standing water keeps crickets alive in places that would otherwise be too dry. Decluttering also matters: stacks of boxes, piles of clothing, and stored paper give crickets daytime cover. Cutting off these resources does more than starve the current generation; it also stops eggs laid near food from hatching into a second wave.
The lesson transfers from showcase builds to ordinary homes. The modern barnhouse idea house demonstrates how clean transitions between foundation, siding, and mechanical spaces remove the cracks where pests settle, and the same principle applies at any scale: fewer joints and gaps means fewer hiding spots.
Moisture Fixes That Matter
- Repair leaky pipes and faucets; a dripping sink line sustains crickets in the cabinet below.
- Run a dehumidifier in basements and crawl spaces during humid months.
- Vent dryers and exhaust fans to the outside so steam does not condense indoors.
- Clear gutters and slope grading away from the foundation so the soil next to the house stays dry.
Seal the Building Envelope
Sealing work closes the doors crickets use. Install door sweeps on exterior doors, repair torn window screens, and cover vents and chimneys with mesh. Caulk gaps where siding meets the foundation, around pipes and wires entering the house, and along basement baseboards. Most of this is a weekend project with a caulk gun and a roll of screening.
The detailing shown in well-built homes is the same detailing that excludes pests. The design, materials, and smart-living features of the cottage on the cape idea house show how tight windows, insulated headers, and continuous air barriers cut drafts; each of those details also closes an insect route.
Entry Points to Inspect
- Door thresholds and sweeps, especially garage-to-house doors.
- Window screens with tears or gaps at the frame.
- Foundation cracks wider than the edge of a credit card.
- Utility penetrations for pipes, cables, and HVAC lines.
- Attic and crawl-space vents without mesh.
Materials That Seal Well
Outdoor-rated silicone and polyurethane caulk handle most exterior gaps, expanding foam fills larger voids around pipes, and copper or stainless mesh blocks vents without rusting. Choose materials rated for the surface, because caulk that fails in a season reopens the route.
Long-Term Prevention and a Seasonal Checklist
Prevention becomes a recurring task rather than a one-time cleanup. A gap where a kitchen sink meets the cabinet, for example, lets moisture pool inside the cabinet and attracts crickets and other pests, and fixing that kind of water leak is part of the same maintenance loop. Add the checks below to a seasonal home-maintenance calendar.
- Spring: inspect the foundation line and reseal any new cracks; check door sweeps.
- Summer: trim grass and shrubs back from the house; move firewood and mulch away from the siding.
- Fall: re-screen vents, check attic and crawl-space openings, and clear gutters before the rains.
- Winter: monitor basement humidity and run a dehumidifier when readings climb.
When to Call a Professional
A licensed pest service makes sense when crickets keep returning after sealing and treatment, when the source sits in a crawl space you cannot reach, or when other pests share the same habitat. Ask for a written inspection of entry points so the fix targets the route, not just the insects.
Maintenance questions that go beyond a weekend project, such as whole-house moisture audits and envelope upgrades, benefit from expert guidance; the expert Q&As and behind-the-scenes access in the This Old House Insider program cover exactly this territory. With detection, removal, and sealing in place, a home can go from chirping every night to cricket-free for the whole season.