Scorpions in Your Garage: Professional Treatment Options

If you found a scorpion in the garage, you are in good company. It is the first place many East Valley homeowners see one. A garage has nearly everything a scorpion wants.

Why the garage

• The door. A garage door is the largest opening in the house, and its bottom corners rarely sit perfectly flat on the concrete.
• It is cool and dark. Scorpions avoid daytime heat, and a shaded slab is far cooler than the yard.
• Cardboard and clutter. Stored boxes give scorpions tight, undisturbed places to rest.
• Food. Crickets come into garages for the same reasons, and scorpions follow them.
• Water. A water heater, a softener or a utility sink can add a little moisture.

The garage also shares a door with the house. A scorpion in the garage is one doorway from the kitchen or laundry room.

What a Redline technician does in a garage

• Gives the garage threshold direct attention, since that is the main way in.
• Does targeted crack-and-crevice treatment along the garage edges and expansion joints.
• Treats the exterior on both sides of the garage door, where scorpions travel at night.
• Treats for the crickets that draw scorpions inside.
• Points out anything in the garage that is helping them, so you can change it.

The garage is treated as part of the whole property. Scorpions in a garage almost always came from the yard, so treating the garage alone does not last.

What you can do

• Move stored items a few inches away from the walls so the edges can be treated and checked.
• Replace cardboard boxes with plastic bins that close.
• Keep shoes, gloves and sports gear off the floor, and shake them out before use.
• Keep the garage door closed at night.
• Take photos of any scorpion you find, with the location, before you clean up.

Do not coat the garage with store-bought spray before a visit. It makes inspection harder and can interfere with the treatment.

When to call

Call when you have seen more than one, when one has made it into the house, or when you have small children or pets who use the garage. Call or text 480-960-2010. See also what happens during a treatment.