Short answer: Doors are the easiest place to start. A bark scorpion fits through a gap about 1/16 inch wide, so a door sweep and weatherstripping that close every gap keep a lot of them out. Most doors take 10 to 20 minutes with basic tools.
Test your doors
- At night, turn on the lights on one side of the door and look from the dark side
- Any light at the bottom or the corners is a gap
- Slide a credit card under the closed door. If it slides through, so can a scorpion
Which sweep to buy
- A sweep that closes against the threshold all the way across
- Corner pads or seals for the gaps at the bottom corners, where most sweeps leave openings
- Fresh weatherstripping along the sides and top
The garage door
The garage is the most common way in. Replace a cracked or flattened bottom seal, check that the door meets the floor evenly, and add seals along the sides of the door. Don't forget the door between the garage and the house: give it a sweep too.
When to call a pro
Doors are just the start. The weep screed, pipe gaps, roof vents and window frames take more time to find and fix. A sealing company checks all of them at once.
Common questions
How small a gap can a scorpion fit through?
A bark scorpion can fit through a gap about 1/16 inch wide, about the thickness of a credit card.
Do brush sweeps work?
They help, but a sweep that seals tight against the threshold, plus corner seals, closes more gaps.