getting rid of brown recluse

[Ruby]

We are buying a house in the country and are supposed to close on it in two weeks.  Today my dh was there and discovered some brown recluse spiders in one of the rooms in the basement. Now I'm really scared to go through with the purchase and move my family in.  I don't know how bad the infestation is or if it's the whole house or just in part of the basement.  Has anyone had success ridding their homes of brown recluse spiders and how did you do it?  We were really excited about finding some land and this home, but now I'm terrified to move there.  We have four kids, one a newborn (any day now!).  Please any advice is very much needed!  If we don't buy this house, we won't have anywhere to move in two weeks as we sold our house also.  It'll be a big mess, but brown recluse scare me so much that I'm having serious doubts about the house now.  Please advice on getting rid of these horrible creatures!!  Thanks!

[boysmama]

I've lived all my life in brown recluse infested houses.  The good news is that I didn't get bit for over 20 yrs. and only one other family member in the past 30 yrs has actually had a bite. The house I grew up in was truly infested as well as crowded. My bedroom often looked like attic storage, and they would occasionally run across my book and pillow when I read in bed at night. 

 My parents used to use insect foggers once a year, but we always had headaches and nuerological symptoms for a week or more. Not something I would use.

What I do currently is keep a clutter free home and clean all corners regularly. Recluses love dark, undisturbed areas. If you can keep everything open and airy they will stay away from living areas.
I move, sweep and mop everything in our living areas, including under bed storage and living room furniture a minimum of 2x a month. Every week when I can. It truly helps. We went from seeing one every few weeks to not seeing any for over a year.
If you take care and sort attic stuff outdoors or watchfully you should be fine.

Honestly, after this experience I lost my fear of the creatures. I'm still wary, we check the kids daily for all kinds of bites (ticks, mosquito, etc), but I'm not paranoid about what to do if they get one. I've seen similar protocol work since then for others. Much more effective than standard medical treatment.

[petrimama]

Ditto on the cleaning; the best spider deterrent is daily vacuuming, especially BR's because they are so reclusive and they are nesters, not webbers.  They sell BR traps, but they are nothing more than a sticky patch that will catch anything that walks on it, and nothing that doesn't. 
I have, however, had success in deterring spiders using garlic.  We were infested with all sorts, and one that I found was so big I heard it thump down the stairs. So I was trying to find a natural spray or herb to scare them off, when I remembered that in the Middle East (where I was born) nomadic peoples use garlic in their bedrolls to ward off scorpions.  Scorpions and spiders are both arachnids, so I googled "Garlic spiders" and got a bunch of recipes - how gross is that?!  But I tried it, and it worked!  I cut garlic cloves in half and put them in the corners of the rooms and the problem was dramatically better.  I had to replace them every week or two, but it was natural, safe, cheap and effective.  You may consider doing that in every room, plus in the corners of the bed and crib (out of choking hazard range.) 
As far as not buying the house, there is always a reason to be afraid:  radon, asbestos, mice, spiders, mold, etc.  Just take measures to insure the safety of your family and enjoy the new home!
By the way, I'm terrified of spiders and was bitten by a BR when pregnant with my 5th.  I posted all about it here:  http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,3729.msg190380.html#msg190380
~L