Everyone is into DIY home repairs and maintenance. Not only does it save money but it makes you feel like a hero when you fix something around the house, giving you the validation you need to crack open a beer and celebrate your accomplishments. With the number of commonplace pests in the Toronto area, tackling something like a wasp’s nest seems like it should be something you can add to your weekend chore checklist, but think again.
You may also make the mistake of thinking that wasps and yellow jackets are an August problem but the truth is that nesting starts in early spring and waiting until you have a major problem in the summer months is too long.
Last summer, I came across one home where this was exactly the case – the homeowner waited too long and let their problem spiral out of control. A bad wasp problem led to a knee-jerk DIY pest-control job that went horribly wrong. Don’t try this one at home:
The Nest
It’s very common for wasps to build their nests higher up on the exterior of a house, like in an eaves trough or in the soffit. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this. Wasps are nasty little creatures but they aren’t very creative when it comes to where they tend to build their nests.
In this case, there was an established colony living in – you guessed it – the soffit of a Toronto home. The industrious homeowner decided that getting rid of his wasp problem would be no big deal, so he didn’t think twice about heading to the hardware store for the supplies he needed. He determined that they were entering in to the soffit through a gap he saw, so he simply caulked it shut. It was a brilliant solution, or so he thought.
The idea behind his plan was that he’d seal them inside the soffit and they would suffocate, starve, and die a miserable death. It all made perfect sense, except that’s not what actually happened.
Don’t Piss Off a Wasp
Those wasps weren’t pushovers and they weren’t about to just lay down and die the way the homeowner had planned. Instead, they got mad – very mad. So mad that they decided to fight back.
They bored their way through the dry wall until they reached the interior of the house. They had redirected themselves and had entered the house through the pot lights and in small gaps and cracks around the window casings and crown moldings. Now they were inside, and they were not impressed.
The only thing worse than having wasps in your yard is having wasps in your house, especially when they are angry, which these ones most certainly were. The homeowner’s family begged him and he finally listened – it was time to call a professional.
Solving the Problem
When I arrived at the house I wanted the full scope of information, like how long had the problem been going on? Where had the owner first noticed the wasps and where were they now? After an assessment, I got to work. To start, I opened the soffit and removed the nest, which was still very active. I applied a desiccant dust inside the area and sucked up all the wasps to make sure there were no workers left to keep the nest going. Then I made sure the soffit was sealed and all the areas inside were securely taped up.
Then I used painter’s tape to cover the areas where the wasps were coming in – around the pot lights and doors and windows. In order to truly trap and suffocate the remaining wasps I needed to be thorough. This meant running my fingernail along the edges of the windows and doors – if I found a crack that was big enough to fit a nail in, it was big enough for a wasp to squeeze through.
I asked the homeowner to kill the lights and open the blinds to eliminate the remaining wasps that were in the house. Wasps are attracted to light so they will fly towards the windows, run right into them, and die. That’s a tip straight from the pros. In this case, the pot lights were also an attractive point of entry, so turning them off discouraged any stragglers from trying to get through.
The Result
After cleaning up the wasps I found inside the soffit, inside the home, and sealing off the interior of the home, the wasps were gone. It was a big job, but I was successful in getting rid of the wasps. The homeowners were grateful to have their house back where they could live without fear of an attack.
I never just do a job and leave. A big part of what I do is education. In this case, I explained to the homeowner that simply trying to seal the wasps into the soffit was ineffective because he was underestimating the power of a determined insect. I explained my methods and let him know what he should do next time he discovers a wasp nest on his property: call me.
Waiting until your wasp problem gets out of control means you’ve left it too late. In this case, and in most that I see, if the homeowner had called for help sooner they would have a small and easy job to deal with instead of a major job on their hands.
Wasps are no laughing matter. Their sting is very painful and their presence is extremely stressful for your entire family. Let this case be a lesson to call a professional Toronto wasp exterminator right away when you notice a problem instead of trying to tackle it alone and running the risk of making it worse.
Don’t let wasps ruin your fun. Give us a call at 647-708-7378 or get in touch online for easy and effective Toronto wasp nest removal. The sooner you let us take care of your wasp problem, the sooner you can get on with your warm weather plans while you leave the stinging insects to us.
