Why Are Wasps Flying Into Your Redhill Home? Common Causes and Solutions
Wasps indoors with nothing to attract them can point to a nest in a wall cavity or ceiling. See the signs, what to avoid doing, and how to book help.
Wasps that appear with no food in sight
Most wasps indoors can be explained by a plate of leftovers or an open window. The ones that cannot are the ones worth worrying about. If wasps are turning up in the lounge, a spare room or beside a light fitting, in a house that has been closed up and kept clean, then the likely answer is that they have come from inside the structure.
Householders in Redhill, in the Nottingham area, report the same pattern wherever it occurs: first one wasp on the window of an upstairs room, then two the next day, then a handful by the end of the week, all coming from the same part of the room.
The distinction is worth making because the fixes are so different. Tidying and screening do nothing for a nest inside a wall, and the wasps will continue to find their way into rooms for as long as the colony is active.
How a nest gets into the building
A queen looks for a sheltered, dry space in spring. She may find a small break in the outer wall, a gap under the roof edge, an unsealed airbrick, a hole where a pipe or cable enters, or a way into the loft. From there the workers extend the nest into whatever space is available, which can be a cavity wall, a void above a ceiling or the gap behind a fascia.
A nest built there grows larger through the summer. By the time it is in full use it can have thousands of wasps. The first sign inside the house is often a few that have taken a wrong turn in the cavity and ended up in a room instead of the open air.
What you can see and hear
Walls and ceilings tell you more than you might expect if you check them carefully and keep your distance.
- A faint rustling, scratching or humming from a wall or ceiling, loudest when it is warm.
- A brown or grey stain that spreads slowly on plasterboard or wallpaper.
- A cluster of wasps near a ceiling rose, a recessed spotlight or a gap round a pipe.
- A hole in plaster, or a pile of fine debris underneath a crack.
- Wasps visible outside, flying into a high gap in the brickwork.
If you can hear the nest, you are close enough already. Stay in the room only as long as needed, then close the door.
Because the wasps can travel along voids, the room where they emerge is not necessarily next to the nest. The entrance might be several metres away from the place you see them. This is why describing what you have seen, rather than guessing the location, is helpful.
What not to do
The temptation is to deal with it. Please do not push anything into the gap, tape over it, fill it with expanding material or knock on the wall. Wasps that cannot leave by the outside route may chew through to the inside, and a disturbed nest can send a large number into the room at once.
Do not use a ladder to look for the entrance. Falls from ladders while someone is trying to inspect a nest are a worse risk than the wasps, so leave the search to the technician.
While you wait, close the door of the affected room, put a rolled towel along the bottom to cut the gap, and keep children and pets away. Wasps are drawn to light, so closing the curtains in that room can help.
Keeping a household safe while you wait
If you need to use the room, move calmly and do not stand beneath the area where they appear. Keep the door closed and avoid slamming it, because vibrations can unsettle a nest in the wall. Use another room for sleeping if the wasps are in a bedroom.
Keep a note of anyone who gets stung, and wash the area with soap and water, remove a visible sting and use a cold pack. If someone develops swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty breathing, wheezing, dizziness or a widespread rash, call 999 straight away. People with known allergies to stings should speak to their GP about it ahead of the next wasp season.
For a business with a shop floor or office, close off the affected area, put a notice on the door and keep customers away from it until the technician has been.
After treatment, the wasps from that nest will no longer be a problem, though it is normal to see a few stragglers return to the old entrance for a short while. Keep clear of the area. If you have any worries afterwards, ask the technician what to watch for. They can also tell you which gaps are worth sealing to make it less likely that another queen chooses the same spot next spring.
If the house has more than one possible entrance, mention it when you phone. An additional nest on the same property is charged at £35, and it is simpler to agree that on the phone than to arrive at a second discovery on the day.
Having it treated
The fixed fee for a nest is £95, with £35 for an additional nest on the same property, and no call-out charge. You hear the price on the phone before the technician arrives, and the work only goes ahead once you have agreed. Our technicians are trained, the work is insured, and we deal with homes and businesses.
Ring 0115 937 5117, or use the booking form on the contact page. Let us know which room you have seen the wasps in and whether anyone in the house is allergic to stings. We open seven days a week and offer same-day service. Once the nest is treated, you can ask the technician about sealing the entrance and whether the empty nest can be taken down.
Wasps on your property in Redhill?
Fixed price £95 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.