EXCELLENT
Found a Wasp Nest in Your Loft in Goldthorpe? Here's What to Do
If your loft is full of stored belongings, a wasp nest can sit unseen among the boxes for weeks, and the right move is to leave it all alone until a technician has been.
The problem with a loft that is used for storage
A loft that gets used regularly is a bit different from one that is left empty. If you keep suitcases, decorations, old paperwork or bikes up there, you may go up several times a year and a nest can start unnoticed between visits. Boxes make good cover. They create dark, undisturbed corners, and a nest tucked behind a stack of crates or against the edge of a board may not be visible from the hatch at all.
Storage lofts also tempt people to carry on as usual. You need the picnic set for the weekend, or you have promised to fetch the Christmas tree in a few months, and it feels silly to avoid your own loft. But a nest in active use is a different thing from a dusty space. If you suspect wasps are present, the sensible approach is to treat the whole loft as out of bounds for the time being.
If you only go up once or twice a year, the last visit may have been months ago, and a nest started in April could be a substantial structure by the time you next open the hatch in late summer. That is the main reason storage lofts produce unwelcome surprises.
Signs that something has moved in
When the loft is full of things, the signs have to be read from outside the space. The following are worth checking:
- Wasps flying in a regular line to the same spot on the roofline of the house.
- Wasps appearing in rooms below, particularly on the top floor or landing.
- A faint rustling or humming from above that was not there a few weeks ago.
- A scatter of pale paper-like fragments or sawdust-like material under the hatch frame.
- The loft feeling noticeably alive when you open the hatch, with wasps hovering about the opening. If that happens, close it immediately and calmly.
Do not try to find out more by moving things about. The signs above, taken together, are enough to justify a call.
It is a good idea to jot down the dates you spot these signs. A note saying that wasps first appeared on the landing on a particular weekend and the traffic outside is heaviest in the afternoon is exactly the sort of detail that helps when you ring to book.
What not to bring down
Resist the temptation to retrieve things. A box that sits close to a nest can be only a hand’s width from the colony, and lifting it will send vibration through the boards. People have been stung more than once by reaching in for one quick item, and the wasps that follow you down the ladder often end up in the house.
If you urgently need something, such as documents for an appointment, tell the technician at booking. They can advise whether it is realistic to fetch it after treatment. In most cases it can wait a day or two, and the wait is short compared with the risk.
When you do go back, give it a little time. The wasps that survive the first hours tend to be few, and they disperse. Still wear long sleeves and sturdy footwear, and open the hatch slowly. Treat the first visit as a short look rather than a clear-out.
If the boxes hold anything sensitive to damp or staining, such as photographs or papers, the same advice applies. The items are not at risk from the wasps themselves, and the extra few days before you collect them are unlikely to matter.
Fixed price and how to arrange it
Treatment of a nest costs £70 per nest, and a second nest on the same property is £25 more. There is no call-out charge, and the price is confirmed on the phone before the technician visits. The size of the nest, or how much stuff you keep in the loft, does not change the cost. The only exception is where special access equipment is needed to get to the nest, and you would be told beforehand.
Technicians are fully insured and qualified, and the service is domestic and commercial, seven days a week, with same-day visits offered. The online booking form and the contact page both alert the technician for your area by SMS and email, and you can phone if you would rather talk it through. People in Goldthorpe and the villages around it can book the same way.
Mention on the phone that the loft is used for storage. It lets the technician plan for a cluttered space and tell you whether anything needs moving before they arrive.
Sorting the loft out afterwards
Once the colony is gone and the loft is quiet, there is a useful opportunity. Take the chance to look at what you keep up there and how you keep it. Cardboard boxes are tempting for nesting insects and rodents alike, and plastic boxes with lids give less to chew on and less shelter.
Look at the roofline from the garden and note any gap or crumbling edge that the wasps used. A repair is best made once the area is calm. Check the hatch seal too. A hatch that closes snugly keeps insects out of the house and helps with draughts.
It also helps to build a habit of checking the loft in spring. Go up on a cool morning in March before the queens are active, look for gaps in the roof covering and the eaves, and leave a note on your calendar to check again in late May. A small nest at that stage is much less alarming than one in August, and fast action costs the same fixed price whenever it is done.
Wasps on your property in Goldthorpe?
Fixed price £70 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.