Ridding deck of wasps!

[legbuh]

Ok, we have a deck that is on top of a flat roofed garage on our house.

A couple years ago we ripped out the old deck. On top of the garage was asphault. It was replaced with styrofoam and rubber. Then a floating deck was placed on top (a new one since the old one was rotton).

We are getting a lot of wasps building nests under the deck boards. Obviously we can't get to them from underneath since there is about 6-2" of space under the boards and to the roof.

Looking for a way to rid these mean little bastages! I read one place that soap and water at 20:1 would do the trick. I imagine I could use my pressure washer for that, but looking for any ideas.

Mothballs? Amonia and water?

We of course don't want to ruin our deck as well. Although the wood after 3 years (and being stained) already looks like crap. Wood these days is just garbage. But that's another story!

Thanks!

 

[RHP]

I've found this to be an effective product when sprayed under eaves.

Cynoff WP - Free Shipping

 

[rekees4300]

I use Black Flag Wasp & Hornet spray. Hit them with that stuff and they go DOWN instantly!

Amazon.com: Black Flag Wasp and Hornet Aerosol Spray, 14-Ounce: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[Western]

Just remember petroleum products can possibly/sometimes "melt" the exposed Styrofoam.

Can you use screen to block them off?

 

[legbuh]

First, I'm not going to spray them one by one with a can of stuff. Second, the construction does NOT allow me to get under the boards to knock out the nests.

The deck boards are just inches above the roof of the garage, which is covered with styrofoam (to slant it towards the gutter) and then topped with rubber. The deck boards sit on "floating" joists.

So I need to spray something all over the deck so it gets under the boards and gets rid of them.

 

[dusty3030]

Propane fogger hit em at night. Should be able to get on a ladder and shoot fog jets up under boards.

 

[Casco1]

I found this by accident Roundup weed killer is amazing at getting rid of wasps.

 

[Boondox]

Do they enter and exit from a single point? If so, here's how I got rid of a nest under the siding of my house.

Locate the place they use as an exit. At night, tape the end of a shopvac hose next to that spot. Fill the Shopvac with a few inches of soapy water and connect the other end of the hose to it. In the morning plug it in and turn it on. Let it run all day. As the wasps exit they get sucked into the shopvac and drown.

 

[Soundguy]

pump up sprayer with some permethrin emulsion mix from a farm store.

spray in.

last a good while in a protected spot.

won't kill mice or birds or dogs or cats or bunnies or you.. will kill bugs dead dead dead....

 

[tallyho8]

I had the same problem on my deck which was built a couple of inches over a concrete pad. I tried a propane fogger with insecticides. It did nothing. Since the boards are spaced one inch apart you can't get anything under there to spray the nests directly even if you knew where the nests were. There is no one entrance or exit to trap them as there are hundreds of feet of spaces between the boards. Just spraying insecticide down the cracks won't hit the nests because they are on the bottom of the boards.

I finally solved the problem by tearing down my deck.