pressure washer and small wasp nests

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broadway

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I have a small wasp nest in the corner of a second story window.
I have also seen them on the soffits (?).

I am thinking about buy a SunJoe pressure washer from Home Depot and using the high pressure water to knock them down.

I also saw a Youtube video where the guy poured dishwashing liquid into the hose then use the high-pressure nozzle instead of the soap nozzle to soak the nest with the soapy water.

The local HomeDepot has the https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sun-Joe-Pressure-Joe-2-030-psi-1-76-GPM-14-5-Amp-Electric-Pressure-Washer-SPX3000/204202850


Good idea?
 
Those wasp/hornet cans you can buy at HD should have the range to reach 2nd story. Do it at dawn or dusk when the hornets tend to be at the nest and less active, to kill them. Otherwise they'll just build another nest nearby.
 
It seems like it would be a lot cheaper and safer to buy some wasp spray and actually kill them than it would be to buy a pressure washer and piss them off. I think Raid will spray over 20 feet.
 
I always worry that those sprays (in a can) will leave a stain on the house. Any insight on how they do or don’t leave a residue?
 
harley said:
It seems like it would be a lot cheaper and safer to buy some wasp spray and actually kill them than it would be to buy a pressure washer and piss them off. I think Raid will spray over 20 feet.
Click to expand...

The top corner is 2.5 stories up from the lawn. The basement is 1/2 in the ground and 1/2 above ground.
Not sure what it is the total distance to reach the nest.
Guess is 4' (basement) + 9' (1st floor) + 8' (2nd floor).

Spraying them with the dish washing liquid such as Dawn apparently will suffocate them.


.
 
We have a recurring nest each year in the same spot on the soffit by the back door. I blast it with Raid and knock it down a few days later, and they are back rebuilding within a week. This year they built another one on the side of the house (high one-story elevation) and the Raid knocked them back. I haven't seen any staining (our house is a medium tan). Fortunately these are very docile wasps and never bother us, but they do make me nervous.
 
Wasp spray goes 27'. If you hold the can up you are ~6' off the ground, so that's only ~15' the spray has to go. Do it on a calm day and it should be fine.

A pressure washer is going to hit them hard and at least some wasps will escape to attach before being suffocated, I would think. I think it's a bad, expensive idea, and the hornet spray is cheap and worth a first try.

Jerry1, I've never noticed a stain. Maybe it'd be an issue on a light color? I'd try it in an inconspicuous place first if I were concerned, and low enough where it could easily be washed off.
 
MBAustin said:
We have a recurring nest each year in the same spot on the soffit by the back door. I blast it with Raid and knock it down a few days later, and they are back rebuilding within a week.
Click to expand...
Like I said, try to do it at dawn or dusk when the wasps are at the nest. It does little good to just knock the nest down during the day.
 
RunningBum said:
Those wasp/hornet cans you can buy at HD should have the range to reach 2nd story. Do it at dawn or dusk when the hornets tend to be at the nest and less active, to kill them. Otherwise they'll just build another nest nearby.
Click to expand...

Having been in this business, I would follow this advice.
 
I had a small nest on my front door. Hit them with the powerwasher. It was ineffective at removing the entire nest and they came back. Hit them with the RAID and they're gone.
 
A couple enhancements to the above advice, and non staining alternative -

1) use a spray can extender (see link), - I made my own with an 8'+ piece of 1x2 that was string pull activated.
2) rig a long extension to a shop vac. And definitely do it early AM when the wasps are torpid.
P.S. A ladder can be used to gain a little height if the wasps are inactive.

https://www.amazon.com/Attach-Your-Spray-Extension-Pole/dp/B004FEBDAI
 
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broadway said:
Would you explain further about what mean by making your own?
The contraption on Amazon pretty ingenious!

I have the MrLongArm extension pole.
Click to expand...


OK, I'll give it a try.
I used the same concept as shown in the link with scrap lumber I had on hand at the time. One shorter piece of 1x2 was screwed to the long piece at an angle so the can will be in the right position in use. Strap the can tightly to this. Another small piece of wood was screwed above that to act as the lever. The string needs attach to the end of the lever and loop over a higher point to pull in the right direction if that makes sense.
 
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I hope that what you are dealing with are wasps/hornets, and not yellow jackets. Yellow jackets are really tough to get rid of. I had a nest under my soffit a couple years ago, and it took me a month or more to get rid of them. The nest was actually under the soffit, so the pesticide spray was ineffective, as you could not actually spray the nest itself. I tried the insecticide spray, I tried blasting them out with water pressure, I tried to dissuade them with high-powered fans, I tried bait stations to draw them away from the nest.....none of that worked. In the end, I had to actually use a shop-vac to suck them up, and then use caulk to seal the cracks they had been going into along the soffit edge. What a nightmare! They have not been back since, but I'm sure they will show up somewhere else eventually (and I am dreading it).
 
If how far the wasp spray is a concern, is there a nearby window that you can do it from rather than from the ground? If you must use a pressure washer, either borrow one or rent one or hire it out rather than going out to buy a pressure washer.
 
I won't use the chemical sprays. They kill honeybees and native pollinators, too. Soapy water does the trick very quickly with no residue, staining, toxicity, etc.
 
RAE said:
I hope that what you are dealing with are wasps/hornets, and not yellow jackets. Yellow jackets are really tough to get rid of. I had a nest under my soffit a couple years ago, and it took me a month or more to get rid of them. The nest was actually under the soffit, so the pesticide spray was ineffective, as you could not actually spray the nest itself. I tried the insecticide spray, I tried blasting them out with water pressure, I tried to dissuade them with high-powered fans, I tried bait stations to draw them away from the nest.....none of that worked. In the end, I had to actually use a shop-vac to suck them up, and then use caulk to seal the cracks they had been going into along the soffit edge. What a nightmare! They have not been back since, but I'm sure they will show up somewhere else eventually (and I am dreading it).
Click to expand...
+1

We had yellow jackets every year in our barn. They got progressively worse by the year. Even soaking the earth where they nested with kerosene and diesel did nothing. Eventually the exterminator was involved..
 
You probably forgot to light the fuel after it had soaked in.
 
Years ago we had a big paper wasp nest in a filbert tree next to our garage. Nasty buggers and not to be co-existed with. I got a really good solid stream water nozzle, mounted it to a large diameter hose, checked my range and blasted the nest in the evening. Did great - blew the nest apart. Then I saw this dot flying straight down the length of the water stream, about 2 inches above it. At speed. Sonsabeech bastid Ace had kill decals stuck to the side of his fuselage I think. He rocketed straight at me and nailed me square on the nose. . I left in a precipitous hurry, flailing arms. Did a passable Karl Malden imitation for about a week.
 
broadway said:
I have a small wasp nest in the corner of a second story window.
I have also seen them on the soffits (?).
Click to expand...

When I had a private airplane (a very long time ago) occasionally wasps would build a nest in the engine compartment and the solution was to drain a cup or so of gasoline from the tank and throw it on the nest. Of course one did not start the engine until the fuel had evaporated, but it killed the wasps almost instantly.

So if you're brave you could try that solution.:D Failing that, the spray can of wasp/hornet killer would be the solution I'd use.
 
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