wasp nest inside of bathroom vent

[qmqmqm]

Hi everyone

I see wasps crawling out of the bathroom vent on the upper floor of my home, so I think there is a nest somewhere in the vent.

I don't know if a wasp spray is safe to be used inside the vent, for 2 reasons:
1) I don't know if the spray will react with and damage any part of the house at the vent;
2) I don't know if the smell and fume of the spray will get into the house.

I also hear that if I don't get rid of the nest now, the wasps can build another nest further inside the vent and stay over the winter...


Not sure what I should do to get rid of the nest.

Could someone please advise?

Thanks a lot!

Paul

 

[user 4883]

There should be a screen at the vent.
If not, I would get into the attic at night when they all return to the nest, disconnect the hose from the fan box and spray some wasp killer into the hose. Disconnect the vent from the soffit, disconnect the hose from the soffit vent, pull the hose back and replace it with new hose. You might even block off each end of the hose while in the removal process. Install some screen in the soffit vent and put it all back together with a new hose.

 

[notmrjohn]

Spray won't damage home. kok gave good advice. I'd add this "disconnect the hose from the fan box, and spray some wasp killer into the hose." reconnect hose to fan, turn on fan. Fan running will keep spray and most odor out of house.You might not have to go upstairs, remove fan grill, spray into hose, turn on fan.

 

[nealtw]

I hope you can solve this problem, just thought I would drop in with a new one.
If it absolutely necessary to vent the bathroom thru the soffet, that section of the soffit should not be vented. In the winter heat is lost from the top of the wall and air being drawn in the soffet is to move the heat away from the roof sheeting. The last thing you want is moisture from the bathoom back thru the soffit into the attic.

 

[grovehaven]

Hello,
Don't take things apart. Just pull the vent fan cover down , turn the fan on and spray wasp killer onto the turning blades. It will go up the hose and out the vent. Do this two times in two days. Problem gone. Regards.

 

[carnuck]

Old post, but I'll play too. I used compressed air from the bathroom to blow them out and added a touch of bleach to keep them away. If the house is new enough, contact the builder and have them fix the vent with on that is to code against intruders.

 

[qmqmqm]

Thanks Grovehaven and Carnuck for the input!

Luckily, this year the wasps did not come back to the same nest.

I have hung a fake paper wasp nest outside an adjacent bathroom window, in order to discourage wasps from building nests in the vicinity.

Cheers,

Paul