I have apparently got a wasps nest in my roof somewhere behind the fascias. My neighbour has seen them going in and out. Are they likely to do any harm? Will they damage the roof? Should I get rid of them? I am not a big fan of killing things just for the sake of it so if they won't cause problems I don't mind leaving them there. And if they do have to do how do I get rid of them?

Personally I would get a pest control firm in to deal with the problem. Recently had a firm in to get rid of a wasp nest in our garden and cost us about £40. Best £40 quid I ever spent. They squirt poison in the nest and it is left for a day or so and then removed.
Ailsa

Dont use rentokil then lol, my friend had a wasp nest in his garage roof and was quoted £89!

Ring the council. Some get rid of them for free.
They are dangerous, and I would get rid of them quickly :)
Lea :) :)

Depends how easy it is to get at.

We had one in our log shed and bought a tin of special foam from B&Q which cost about £5

Not easy at all as it is right up on the roof. I will call the council.

Get rid! Wasps love our roof for some reason & most years we end up having someone squirt powder where they fly into & it does the job. I don't know if they do any actual damage but last year a guest heard them chewing behind the bedroom wall.

Are they likely to do any harm? Will they damage the roof?

It would be great if they just minded their own business, but wasps don't. They turn wood into beautiful paper rose nests, lovely to look at but not great for joists, roof trusses etc. Call your council--if they charge it's unlikely to be more than £20, a lot cheaper than commercial pest control operators.

i would deffinatley get rid of them, i work in lofts a lot and have seen some absolutley huge nests, if its a very active one sometimes they will continue to get bigger!!!!!  they normaly make a big nest when their is a food source nearby, have you got a fruit tree or strawberrys growin close by???

> Not easy at all as it is right up on the roof. I will call the council.

If they start to give you an appointment for next October, tell them that you/your children/next door's children have anaphylactic allergy to wasp stings..... then stand back as they screech to a halt outside.... ;)

tell them that you/your children/next door's children have anaphylactic allergy to wasp stings..... then stand back as they screech to a halt outside.... ;-)

i like that :) :) :)

My friend has one and refuses to anything about it, so I haven't visited with the dogs.  She thinks the nest is empty, its a new nest so I doubt it.

We went on holiday a couple of years ago and came back to find hundreds of dozy wasps dying all over the house. It turned out we had a nest in the roofspace above our stairwell, and the wasps had chewed through the plasterboard ceiling into the landing. Apparently the design and location of our house is very attractive to wasps - we had three nests that year, and everyone else in the cul-de-sac also had at least one. 

i,m sure there worse this year we have been overun with them got rid of one nest in the attic but there are still hundreds about my 11 week old pup got stung on the leg a couple of days ago  darent give him any food outside as they are there before the dish is down just had one indoors after my bacon/egg butty!!!

This happened to me and Storm this evening. :( Walking in the woods and I thought he was covered in yellow flowers. Then realised they were wasps! I pulled them off him, somehow didn't get stung, but he did. He was very quiet afterwards but then we saw a black lab and she got him to play and he was ok then. Thank you black lab, whoever you are.

I am really surprised by these wasp horror stories as I had assumed (wrongly it would seem) that there would be less of the striped terrors around this year due to the really harsh winter.  That was the only thing keeping me going through winter that these horrible beasts wouldn't be around as much.  Poor storm, I hope he has no ill effects.

How do you get them off the dogs?  I am terrified of wasps and don't know if I could go near the dogs even if they were swarmed by the wasps.

I don't know in all honesty, I guess when you're looking at your baby covered in stinging wasps and it's a matter of time before he tries using his mouth to pull them off, you just do what you have to do. I hate them too, but I just flicked and grabbed and incredibly didn't get stung myself. He's ok, by the time we got home he was only interested in his dinner and no ill effects. At the time I checked his breathing wasn't affected, checked his gums hadn't gone pale, and made sure there was no swelling inside his ears. Other than that I gave hm a cuddle (which was the bravest part as he stank and his legs were covered in mud!) and kept walking.