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Mud dobber nest prevention??

Started by Bibbyman, August 02, 2006, 06:27:59 PM

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Bibbyman



When we built our house in '83 we had a drywall contractor come out and do the insides with drywall, hard plaster top coat with sand swirl finish.  I didn't have a ceiling in the porch area so he suggested we just drywall it too.  Said they had a water proof type of drywall that would hold up to the exposure.  Well,  it did.  But the sand swirl finish sure attracted the mud dobbers.  We've knocked them off so many times we given up.

Is there anything that a person can spray or paint over this surface that would retard these pests from re-building their nests?
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Tom

A powerful stream of water once a day.   If they are smart, they'll look somewere else and maybe you can do it once a week.  :D

beenthere

I've had good results keeping wasp nests off the house for the last two years by using the Ortho Home Defense spray. It doesn't seem to leave a residue that causes stain (use in garage for spiders on sprayed drywall) of the surface, and is touted as lasting 3 months. The critters crawl on it and die, so I'm led to believe. I have success using it against the dreaded Asian 'ladybug' beetles too. 

Don't know about the dobbers, but I'd sure expect it would work like it does with the paper wasps.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

DanG

Can't help ya on the porch ceiling, Bib, unless you want to invest in some screen wire. ::)  We must have a hunnerd different kinds of dirt daubers around here.  Some of them are quite small and like to build inside of some sort of tube.  If there is a little piece of tubing or pipe laying around, they'll plug it up overnight.  I keep everything I can in an old file cabinet in my shop, especially the air tools.  You just ain't lived until you get a mud plug in yer air nailer! >:(
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

getoverit

I have a similar problem, but we have a vinyl ceiling in our carport that seems to attract spiders. I can pressure wash them off, and within a couple of days they are right back with new webs.... ooodles of them !  :(

Sure would be nice to get rid of them once and for all.
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

DanG

If it's any comfort to you Ken, mud daubers eat spiders. ;D :D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

ScottAR

There's a commerical type product for wasps and hornets called Cynoff (sp?).
Supposebly you can spray this on the eves of the house and they either die or stay away....  Might work for your application.

I'd consult one of those internet exterminator suppliers...
Scott
"There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do."
[Magicman]

Woodcarver

I would give Beenthere's suggestion a try.  The pyrethrum based sprays, like Ortho Home Defense, kill a wide variety of pests.
Just an old dog learning new tricks.......Woodcarver

CHARLIE

Back in the mid to late 1800's, people would paint the ceilings of their porches a light blue and it was supposed to keep stuff like that away. I guess cause it looked like the sky or something. You might give it a try. Can't hurt.

http://www.thegoodtern.com/newsletter/letter19_3.html

http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?option=com_simplefaq&task=answer&Itemid=104&catid=103&aid=2759


This link says it works. A homeowner painted his porch ceiling white and blue. Mud daubers were on the white side but not on the blue side.

http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=177&sid=1a38115c87e378f03066489eb9353fc7
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Bill

Not quite back to the 1800's but back in the late 1970's Mother Earth ( I think it was them or was it firefox or foxfire - well you get the idea ) suggested using a light spray of a petroleum product ( like kerosene ) around the perimeter of your house to keep bugs and critters at a distance. Cheap and effective as I recall - course now the EPA 'd be likely to fine you for having caused a toxic oil spill and you probably wouldn't want to be breathing the fumes  . . .

Good Luck


Bibbyman

Thanks guys,   

I think I'll start with the blue color thing first and see how that works.  It's great to look back and find ol'-time remedies that have been forgotten.   Now let's just hope the mud dobbers ain't evolved and can't be fooled by the color of the ceilings.

About bugs and spraying....

A guy I worked with had a problem with chiggers and ticks, etc. around his home.  A buddy suggested he spray with Chlordane and even had some left over in a sprayer he'd loan him to do the job.  So the guy took him up on the offer and sprayed a 10' ring around the outside of his house before running out.  A couple of days later it became quite evident that something wasn't right when all the vegetation begin to wither and die.  On afterthought,  the guy loaning the sprayer remembered he didn't have Chlordane in the tank but Roundup.  ::)
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

OneWithWood

Save your paint Bibby.  The ceiling and eaves of our house are painted blue and the siding is a sky blue.  The daubers do not seem to care at all.  And the mud is almost impossible to clean off.
I have a real love-hate relationship with the little monsters - I love the spider control they provide but I hate the mess they make with their constuction methods.  Of course if one ever stung me on the nose I would declare all out war on the critters!!

One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

iain


thurlow

Here's to us and those like us; DanG few of us left!

Bibbyman

I've been of the opinion that mud dobbers don't sting.  I've never worried about one stinging me before. 

I'm sure the one that got me was a wasp - probably a red one.  As it came from under the roof and hit and ran so fast, I'm not sure about the color.  There are a few black wasps (hornets?) around the porch that built paper nests.  But I zapped them with wasp spray and it made them real mad and they left.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

iain

Thanks thrurlow

i like the look of them things, if i had some id leave them and watch their comings and goings
but then we aint got none over here' so there is a bit of novelty value in what i say



iain

highpockets

What about getting Mary a nice new 700 Remington 30-06 and a good rocking chair?  She may need a fan with this heat.

   
Louisiana Country boy
homemade mill, 20 h.p. Honda & 4 h.p. for hydraulics.  8 hydraulic circuits, loads, clamps, rotates, etc.

Lud

When I built an outside porch on the house back in '88,  I looked into this as it had the makings of a gian wasp hotel. 

I found Envirochem out of Wallawalla , Wash and sent off for their paint additive.  You don't want to rub the stuff  but hey,  ceilings.   Wasps and spiders both stay away.

I believe the box stores have this now.  look for paint additives- insecticide or repellant.

Has worked real good around the eaves also. 8)
Simplicity mill, Ford 1957 Golden Jubilee 841 Powermaster, 40x60 bankbarn, left-handed

Beweller

I read somewhere that painting the "ceiling" of bird houses with liquid dish washing soap would prevent wasps from making nests there.
Beweller

jkj

Do you have mud nearby?  Years ago I noticed mud daubers collectiing mud from around my swimming pool and building nests close by on the split brick side of the house.  I wonder if it would help to 1) cover or eliminate any convenient source of mud, or if impossible, either 2a) spray something unpleasent to the insects on the mud, or 2b) provide an attractive dry, protected place closer to the mud so they'll build there and leave the porch alone.

Also, I've noticed they seem to prefer roughened surfaces, so perhaps smoothing and repainting with glossy paint would help.

Of course I've never tested any of this - just hairbrained ideas.  (My current house does not seem to attract mud daubers and I like to see them in the barn since they kill a lot of spiders.)

JKJ
LT-15 for farm and fun

iain

Any mud close the nest's?




this enough to answear your question :D


iain

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