Advice The Home Improvement/Automation Thread

Fungus got my lawn :( Would have cost 80 bucks a month to do preventative on it, and the anti-fungals are reasonably nasty stuff. Sucks, i put a ton of work and money into making it nice.

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fly said:
Oh shit! So you're giving up on it?
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honestly comes down to money :( i dont think i have the disposable income to keep it nice.

I was willing to spend the 200ish a year in fertilizer and basic maintence, but another 80 a month for like 4-5 months just reallly ramps up the cost.

Having property sucks sometimes.
 
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I've got some Vespula/yellow jackets that have built a nest inside a hole in the facade on my house right by my front door (a hole which we of course did not discover until they began to inhabit it) and if they weren't so defensive about it and it wasn't in a high-traffic area I'd just leave them be, but alas. I am also allergic to wasp venom :lol:

I'm having a hard time finding a pest control company that will service my area AND has an IPM approach/isn't just going to just go for the nuclear option. ideally, I'd prefer to move/remove and/or deter them from that space, but that isn't feasible since the nest is deep in the hole. and you can't just block the hole as that will encourage them to burrow deeper into the house to try and escape, and then you've got yellow jackets all up in your walls. I'm also not jazzed on the idea of pesticides, I certainly don't relish killing them because it's not their fault, they're just trying to live their best lives, and I also don't want to use (or have a pest control person use) anything that is going to effect or harm any of the other arthropods (or other animals!) that live in my yard/around my home.

I wish I could just reason with them. or like, lecture them to the point where they get fed up and fuck off just to get away from my incessant chatter.
 
august said:
I've got some Vespula/yellow jackets that have built a nest inside a hole in the facade on my house right by my front door (a hole which we of course did not discover until they began to inhabit it) and if they weren't so defensive about it and it wasn't in a high-traffic area I'd just leave them be, but alas. I am also allergic to wasp venom :lol:

I'm having a hard time finding a pest control company that will service my area AND has an IPM approach/isn't just going to just go for the nuclear option. ideally, I'd prefer to move/remove and/or deter them from that space, but that isn't feasible since the nest is deep in the hole. and you can't just block the hole as that will encourage them to burrow deeper into the house to try and escape, and then you've got yellow jackets all up in your walls. I'm also not jazzed on the idea of pesticides, I certainly don't relish killing them because it's not their fault, they're just trying to live their best lives, and I also don't want to use (or have a pest control person use) anything that is going to effect or harm any of the other arthropods (or other animals!) that live in my yard/around my home.

I wish I could just reason with them. or like, lecture them to the point where they get fed up and fuck off just to get away from my incessant chatter.
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dont you have a partner than can go out there with a sharpstick/canowaspkiller/gardenhose?
 
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august said:
I've got some Vespula/yellow jackets that have built a nest inside a hole in the facade on my house right by my front door (a hole which we of course did not discover until they began to inhabit it) and if they weren't so defensive about it and it wasn't in a high-traffic area I'd just leave them be, but alas. I am also allergic to wasp venom :lol:

I'm having a hard time finding a pest control company that will service my area AND has an IPM approach/isn't just going to just go for the nuclear option. ideally, I'd prefer to move/remove and/or deter them from that space, but that isn't feasible since the nest is deep in the hole. and you can't just block the hole as that will encourage them to burrow deeper into the house to try and escape, and then you've got yellow jackets all up in your walls. I'm also not jazzed on the idea of pesticides, I certainly don't relish killing them because it's not their fault, they're just trying to live their best lives, and I also don't want to use (or have a pest control person use) anything that is going to effect or harm any of the other arthropods (or other animals!) that live in my yard/around my home.

I wish I could just reason with them. or like, lecture them to the point where they get fed up and fuck off just to get away from my incessant chatter.
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Maybe you could light some citronella or other irritant (sage? witch hazel?) and smoke 'em out?
 
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Domon said:
dont you have a partner than can go out there with a sharpstick/canowaspkiller/gardenhose?
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I don't want the waspkiller to kill anything else. synthetic pyrethroids, which are generally the active ingredient in wasp sprays, will also kill other arthropals.
 
Jehannum said:
Maybe you could light some citronella or other irritant (sage? witch hazel?) and smoke 'em out?
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that's a good call, this is the first and hopefully only time I'm ever going to buy ~*~ essential oils ~*~ but I just ordered some citronella and some eucalyptus, which are apparently scents that they do not enjoy.
 
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I getchu. Its nasty shit.

For someone not-allergic, physically destroying the nest is often enough to get them to relocate. Smashy smash with a long pipe and then running away is my preferred tactic.

Be aware though, theyre angry fuckers, and smart. Last time I did that, they hung around the area even though the nest was gone and stung me every time i came out the door for like 4 days. But only me. Left my wife and kids alone.
 
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Domon said:
I getchu. Its nasty shit.

For someone not-allergic, physically destroying the nest is often enough to get them to relocate. Smashy smash with a long pipe and then running away is my preferred tactic.

Be aware though, theyre angry fuckers, and smart. Last time I did that, they hung around the area even though the nest was gone and stung me every time i came out the door for like 4 days. But only me. Left my wife and kids alone.
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You should really read her post.
 
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Domon said:
I getchu. Its nasty shit.

For someone not-allergic, physically destroying the nest is often enough to get them to relocate. Smashy smash with a long pipe and then running away is my preferred tactic.

Be aware though, theyre angry fuckers, and smart. Last time I did that, they hung around the area even though the nest was gone and stung me every time i came out the door for like 4 days. But only me. Left my wife and kids alone.
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if the nest was accessible, I'd have gone for suiting up and moving it, but they're inside a hole in my house. they're one of the ground-burrowing species (genus Vespula), not the aerial kind (genus Dolichovespula). I haven't managed to get close enough to get a picture I can use to ID to species, though.
 
Which part did i miss. Shes against wasp-killer, got that. Didnt see her say she's against having someone smash the nest with a long pole.
 
Domon said:
Which part did i miss. Shes against wasp-killer, got that. Didnt see her say she's against having someone smash the nest with a long pole.
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She said that she didn't want to use pesticide, which you suggested. Then your smash thing won't work when they're in a hole in the house.

Other than that, you got everything right.

:lol:
 
ahh, i was picturing a fairly shallow hole that the nest could be seen and could still be poked. If the nest is completely inaccessible thats different.

But if its inside a sealed up hole, that also would greatly less the spread of nasty wasp-killer chemicals and not kill surrounding buggos.
 
Domon said:
ahh, i was picturing a fairly shallow hole that the nest could be seen and could still be poked. If the nest is completely inaccessible thats different.

But if its inside a sealed up hole, that also would greatly less the spread of nasty wasp-killer chemicals and not kill surrounding buggos.
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No, just potentially allow them into the house. (Edit: The chemicals, not the wasps)
Also, you don't know where the leaks are until you do something to find them
 
Cut off all the septic risers in the yard yesterday to make mowing easier. Clipped one last weekend and shattered it. They make mowing a big pain in that part of the yard, so bringing em down to ground level was long overdue.

Annoying things. Saved the part i cut off in case code inspection every comes by, I can bring them back up to the 8 inches above ground level height required.
 
Domon said:
Cut off all the septic risers in the yard yesterday to make mowing easier. Clipped one last weekend and shattered it. They make mowing a big pain in that part of the yard, so bringing em down to ground level was long overdue.

Annoying things. Saved the part i cut off in case code inspection every comes by, I can bring them back up to the 8 inches above ground level height required.
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Violating code? You're going to burn your house down.
 
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