So all it took was a 1/4 inch square opening in the trim outside a dormer roof and soon there was an infestation of thousands of yellow jackets. This is a picture of the remains of the nest ... 30 inches across... the opening is the portion of 1/2 inch thick drywall that the yellowjackets stripped down to the paper. The sound of this was like a pot of boiling water. By the time I heard it, they had almost broken through to Liz's room. Since yellow jackets are very aggressive, I was extremely concerned. I decided that I would secure the ceiling with a piece of 2x6. That gave me some time to strategerize. I finally came up with a plan to seal off the dormer from the rest of the room. I used 4 mil thick plastic, a sliding shim that gave me access to the attic through a drill hole. After prepping and setting a drill inside the sealed area, along with a fogging can... I was ready. I drilled through the 2x6, then set off the fogger inside the sealed area... immediately I could see the yellowjackets dropping down from the ceiling. I went away and let the bug juice do the job. I was busy with activities at church so I let the nest settle down. I no longer saw any yellow jackets flying into the trim outside the dormer... so I felt some relief from the imminent danger of a breakthrough. A week later I slid open the shim hatch and more dead and almost dead yj's dropped to the window seat below.
I decided to fog again... replastic the dormer, open the hatch and depress the fogger button...hours later I checked again and I knew it was over... the battle was won. The infestation was vanquished and I was triumphant...wheeewh what an ordeal... I finally got back to it and cut the opening along the outer edge of the nest. I could tell where the edge was by the softness of the drywall. The picture above reveals the nest... What an invasion. I removed a 20 x 37 inch piece of drywall. enough to allow me to get up in there and clean it up. I was able to seal the opening from the inside and the outside. I reinsulated, then patched the drywall. Ready to paint.
Moral of the story: enemies will infiltrate wherever they can. Whenever you let your guard down, something will go after you. How could this have been prevented? Secure the perimeter. Know that forces are always working to get in to a safe haven or a good home. Or in the first place get on the ladder and check your corners. seal the openings...
Oh well... this has been a time consuming affair, one that required my immediate attention and one that needed a creative and thoughtful response. I am proud to say that I did not get stung once. Amazing since there were so many yellow jackets.
Now we get to paint the room... hopefully soon.
