3 Tips to Keep Wasps and Hornets Away From Your Home


Columbus home new roof

As you take advantage of the fair weather of late summer and early fall, you may have noticed that there are an abundance of wasps and hornets buzzing around. While people tend to hate and fear them, these insects actually provide an important service by killing pests such as flies and mosquitoes. No one wants stinging insects buzzing around the house though, so take these steps to help prevent wasps and hornets from settling near your home.

Wasps and Hornets

  • Don’t feed the wasps! Wasps spend the summer feeding their young and preparing their queen for winter, so when the end of summer and early fall roll around, they’re ready to focus on their own needs – which include the need for food. While wasps and hornets are mainly predatory insects, they’re also attracted to certain types of food, particularly those with a sweet scent. To prevent wasps from being drawn to your home, make sure that any exposed food is tightly covered and trash cans are equipped with tightly fitting lids.

  • Maintain your home. Wasps are drawn to more than food; they also love the sweet-smelling scents found in lotions and perfumes. To stop them from sneaking into your home in pursuit of these scents, make sure that you perform regular inspections of the exterior of your home, repairing or filling in any gaps, cracks, and other crevices that could potentially house a wasp nest. Keeping gutters clear can also help deter insects. Filling in rodent holes is important as well, since yellowjackets like to make their homes there. In addition, make sure that window screens are in good repair, with no holes or gaps where wasps could get in.

  • Use decoys and traps. The species of wasp that most people are familiar with is called a paper wasp. They are very territorial, and usually won’t build a nest within 200 feet of another one. You can take advantage of this tendency by hanging decoy nests at various places around your exterior to keep wasps and hornets from building near your home. If you already have a wasp problem and need to get rid of them, wasp traps can be purchased at home improvement stores, or you can easily make your own using a plastic soda bottle and some duct tape.

Encountering a wasp or hornet nest can be scary, but at Muth & Company Roofing, our roofing professionals are experienced in dealing with the unexpected. If you want a reliable roofing company to take over your roof maintenance and repair, contact us today at (614) 682-3060.


September is National Preparedness Month

In the wake of the natural disasters that have hit our country in recent weeks and months, it’s fitting that September is National Preparedness Month. While it’s impossible to know when an emergency or disaster might occur and how it will affect your family, being prepared in the event that the unthinkable happens will greatly increase the chances of survival for you and your family.

National Preparedness Month

  • Create a family emergency plan. It’s important to be aware of the natural disasters that are most likely to occur in your area and know how to respond to them, as well as emergencies that aren’t specific to a particular region, such as flooding and home fires. A detailed emergency plan with which each family member is familiar is essential to everyone’s safety and well-being. When each person has specific responsibilities to perform and knows how to work together as a team, calm takes the place of panic and confusion, and the likelihood of being separated from your family members is greatly decreased.

  • Stay on top of roof inspections and repairs. One of the best things you can do for your home is to perform regular inspections and take care of necessary roof repairs as soon as possible. By being aware of the condition of your roof, minor problems can be fixed before they become major ones, ensuring that your roof is as strong as possible should a strong storm or other natural disaster arise. Your home’s roof should be professionally inspected annually, though bi-annual inspections in the spring and fall are a good idea.

  • Purchase adequate homeowners insurance. While damages caused by some events, such as flooding, aren’t covered under most policies, many other weather-related occurrences are. It’s important that you have enough insurance to cover the cost of rebuilding your home, if necessary, so talk to your insurance agent.

When a strong storm or other natural disaster hits, your home will likely sustain at least some minor damage that will require gutter or roof repairs. For this reason, it’s important to find a dependable roofing contractor such as Muth and Company Roofing and have our info on hand in case it’s needed. That way you can quickly give us a call at (614) 682-3060 should an emergency arise!