Oftentimes, frugal folks like to make repairs or do projects themselves to save some money. In certain circumstances, that’s a bad idea.
Take today for example.
I was walking out to Shane’s car to put a box in his trunk. The car was wrecked in February and has been sitting for quite some time (really long story). I saw a bee near the trunk keyhole, but thought nothing of it as I put the key into the lock and popped the trunk.
Suddenly, I saw about a dozen of them. Not your friendly bumble bee, but wasps!
As you might imagine, I got the heck out of there.
I wondered if getting a can of Raid would do the trick, but I was worried about Shane being exposed to the toxic chemicals or possibly getting stung. It didn’t seem like a worthwhile attempt, so I thumbed through the Yellow Pages to find an exterminator.
I explained what I saw and got a few estimates. It would cost anywhere from $90 to $150+ for them to take care of it. Yikes!
I had an exterminator come out and take a peek at the wasps to give me a more concrete estimate.
He immediately saw one nest, and told me it would be $150 to solve.
I told him that I had lower estimates from other companies, and while he wouldn’t match it, he did come within $10. Sold.
He sprayed and did his thing and discovered three nests with two varieties of wasps living inside. Lovely.
The problem was much bigger than I thought–much bigger than some amateurs with some Raid could safely solve.
As annoying as it is to pay $100 to solve a problem like this, it was worth it to have someone else tackle it.
Lesson learned: It’s probably better to let a trained professional solve a potentially dangerous problem. Let them do it and avoid an ER visit for getting stung repeatedly by angry wasps.
And, if you have a car that’s been sitting for an extended period of time–watch out!
I’d rather pay $100 than land in ER while pregnant. I’m glad you and the baby are fine.
Wasp nests in your car!? I’m going to be nervous every time I climb into our car for awhile.
I’ve flirted with wasps before, I think you made the right move by paying somebody to do it. It’s fun until the first sting.
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This car hadn’t been driven for months, so that’s probably why the wasps thought it was a suitable home.
Your car is probably fine! Don’t worry!
That’s scary. I’m glad you got it taken care of and nobody got stung.
It was a very topical post for me because we’re on our way to our rural house and wasps have moved back in just under the roofline by the front door.
I’ve been toying with the idea of just buying a can of expanding foam insulation to spray into the crack to close it up, but it did occur to me that the wasps might not be pleased to have the foam invading “their” space.
I don’t want to be stung by hordes of angry wasps but I don’t have the money to call an exterminator either, since I’m already having the plumber out.
Shevy’s last blog post..It Won’t Wait Wednesday
Perhaps I’m desensitized to wasps because they are common here in Texas.
Of course, if you want to cheap-out on some wasp killer (and not use chemicals), just get a good mix of dish soap and water to douse them with.
Then step on them when they are on the ground.
It does work, but to be honest, a can of Bengal Wasp and Hornet Killer (or Raid, etc.) works much better, faster, and more reliably. Around here, it’s worth its weight in gold…heh.
Wess Stewart’s last blog post..When should you trim the fat?
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