by Chuck Owings

 

Site Admin's Note: This is a very detailed article for only the handiest do-it-yourselfer! Chuck is a member of our Stop Stink Bugs online community and is President of Short Hill Design & Construction in Purcellville, VA.
 

Stink bugs are tenacious. They can get into any crack in the exterior of your house that you can get the tip of a large screwdriver in or slip a nickel into. They just love your roof. Nice and warm up there late into the fall and high up where they like to fly. Once they have found a way in, they leave a stink trail so all their buddies can find their way in right behind them. Once in your home, they continue to move to warmer places as it gets colder outside and in your attic. Next thing you know, they are in your living room watching TV with you!

So, how do we keep them out? Well, let's start with the outside and work our way in.

Depending on what your house has on the outside (vinyl siding, hardboard or wood siding, brick, stone, etc.) you will need to caulk and/or fill all the cracks and spaces where they can come in without blocking the ventilation of the walls or roof that allow moisture and super heated air from escaping from your walls and roof. This is done with lots of caulk, spray foam and weather stripping.

First, check all your windows and doors, including storm windows and screens, to make sure the weather stripping is tight and in good condition. If it's worn out and you can see daylight around the door or window, replace the weather stripping or augment it with adhesive backed rolled foam around the perimeter of the window or door. On window screens, this should be done from the inside along the frame. Make sure that your screens don't have any holes in them. If you have a window unit air conditioner, make sure all the filters are tight and in good condition and all the edges around the window frame are filled so there are no gaps.

Second, let's look at your siding. If you have vinyl, aluminum or hardboard siding, you will need a good sturdy ladder, a caulking gun (start with about 25-50 tubes of caulk), a couple of cans of spray foam and some rubber gloves so you can handle it safely. The caulk I suggest is non-silicone, paintable clear caulk. It's available at most hardware and paint stores and costs about $2.50-$3.00 per tube. This caulk goes on white but dries clear and may let you do this without having to repaint your house if you are careful with it.

Start with the windows and doors. There is a molding called 'J' channel around all the openings. You will need to caulk around the edge of this molding between the window frame and trim. You will also need to caulk around any other window or door trim you find there.

 

If you have storm windows, you should caulk around the perimeter of the aluminum frame where it is attached to the window frame. Be sure not to calk the small drain holes on the bottom edge, usually a set of two 'bumps' along the bottom edge of the aluminum frame.

 

Now you need to caulk the edges of the siding where it goes into the 'J' channel. This will take a lot of caulk but it is very important. If you don’t, the stink bugs will walk right around and behind your siding and work their way into your house. You will also need to do this along the corner moldings of the house. Corner moldings will either be one piece that wraps around the corner of the house and the siding slips into a groove along the edge or a solid piece of material with a 'J' channel next to it. Caulk all edges of the 'J' channel and the siding where it goes into the channel or groove.

 

If you have the one-piece vinyl or aluminum corner then you will need to take the spray foam and fill the bottom cavity of the molding. I suggest you do this to all the corners at one time so the can of foam does not clog up on you while you are caulking other things.

 

This is also a good time to check under the bottom edge of the siding up against the foundation wall. You may need to caulk or foam under there all along the perimeter of the house to keep them from getting under the siding or into the foundation or basement. When using the foam, understand that it expands. Once it dries, the excess can be easily cut off with a sharp or seriated knife. An old steak knife works well.

 

If you have brick on your house, make sure you do all the caulking around your window and door trim.

 

If you have wood or hardboard siding, you will need to caulk the bottom edge of every strip of siding. That is a big job and will probably require repainting the siding even if you use clear caulking.

 

Next is the molding along the eves and gables of your roof. This is where the sturdy ladder comes into play. Remember: don't stretch to get to places beyond your easy reach. Move and reset the ladder!

 

On many houses, there is a board called a frieze-board laid flat against the wall at the top of the siding and under the eve. On a sided house, there may also be a 'J' channel or siding termination strip there. This will have to be caulked on all edges and along the top of the siding.

 

Next is the soffit which is the flat surface extending out from the house wall to the edge of the roof. If it is flat plywood, caulk the inside and outside edges as well as the butt edges usually at about 8' apart where the pieces come together. This type of soffit should have some kind of vents along it -- typically rectangular vents, round plug vents or a continuous 2" aluminum strip vent with either slits or holes in it. If it does not have vents, you should install them or have a qualified remodeler or roofer install them to properly ventilate your roof.

 

The rectangular vents or the round plug vents should have a screen on the top side of them. You may have to remove one to see if it does. If there is no screen above them, get new ones that do, or take window screening and cut pieces to fit above each one and reattach to the soffit. Once that is done, caulk all around the perimeter of them.

 

The 2" continuous vents come in two styles. One with small round holes and one with small slots. The one with holes will need to be caulked along the edges to the plywood soffit material on both sides. The same with the ones with the slots but, there may be a problem with the slot style. These slots may be wide enough for stink bugs to get in. If that is the case, you may need to consider replacing them, which is no easy task, or cover the whole soffit with perforated vinyl soffit. Both are big jobs. The slotted soffit was designed before this stink bug thing. It keeps bees and such out, but not necessarily stink bugs. There are instructions for installing the vinyl soffit on most of the siding manufacturer's websites if you plan on doing it yourself.

 

If you have vinyl or aluminum soffit, you will need to caulk along the 'J' channel along the house wall and along the 'J' channel or aluminum fascia cover along the edge of the roof. This is critical as this is the primary entry point for stink bugs to enter your attic. (The fascia board is the vertical strip of wood or aluminum that runs along the edge of your roof that the gutter is attached to.)

 

The vinyl and aluminum soffits have groves about every 4". Where the material sits in the 'J' channel, these grooves provide a highway for stink bugs to enter the attic. You will need to be sure each and every one is filled with caulk. It will take about a tube of caulk to do 10 feet of soffit so don’t be surprised if you use a lot of caulk here.

 

A note here: The soffit material should be perforated with lots of little ventilation holes. This provides ventilation for your attic. If the material on your house is not perforated, you need to get a home improvement guy or roofer to check out your attic ventilation. This is very important for the life of your roof. It keeps the roofing materials from overheating or collecting moisture. Either could cause eventual failure of your roof. If you have solid plywood soffits with no vents, this is a problem as well.

 

Moving along, you will find the same sort of materials along the gables of your roof. Caulk and seal them the same way. If you have gable overhangs, the soffit material is non-perforated and that is as it should be as there is no ventilation needed there.

 

You may have vents at the top of your gable walls. You will need to get into the attic and be sure there is a screen on the inside of these vents and that it has no holes, is tight and sealed along the edges. While you are in the attic, check all along the edges and gables to see if there are any holes where light is coming. Take note of these holes and caulk them from the outside. If you see big holes, you may need to use the spray foam.

 

Note: This may be a good time to add another 6"-10" of insulation to your ceiling while you are up in the attic!

 

If you have roof or power vents on your roof, check that the screening in them is in good shape and the edges are sealed.

 

If you have ridge venting along the top of your roof, you will need to check to be sure the insulation-like material along the bottom of the vent is in place and there are no gaps. This can be checked from the inside of the attic, but bring a flashlight! If they left this material out when the ridge vent was installed, you will need to have it replaced. That’s another one of those things that you may want a professional roofer to do.

 

You will need to check along the bottom edge of your roofing above the gutter to be sure there are no gaps that go into your attic. There should be an aluminum drip edge along the eves of the house up under the shingles and down onto the fascia board. If it's not there, have your roofer install it. If it is loose or shows gaps, you will need to caulk along the drip edge to the fascia board.

 

Check at the bottom edge of your roofing at all the ridges and valleys. Often the roofing material doesn't sit entirely tight there and may leave a gap. Fill any gap like that with your spray foam.

 

Now for the inside! No matter how good a job you did on the outside, a few of these little bugs are bound to get into your ceiling and walls.

 

This is a big job too, but it can be done rather effectively. Let's start with windows and doors again. Be sure to repair, replace or add to any weather stripping that isn't tight. Caulk all your window and door trim to the window frames and to the wall. This may already be done but be sure there are no cracks or gaps. Be sure to check the trim at the top of the doors and windows as painters have a tendency to 'forget' to caulk there as you can’t see it. If you have storm windows, be sure the slide panels are firmly in place with no gaps.

 

Next, you need to check your wall switches and outlets. You may want an electrician to do this for you. There are foam pads available that go on the inside of the switch and outlet plates that will keep any bugs that have followed the wires into the outlet box. You may need to caulk around the outside of the outlet box to the drywall to finish the job.

 

You will need to do the same for your light fixtures as well. Most of them today have insulation on the top side of the fixture where it touches the ceiling that will keep bugs out, but if not, you may need to get creative and place some fiberglass insulation above the fixture to seal the fixture box.

 

Next are the vents. You will need to unscrew them from the ceiling or wall and/or pull them up off the floor. I use duct tape to seal between the duct and the floor, wall or ceiling surface. Check inside the duct for holes and seal them up as well. Be sure to clean any dust off the surfaces before applying any tape or caulk.

 

If you have metal ductwork in the attic, you will need to inspect all the joints and tape them up to keep the bugs out of the system. Same thing for ductwork in the basement or crawl space. This is a good time to insulate your ductwork while you are at it!

 

Check your attic and basement doors or access holes. Caulk or weather strip these openings as if they were an outside entry. They are for stink bugs!

 

Check for gaps around your kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and wherever a pipe or drain goes into the wall or floor. Caulk as necessary. Check and caulk any holes you may have for TV, stereo or other media device wiring.

 

Caulk along any baseboard molding and crown molding, especially if it is a stained molding to a painted wall. They are rarely caulked. If you have wood floors, be sure there is a quarter round shoe molding along the base molding and it is tight and preferably caulked in place. You may want to install shoe molding along the base of carpeted floors as well if there is a gap there.

 

Well, there you have it! That should keep the stink bugs out ... for the most part ... but some may even get through that or hitch a ride on you or your pet. For these guys, I recommend a couple of solutions. Keep a jar about 1/2 full of water and dish soap. Grab the little suckers with a tissue and dump them in the jar. It kills them quick and it's safe. I suggest using a tissue so they don't stink on your fingers. You can also flush them down the toilet. I don’t advocate letting them go outside as they reproduce at a rate of 6 times a season at hundreds of eggs at a time. This just perpetuates the problem. You don’t have to feel a need to be nice to stink bugs.

 

If you just want to vacuum them up, I suggest you by a small, cheap shop vacuum and designate it to just stink bugs. If you use your regular vacuum it will soon smell like stink bug every time you turn it on. Empty the stink bugs out of your vacuum right after you finish using it as they can and will crawl right back up the hose and out into your house again. Store the vacuum outside as it will stink and attract other stink bugs.

 

There are various insecticides available that are safe to use inside your house and out, but you should consult a licensed exterminator before using any insecticide like that. I will not recommend any here, but personally I have a few that I use that are very effective.

- There are a couple of upsides to all this work besides the remediation of stink bugs.
- You have pretty much fully insulated your house and it should help your heating and cooling bills.
- You have made it just about impossible for any other bugs to get into your house.
- You may have been forced to finally get your house painted.
- You may have fixed a major problem with your roof ventilation.
- You can sleep at night without worrying about waking up with a stink bug crawling in your ear!

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Author contact info:

Chuck Owings

President: Short Hill Design & Construction, Ltd.

web: www.shorthill.net

email: OwingsC1800@shorthill.net

540-668-6800 local  

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