Cluster flies in loft

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Deleted User 298457

Deleted User 298457

Hi folks,

When I did the loft job last year I spotted a bunch of dead flies/hibernating. Ignored as I vacuumed the entire space.

Went up earlier and there is a bunch of hibernating cluster flies. Some got startled by opening the loft hatch but they were FUBAR'ed and just flapped about a bit before dying.

They reckon you can kill them but not prevent them. I guess its the moisture up there making it a nice place for them (struggling to get humidity below 85). Is it a major issue? I could stick a dehumidifier up there but feels an expensive way to solve an issue that has probably always existed...?
 
Grim. Can you fog them yourself? Nowt up there as I held off. I could also take the shop vac up and suck them out
 
You can get aerosol fogs that you can just chuck up there to deal with them.

I had a huge swarm once in the loft, chucked a ‘fly bomb’ up there, problem solved. Dealing with the aftermath was pretty grim mind.

If you have high humidity in the loft, you need to increase ventilation. Grab some ‘lap vents’ to slide between the overlapping felt layers. A dehumidifier isn’t a fix to the problem.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
You can get aerosol fogs that you can just chuck up there to deal with them.

I had a huge swarm once in the loft, chucked a ‘fly bomb’ up there, problem solved. Dealing with the aftermath was pretty grim mind.

If you have high humidity in the loft, you need to increase ventilation. Grab some ‘lap vents’ to slide between the overlapping felt layers. A dehumidifier isn’t a fix to the problem.
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The issue is, its the original 1930s roof so fully boarded. Don't feel confident doing that myself at the moment...roofers want a silly amount.
 
I just put a double brick size air vent into each gable - You can certainly feel the flow on a breezy day.
 
Any options to open up ventilation in via the soffits?

Extractor fans can work to expel the moist and and draw in fresh, venting via the soffit.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Any options to open up ventilation in via the soffits?

Extractor fans can work to expel the moist and and draw in fresh, venting via the soffit.
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Ah yes that was my original idea. I did slide 30mm PIR down the eaves, but there is still 20mm all the way around. Maybe if I drop the gutters I can do that!
 
dlockers said:
Hi folks,

When I did the loft job last year I spotted a bunch of dead flies/hibernating. Ignored as I vacuumed the entire space.

Went up earlier and there is a bunch of hibernating cluster flies. Some got startled by opening the loft hatch but they were FUBAR'ed and just flapped about a bit before dying.

They reckon you can kill them but not prevent them. I guess its the moisture up there making it a nice place for them (struggling to get humidity below 85). Is it a major issue? I could stick a dehumidifier up there but feels an expensive way to solve an issue that has probably always existed...?
Click to expand...
We had the same here. Outside on the roof the loft windows had some big openings on either side of the tiles etc. So we recently went up and cemented up most of the openings. But we've hung fly paper up to catch them all, on each strip we had over 100 flies. Pretty effective. Still had a few flying around the window which we vaccumed up. Going to see how it goes now all the gaps are filled up if the count decreases.
 
I got the same issue , house built in 1940’s small gaps between roof and top of house where they get in, happens every year.

I got some fly sticky paper which I am hoping to put up and some smoke bombs.
 
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I had the same issue. Spoke to a friend of a friend who is a pest control chap. He said use the smoke bombs (two or three of them) in January when it’s cold, this will kill all the lave. Then do another couple in June.

I have stuck to his advice and no more flys!
 
Nathan said:
I had the same issue. Spoke to a friend of a friend who is a pest control chap. He said use the smoke bombs (two or three of them) in January when it’s cold, this will kill all the lave. Then do another couple in June.

I have stuck to his advice and no more flys!
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Do you have a link to the smoke bombs you use?
 
I have the same thing this year but it's a new house (built 2018) so it's not a humidity issue for us. Must be a big problem this year as we've never had the issue before.
 
In the attic... pah! Try having the buggers hibernating in you velux windows. Scared me half to death when I opened the window and about a hundred of them fell out.

I did buy some peppermint oil (they hate the stuff supposedly) to paint the frames with but forgot. Ran out the room and closed the door behind me. They'd all gone after about 10 minutes.
 
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