Do wasps chew on timber cladding?

[Square Feet]

Last week I was stung on the hand by a wasp, which made it swell up like a balloon. It wasn't a lot of fun. It must have been stripping wood from a fencepost that I put my hand on to help me lever myself over the fence. It got me thinking about timber cladding - do they chew that as well?  I know their nests are basically wood-mache - I've watched them stripping wood from an old outdoor table before. The last thing I want is to construct a large wasp buffet box. The types of wood cladding I am looking at are Scottish larch or that Japanese method of burning wood (shou sugi ban) to preserve it. If I use larch I would seal it as I don't like it when it goes all grey.  I'd use something like Ronseal clear wood preserver rather than something naff like varnish though. 

Anyone got any experience of this?  I am not asking re cavity closing mesh etc - just wasps chewing the external cladding. 

[Mr Punter]

They are not eating the wood, just using the fibres to make nests.  If it is coated you should not have any issues as the wasps like the weathered stuff.

[jack]

37 minutes ago, Square Feet said:

It got me thinking about timber cladding - do they chew that as well? 

We have untreated Siberian larch. Wasps definitely use it to build their nests - up close, you can fine marks where they've scraped the top surface. They haven't managed to damage it much after ~11 years, so I'm not that worried about it.

I assume a well-maintained coating would deter or stop them.

[Gone West]

We had cedar cladding on our last place and the wasps chewed it, but didn't do any damage. Where we are now they chew any unpainted wood in the garden, but as there's so much around it will take forever to do any damage.

[Square Feet]

Ok thanks. I guess I am not so much worried about damage as attracting the little buggers.  It's been years since I was stung and I seem to react badly now. 

[Gone West]

12 hours ago, Square Feet said:

Ok thanks. I guess I am not so much worried about damage as attracting the little buggers.  It's been years since I was stung and I seem to react badly now. 

I would have thought that unless there are no other sources of suitable timber around, your cladding won't particularly attract them. I have two wasps nests in the garden this year in old vole tunnels underground. They are a nuisance, and I keep away from that area as much as possible, but we haven't been stung yet!

[jack]

3 hours ago, Gone West said:

I would have thought that unless there are no other sources of suitable timber around, your cladding won't particularly attract them. I have two wasps nests in the garden this year in old vole tunnels underground. They are a nuisance, and I keep away from that area as much as possible, but we haven't been stung yet!

 

My wife was out doing some weeding a couple of years ago and didn't realise she was swinging a hand-held weeder into a bank right beside a wasp's nest in an old tunnel of some sort. She got stung three or four times in quick succession - nasty little blighters! 

[jack]

3 hours ago, jack said:

My wife was out doing some weeding a couple of years ago and didn't realise she was swinging a hand-held weeder into a bank right beside a wasp's nest in an old tunnel of some sort. She got stung three or four times in quick succession - nasty little blighters! 

 

I should add that she was a lot more stoic about it than I would have been.

[SteamyTea]

My father was severely allergic to wasp stings.

I have never wanted to put it to the test as I have all sorts of allergies.

 

Apparently some people react normally to the first sting, then can get sever reactions to subsequent ones.

[Square Feet]

Maybe that's why I reacted so badly to this one. I remember getting stung inside my nostril a few years ago whilst cycling and it was a sore one but not that bad. I was thinking maybe this time was worse cos I was already awash with histamine from the barley stubble I'd been walking through all day (I'm not allergic to many things, but barley is one) and the numerous nettle stings I'd picked up at the fencelines. I probably couldn't have picked a worse day to wear shorts.

[saveasteading]

On 07/09/2026 at 16:16, Square Feet said:

If I use larch I would seal it as I don't like it when it goes all grey.  I'd use something like Ronseal clear wood preserver

Me too. I don't like grey wood.

 

I've done this loads of times. We used Sika stain on treated timber. 

That's 2 layers resisting wasps on the outside, and still 1 on the inner faces.

 

The treatment had to be one of the 'not green or dark brown"  ones: your BM will get it in if not their standard.. To keep it looking original we used the Sika 'light oak' colour which you can barely see when applying it. But the timber stays that colour, maybe becoming  yellower, and is very long lasting. (Dark colours fade in sun over 10 years). Perhaps the next shade towards brownish is better  for rural effect.

 

We didn't try other brands.

 

NB paint overlapping boards before fitting, to allow for movement.

 

I've had wasp nests in  the attic and hate to think where their harvest is from.

They will also chew pir to form a cavity but that ends up as dust.