I just discovered something is eating my brick house. I haven’t seen the critters but I can see the holes they’ve put in the mortar. Below is a photo of one of the holes (on the left) with the beginning of another hole beside it (on the right). There are quite a few of these holes around the southeast corner of my house. The holes are uniform in size: about one eighth inch in diameter.
Here’s a close-up view of the hole. It’s a perfectly round tunnel into the mortar. I googled for a mortar-eating insect and found reports of something called a “mortar bee.”
I sprayed pesticide into all the holes I could find. If you own a brick house, you probably (and reasonably) do not expect it to be eaten. But to be safe: the next time you're walking around your house, maybe you should look for small round holes in the mortar. Certain insects might consider your house a tasty treat.
11 comments:
What do you do about this?
It's not a major problem so I just sprayed pesticide on the holes. Be aware that ants can attack mortar. In that case, use an ant pesticide which the ants will carry back to their nest and wipe out the colony.
If my pest control man sprays the exterior chimney and the one side of the house with insecticide - will that work?
I have seen both wasps and ants(tiny)
Will Ant pesticide kill the wasps too?
So small ants can make those perfectly small round holes in the mortar?
You should ask your pest control man how best to kill both the wasps and ants. He would surely know more about the subject than I. I doubt ants make perfectly round holes, and I think it's more likely any holes made by ants would be close to the ground. However, I suggest you plug the holes, either with mortar or silicone, to prevent rainwater from running into the holes and possibly causing further damage.
I have the same thing! My pest control company has no idea what is causing the problem. I have noticed the number if holes increasing and the mortar actually deteriorating at the base of the chimney. Did spraying the holes solve your problem? Thanks!
I'm neither exterminator nor mason. I can only tell you my experience. I sprayed the holes with bug spray (Ortho Home Defense Max) and since then I haven't seen any changes in the appearance of the holes, so I assume they are no longer being used. However, new holes do appear. When I see a new hole, I spray it.
I have these on front of my house Cultured Stone. They burrow/drill/etc. These round holes in the mortar between the stones & now they started drilling right into the & through the cultured stones.
I tried posting a picture but this system does not allow me.
The holes are about 3/8" diameter.
I've seen the Mason Bees actually making the holes. Extremely fast . Takes them about 2-3 minutes per hole.
Another name fir Mason a Bee is MORTAR BEES.
They are extremely valuable in pollination my orchard & the do not sting.
I built a house for them but I did not envision Swiss Cheese in my house.
I am looking a solution.
You may not need to do anything unless you see a lot of holes and bees.
This article has useful info on masonry (mortar) bees:
http://goo.gl/ULu5Zj
Mason Bees cause little round holes in Mortar and my Culrured a Stone house siding.
Another name fir them is " Mortar Bees " . Go figure.
They can easily, quickly etch/drill/burrow, etc... perfectly round holes, about 1/4" diameter.
They have been buzzing around my front door area. Driving me nuts.
On this sunny, warm morning they are all hatching, & getting ready to make more holes & etc.
I got some minced garlic, putt it into my coffee maker ( instead if coffee), breed up a batch of Garlic juice.
With a little hand sprayer, I sprayed all the bricks ... My hands hurt now.
But all to bees seem to be gone !!! Yahooo
Same issue here in dallas area. I have bees as well. I was mesmerized by it. I should do the same. Thanks
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