Why do old stone roofs get more wasp nests?

Stonesfield slate and other traditional stone tiles are laid with more natural gaps and variation than modern interlocking tiles, and the battens and torching (the mortar bedding under the slates) crumble with age, opening up voids that wasps can get into from a ridge or verge.

Can I just fill the gaps under my tiles with expanding foam?

Not while the nest is active. Sealing an occupied entry point traps wasps, which will either die and cause a smell, or find and enlarge a different gap to get out — sometimes into the loft or a room below.

Will removing and refitting a ridge tile disturb the nest badly?

It can, which is why we always ask a roofer to hold off any tile work until we've treated the nest and confirmed it's inactive, rather than working the other way round.

Is a nest under tiles more expensive to treat than a loft nest?

Not usually — our pricing is fixed from £99 regardless of exact location on most standard properties, though very high or difficult-access roofs are assessed on the phone before we quote.

Does this affect listed or conservation-area properties differently?

The treatment itself doesn't change, but any tile repair or mortar work afterwards may need to match existing materials, which is a conversation for your roofer rather than us — we're just clearing the nest safely.

How do I know it's under the tiles and not in the loft itself?

If wasps are visibly entering and leaving from a specific gap between tiles, at a ridge, or along a verge rather than from inside a gable vent, the nest is more likely sitting in the tile void than the open loft space beneath.

Where the nest is: roof tiles

Wasp nest under roof tiles

Cotswold stone cottages roofed in Stonesfield slate, clay pantiles on older Oxford terraces, and concrete interlocking tiles on 1970s Kidlington estates all get wasps under them — but for slightly different reasons in each case.

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Close-up of a paper wasp nest with worker wasps at the entrance hole

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Nests treated

A nest under roof tiles sits in the void between the underside of the tile and the roofing felt or torching beneath it, sometimes extending into the open loft space if there's a gap in that layer too. Unlike a full loft nest, tile-void nests are often smaller and flatter, wedged into a shallow gap rather than hanging free, but they're no less capable of building up to a mature colony over a season.

Why traditional Oxfordshire roofs are more exposed

Stonesfield slate and other natural stone tiles are hung on timber battens with a good deal more natural variation in size and lie than a modern machine-made tile, and many older roofs in the Cotswolds and villages around Burford and Chipping Norton were originally torched — meaning the underside of the slates was bedded in lime mortar to stop wind-driven rain and snow getting through. That torching perishes over decades, leaving gaps exactly where wasps want them: dry, sheltered, and close to a ridge or verge entry point. Clay pantiles on Victorian terraces in Jericho have their own version of the same problem, with the distinctive S-shaped profile leaving small void pockets along every course.

Common entry points by roof type
Roof type	Typical entry point
Stonesfield slate / stone tile	Gaps where torching mortar has crumbled, especially near the ridge
Clay pantile	Void pockets along the tile profile, often near a verge or hip
Concrete interlocking tile	Gaps at ridge tiles or where a tile has slipped slightly out of line
Any roof with ridge tiles	Mortar joints between ridge tiles that have cracked or come loose

Why sealing the gap yourself usually fails

It's tempting to grab a tube of mastic or expanding foam the moment you spot wasps going in and out near the ridge, but treating this as a DIY sealing job before the nest is dead almost always backfires. Wasps are strong enough to chew through fresh foam within hours, and a colony sealed in with no way out doesn't simply give up — some will die in place (leading to a smell that lingers for weeks under the tiles), while others will find or force a new gap, occasionally coming out somewhere far less convenient, like inside a bedroom ceiling. The right order is always: treat first, confirm the nest is inactive, then seal or repair.

Roof work planned?

If you've got a roofer booked for repointing, re-torching or ridge tile work and you've noticed wasps, get the nest treated first. It protects your roofer as much as it protects you, and it means the repair actually stays sealed rather than being reopened by a trapped colony.

How we treat a nest under tiles

We apply insecticidal dust directly to the entry gap wasps are using, which they carry back into the nest themselves, so there's rarely any need to lift or disturb tiles to reach the nest directly. This is one of the more common call-outs we get across Burford, Woodstock and the villages around Witney, where a huge amount of the older housing stock is stone-roofed. For nests that turn out to be inside the loft space rather than the tile void itself, our loft nest guide covers that scenario, and if it's actually at the guttering line rather than higher up the roof, see soffits and fascias instead.

Once the nest is confirmed dead, any mortar or torching repair is a job for a roofer, but we're happy to point out exactly where the entry gap was so it doesn't get missed. General entry-point advice for the rest of the property is on our prevention page.

Wasps entering near a ridge, verge or hip tile usually means the nest is in the tile void
Never seal an active entry gap with foam or mastic before the nest is treated
Traditional stone and clay roofs with perished torching are more exposed than modern tiled roofs
Treatment is applied to the entry point, so lifting tiles is rarely necessary
Hold any roof repair or repointing until the nest is confirmed dead

Frequently asked questions

Why do old stone roofs get more wasp nests?: Stonesfield slate and other traditional stone tiles are laid with more natural gaps and variation than modern interlocking tiles, and the battens and torching (the mortar bedding under the slates) crumble with age, opening up voids that wasps can get into from a ridge or verge.
Can I just fill the gaps under my tiles with expanding foam?: Not while the nest is active. Sealing an occupied entry point traps wasps, which will either die and cause a smell, or find and enlarge a different gap to get out — sometimes into the loft or a room below.
Will removing and refitting a ridge tile disturb the nest badly?: It can, which is why we always ask a roofer to hold off any tile work until we've treated the nest and confirmed it's inactive, rather than working the other way round.
Is a nest under tiles more expensive to treat than a loft nest?: Not usually — our pricing is fixed from £99 regardless of exact location on most standard properties, though very high or difficult-access roofs are assessed on the phone before we quote.
Does this affect listed or conservation-area properties differently?: The treatment itself doesn't change, but any tile repair or mortar work afterwards may need to match existing materials, which is a conversation for your roofer rather than us — we're just clearing the nest safely.
How do I know it's under the tiles and not in the loft itself?: If wasps are visibly entering and leaving from a specific gap between tiles, at a ridge, or along a verge rather than from inside a gable vent, the nest is more likely sitting in the tile void than the open loft space beneath.

We treat nests like this across Oxfordshire

Same-day wasp nest treatment from £99, including these areas:

Oxford Witney Carterton Wantage Headington Chipping Norton All 51 areas

Nest active? Don't leave it.

Wasps under your tiles or ridge? We treat stone and clay roofs across Oxfordshire, fixed price from £99.

Call 01865 477311