UMass Extension names sheds, office buildings and warehouses among the sites where brown marmorated stink bugs overwinter. A shed or garage on a Leominster lot is therefore walked as a building of its own, with its own door, vents, stored material and shared walls.
Key takeaways
- UMass names sheds and warehouses among the overwintering buildings.
- Each outbuilding is walked and listed separately from the house.
- A garage that shares a wall with the house is checked at the joint.
- Stored material is moved only as far as the walk needs, and put back.
- The door seal and the vents are the most common entries on an outbuilding.
- A shed that is not in use is still a building, and it is still on the list.
Why an outbuilding is a separate job
UMass names sheds among the overwintering sites, so an outbuilding is walked as a building in its own right. The house list is not enough.
Many Leominster lots hold a shed, a detached garage or a garden building as well as the house. The outbuilding has its own door, its own vents and its own stored material, and it is often less maintained than the house. Each of those features is an entry route that needs its own line on the list.
Treating the shed as an extra to the house list is the common mistake. The shed may be the place where insects settle, and the house may be where they are found. The walk records both, and the report says which entry links one to the other.
The door, the seal and the threshold
The door is the largest opening most sheds have. The seal, the threshold and the gap at the hinge side are checked first.
A door that does not close flush leaves a gap along one side or along the threshold. A worn seal or a missing sweep is listed as an entry, and it is sealed with a material suited to the door. The door is tested by closing it and looking for light at the edges, from inside the building.
The threshold is often where a shed meets the ground. A gap there is easy to miss from outside, and the walk checks it from both sides before the list is closed.
Vents, windows and small openings
Vents and small windows are checked for screens, for gaps at the frame and for any opening that is larger than the screen can close.
A vent without a screen is an open route. A screen with a tear is an open route too. The walk checks each vent, notes its size and position, and marks whether the screen is intact. A window with a cracked pane or a loose frame is listed on the same line.
Openings high on the wall are checked from a ladder or from the roof edge, where that is safe. An opening that cannot be reached is listed as not checked, so the owner knows it is still open.
Stored material and the walk
Stored wood, boxes, tools and debris hide the walls and give insects a place to settle. The walk moves them only as far as needed, and puts them back where they were found.
Firewood stacked against an outbuilding wall is one of the commonest hidden routes. The advice on the visit is to move it a short distance from the wall so the wall can be seen, and to keep it clear of the sill. The homeowner is told where it was moved.
Boxes and stored goods are moved in the order the walk needs. A box that holds papers, clothes or food is handled with care, and the walk does not open it or read its contents.
Outbuildings that are not in use
An outbuilding that is not used for anything is still a building, and it is still walked and listed. Its entries are often the most neglected.
A disused shed can have a roof that has lifted, a door that no longer closes and vents that have lost their screens. None of that makes it less of a route. The walk lists it, and the owner can decide whether to seal it, repair it or remove it.
The report states the condition of the building, so that the owner knows what the list covers and what it does not.
Records to keep for each building
Keep a short record for each outbuilding: its position on the lot, the entries found, the entries sealed and the entries still open. Keep the record with the house papers.
A record for each outbuilding makes the next visit faster. The technician starts from the last list rather than from a search, and the homeowner can see at a glance which building has the most open entries.
A photograph of each sealed entry, taken from the same spot, is a useful addition. It shows the sealing was done and it helps the next check compare like with like.
What to ask the technician about outbuildings
Ask whether each outbuilding will be walked and listed separately, whether the shared walls will be checked from both sides, and whether a second visit is planned for the entries left open.
Ask for the business name, the technician’s name and the licence details on request. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is named as the licensing body in a secondary study guide, and the details are to be verified on mass.gov.
Tell the technician about every outbuilding on the lot, and any that are not in use, so that the walk includes them and the report covers the whole property.
Floors, sills and the ground line
The sill of an outbuilding and the ground line are where wood meets soil. Gaps there are checked from both inside and outside.
A shed floor on blocks or on a low foundation has a gap under the sill that is easy to overlook. The walk checks the sill from outside, along its length, and from inside where the floor is accessible. Any gap is listed by its position along the wall.
Ground built up against the wall is noted and moved back, so that the sill and the lower boards can be seen. The homeowner is told where the soil was moved, and the wall is checked again after it is cleared.
Heating, power and other service entries
Outbuildings often carry power, water or heating lines, and each line leaves an opening in the wall. Each one is listed by position and checked for sealing.
A cable through a shed wall, a pipe to a garden tap or a flue for a heater is an entry in the walk. The sealant around each one is checked for cracks, and the opening is listed even when it looks closed.
Where a service line is no longer in use, the homeowner is asked whether it should stay. A disused line is still an opening until it is sealed or removed.
Lighting and inspection from inside
An outbuilding is walked from inside with a light held low along the wall, so that any gap shows as a line of daylight. The same light is used on the roof edge from outside.
A light held low and moved slowly along the wall shows gaps at the joints and at the corners. A line of daylight at the top of a wall is an entry, and it is listed by its position from the corner.
The inside check is paired with the outside check. An opening found from inside is matched to the outside, and the sealing is done once from the side that reaches it best.
Materials for an outbuilding
The sealing material is matched to the gap and the surface. A flexible filler suits a moving joint, a metal mesh suits a vent, and a sweep suits a threshold.
A material chosen for a wood wall may not stick to a metal sheet, and a filler that suits a joint may split on a moving board. The technician chooses the material for each opening and says why in the report.
No single material is a permanent answer for every opening. Each seal is checked again on the next visit, and the report records any seal that has failed.
What a Leominster outbuilding record should show
The record for an outbuilding shows its position, its use, its condition, the entries found and the entries sealed, with the date. It is kept with the house record.
The use of the outbuilding matters: a shed used for storage holds different items from a garage used for a car, and the walk notes the difference. An outbuilding not in use is recorded as such.
The record is short enough to read in a minute and specific enough to act on. It is the document the next technician needs first.
Frequently asked questions
Is a shed really a place insects overwinter?
UMass Extension names sheds among the buildings where brown marmorated stink bugs overwinter, so the walk treats a shed as an overwintering site.
Should a garage be walked if the car is always inside?
Yes. A garage is walked as a building, and its shared wall and door seal are checked whether or not it is used for a car.
What if the shed belongs to a neighbour?
The walk covers the building on the owner’s side. A shared joint is noted, and the neighbour is asked before the walk goes onto their property.
Sources
This guide is general information for Worcester County homeowners, not a substitute for an on-site inspection. Prices are estimates. See our disclaimer.