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Anyone ever have bats in their attic? (1 Viewer)

BroncoFreak_2K3

BroncoFreak_2K3

sucker for Orange
Found evidence of a bat in my attic today. Saw the critter up in my ridge vent. little *******. There wasn't very much poo on the center beam/insulation, so I'm hoping it's only one. I don't see any other evidence anywhere else.

Anyway, does home owners cover something like this. I have no clue the cost. Here in MI they are a protected species so you have to have them removed professionally.

Anyone have experience here?

 
You can get rabies from their saliva, so be careful what you touch up there. One technique is to sit outside, at dusk, and see where they exit your attic; while the are out flying around, plug the hole.

 
I have had bats before until I found the hole. Shingle guys didn't get flashing tight on one of the dormers.

Technique I used is shower towel to snap or knock him to ground. Scooped him up in towel and out to garage to meet hammer.

 
I've had problems with them in the past. Still have some rest under the overhang of my house at night. (can tell by the droppings)

The first one was about ten years ago. We were doing some work on the house and after dark one of the little disease bags came flying through the living room. I thought it got in because of the sliding door being left open while we were working. He finally landed and met with a BB from the air rifle.

Second one woke me up around 3 am flying through our bedroom and down the hallway. Not sure why I woke up, but he also landed and met his end via the air rifle. At this point, I spent a ton of time plugging every hole I could find on the exterior of the house.

The third bat I heard one night in the bathroom. I kept hearing a noise and when I turned the light on in the, there was one bouncing around inside the shower. I think he may have gotten in through the bathroom vent. So, I fashioned a screen cover for both the bathrooms. That summer, we painted the exterior of the house. So, I double checked all cracks and caulked before painting.

When I did my research, I had read that bats need to have a way to hang and drop in order to fly. They don't leap. Some pros will use a piece of screen to cover a hole on a vertical wall. When the bat comes out of the hole, they are able to grab the screen and drop them selves to take off. When the bat returns, they can't access the hole any more because of the screen and find another place to hang out. (pun intended)

Not sure how to adapt this to a ridge vent. But, basically you need to make a way that they can leave, but not regain access. I also read that some pros will put up temporary bird house type structures next to the closed off hole. This will give the bat a new place to hide and makes it easier to move them.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
BroncoFreak_2K3 said:
pittstownkiller said:
You can get rabies from their saliva, so be careful what you touch up there. One technique is to sit outside, at dusk, and see where they exit your attic; while the are out flying around, plug the hole.
Click to expand...
Im sure they are coming in from the ridge vent.
Click to expand...
If you are referring to the ridge vent (the long contiguous vent along the peak of your roof) I would doubt it, as it should be relatively sealed; if you are referring to the gable vent, then I see it more probable - the fix should be the same for either.
 
So I've got a squirrel in the attic. I figured this thread may be the place to ask. Has anyone else had this issue?

I went outside today and from the back yard I can see the spot where they got in - where one roof line meets another, it got in through the sophet (aluminum). A little bit of insulation is pulled out as well. *******. So my plan is to pick up a live trap at Home Depot today and bait it with saltines and nuts and ****. I'll put it right outside the entry point in the hopes it gets lured in by those treats. Once I catch it and listen for a few days for sounds, I'll go in the attic to see if I need to get rid of some babies that may be up there.

Good plan?

 
Funny this thread showed up.

I had my son in the attic, putting in a bathroom fan a week ago. I was in the bathroom, helping out if needed, and I hear him shout,

He said a bat swooped down at him, He got the hell out as soon as he could.

He did have the courage to go up and finish the job. He took a tennis raquet up with him. He never saw it the second time up.

We never did anything later.

 
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BroncoFreak_2K3 said:
Found evidence of a bat in my attic today. Saw the critter up in my ridge vent. little *******. There wasn't very much poo on the center beam/insulation, so I'm hoping it's only one. I don't see any other evidence anywhere else.

Anyway, does home owners cover something like this. I have no clue the cost. Here in MI they are a protected species so you have to have them removed professionally.

Anyone have experience here?
Click to expand...
I had 5-7 bats hanging out on two of my attic vents. They were on the outside of the screen. Since they are protected( The young bats are reared and protected by law from mid-May to mid-September) had to wait two months before they could be removed and hope they didn't chew through the screen and come inside. I was lucky and they didn't get in the house but paid a 1000.00 to screen the all the vents on my house so they could not get back in and guano clean up.

 
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I had a mess of them and they would come out of a hole where the roof peaks came together. One evening I sat in the driveway with a bb gun and picked off two of them as they crawled out to fly. I counted 18 of them as they flew out. I called a professional who installed a tube with a one-way screen in the hole. He then sealed up every hole he could find. He saw the two dead ones, and said I shouldn't have done that as they are protected (WTF?) He disposed of them quietly. After two weeks he came back and cleaned the attic of all the droppings. Be careful if you do this yourself, as it is possible to contract Histoplasmosis.

 
No. Had one on the wall of our hallway. My daughter asks me what that "thing" is about 8 foot up on the hallway wall. Can't really tell what it was but it looked about 3 inches square. Looked closer, it was a bat.

I did check the attic afterwards for its friends and couldn't find any.

 
Bump - We just had a pest control guy come out after we kept hearing scratching sounds and it turns out what I thought was mouse poop is likely bat poop and we've had bats for quite a while.

$1,500 to remove them and seal up the house so they can't get back in. Oof.

So now the 2nd part is the "clean-up." The guy said you don't have to do anything, but there's a lot of poop.
$1,500 they'll "clean and scrape" all the bat crap and spray something that kills bacteria and such.
$3,500 they'll clean and scrape and then put a layer of spray "TAP insulation" that is supposedly a pest-resistant insulation (TAP is the brand and it stands for Thermal, Accoustic, Pest). They spray it OVER the existing insulation.
$5,500 they'll remove all the old insulation, clean, and then spray TAP insulation.
3,400 sq. foot 2-level house.

Anybody have experience with this TAP stuff? Reviews online are all over the place - some say it's a lot of $$ for minimal benefit. Honestly, it doesn't FEEL much more than normal insulation, and I've considered having our insulation re-done anyway. Just looking for any thoughts.
 
Fat Nick said:
Bump - We just had a pest control guy come out after we kept hearing scratching sounds and it turns out what I thought was mouse poop is likely bat poop and we've had bats for quite a while.

$1,500 to remove them and seal up the house so they can't get back in. Oof.

So now the 2nd part is the "clean-up." The guy said you don't have to do anything, but there's a lot of poop.
$1,500 they'll "clean and scrape" all the bat crap and spray something that kills bacteria and such.
$3,500 they'll clean and scrape and then put a layer of spray "TAP insulation" that is supposedly a pest-resistant insulation (TAP is the brand and it stands for Thermal, Accoustic, Pest). They spray it OVER the existing insulation.
$5,500 they'll remove all the old insulation, clean, and then spray TAP insulation.
3,400 sq. foot 2-level house.

Anybody have experience with this TAP stuff? Reviews online are all over the place - some say it's a lot of $$ for minimal benefit. Honestly, it doesn't FEEL much more than normal insulation, and I've considered having our insulation re-done anyway. Just looking for any thoughts.
Click to expand...

If I’m you I’m buying a cheap tyvek suit, respirator, gloves, foam sealant and some durable wire mesh/screen to cover the entrances.

Wipe up the poop

Install new insulation over old

Hose off and strip nekkid outside.

Drink beer with my junk out, proud of a good days work and countless thousands saved.
 
STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
If I’m you I’m buying a cheap tyvek suit, respirator, gloves, foam sealant and some durable wire mesh/screen to cover the entrances.

Wipe up the poop

Install new insulation over old

Hose off and strip nekkid outside.

Drink beer with my junk out, proud of a good days work and countless thousands saved.
Click to expand...

I DIY a lot of stuff, but crawling around in my 105 degree attic trying to squeeze into my eaves with wire mesh all while trying to NOT fall through my ceiling and not impale my head on exposed roofing nails is not something I'm doing.

With that said, I am leaning towards having them install the new insulation over the old. It's essentially a $3,000 charge to clean out the old insulation. It's only $2,000 to put the new stuff in! That seems like a lot...
 
I've had bats come in via the chimney.
In the last 4 decades, and a couple houses, I've had a few in living areas which were "terminated with extreme prejudice". Don't like them.
I think the being protected thing is somewhat recent. Haven't seen any in at least 10 years. Now that I know they're protected, I'd go with a pro.
 
So today, we noticed that above the spot where my wife kept hearing the scratching, the drywall is starting to bubble. That's not a bat thing...so I started looking further. Turns out the scratching is a massive hornet nest. They're coming in up by the eaves, and must be nesting (and likely f-ing up the drywall) right above where her sink is. So...now not only do I have bats, but I have bees. The bug company I use won't go up in my attic to treat because I don't have floorboards and they risk falling through if they miss a joist.

Yay.

I guess I'm putting on my bee suit and going up in the attic later tonight to exterminate them. On top of paying $$$ for bat remediation. I wish the bats ate bees and would get rid of one part of the problem.
 
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