So you’ve got bats… now what?
How does the Bat Exclusion process work exactly?
At Durand’s Bat Removal, we are committed to caring for your bat problem for good. We provide that assurance through years of experience working for some of the industry’s top bat removal companies. We are expert technicians that care for your home personally. If you hire us, what should you expect to be done to your home? Here is a brief breakdown on how we will care for your precious property.
Step one: The Inspection
After reaching out, we schedule in a time to come and inspect your property. For this inspection, you as the home owner are welcome to be present during the process, but we also understand that everyone has busy lives, so we also offer to do the inspection even if you cannot be there. The entire inspection is done on the exterior of the home and the roof, so there is not always a need to enter the property. We look for entry and exit points, bat activity, signs of colonies, and do our best to photograph and document these areas for the record to show you, the home owner, what is going on. At times, it may be prudent for us to check the attic space if it is easily accessible. Afterwards, we provide you with all the information you need, both the risks, and potential actions you can take to mitigate the bat problem – this can be done in person or over the phone at the completion of the inspection. We have a flat rate fee for local inspection. The price may be adjusted if extensive travel is required. Whatever the cost, it will be subtracted from your total bid to do the work if you choose to hire us on.
Step two: Find the Entrance
To begin, we expertly identify bat entry and exit points. One of the most apparent indicators is guano buildup. Often times, we find bat droppings on window sills, the ground next to the home, or stuck to siding. We inspect diligently, both listening and looking for any signs of bats, such as squeaking, droppings, and staining, as this indicates activity in the area. Bat entry points can be very small – bats can squeeze through tiny gaps, as small as 3/8 of an inch! Bats are also dirty and oily, so the hole will likely have some brown streaking around it. As suggested in leading articles in the industry, you can even try watching your own house in the early evening, around dusk, and take note of where you see bats leaving the structure.
Step Three: Bat-Proofing
We work especially hard to “Bat Proof” the entire structure, leaving the main entry and exit holes open for the bats to use while we finish the exclusion. We use caulk, grout, wood, wedge, steal hardware cloth, expanding foam, and more to fully bat proof your home. All of the materials we use are paintable and stainable, and we do our best to keep any materials used as aesthetically pleasing as possible; keeping your home as beautiful and appealing as we found it, while not skipping out on the quality and effectiveness. As soon as all openings and gaps are sealed, bats will look for a new way to return to their roost. Therefore, we inspect and seal the entire exterior of your house, paying extra attention to the roofline and higher points of your home. We do offer limited scopes of work on homes as well, but often don’t recommend this, as bats tend to move to another area of the home and the problem continues. We want you as the customer to have the problem taken care of completely and we are prepared to fully solve the issue.
Step Four: One-Way Doors
Once we have bat-proofed the building, we install one-way doors over the bat’s primary entry and exit points, covering any holes that could possibly act as entrances. We make these one-way doors through two primary methods: 1) By creating a temporary “curtain” of plastic or netting over the hole or 2) By using tubing to provide a slide type of device. In the first option, a curtain is attached above the bat’s entrance and hangs a couple of feet past the entrance. We carefully secure the sides of the device so they won’t blow away in the wind, being careful to not stretch them too tightly, as the bats could become trapped inside, leaving the bottom of the “curtain” open to allow bats to exit. In the second option, a tube method is used. The tube acts as a one-way door in that the bats cannot swoop back inside of the small opening, as bats need to land first and crawl in and out of openings.
Step Five: Wait and Observe
The bat colony will go outside to feed and drink at night. At this point the primary work on your home is complete. Bats may not leave for a few days if there is heavy rain or icy weather, so sometimes we may wait longer if the weather is bad, or whatever the schedule allows. This does not hurt the process; it just makes sure that the bats are completely gone.
Step Six: Seal It Up
BEFORE
Finally, we remove the exclusion devices and seal the holes where the devices once stood. This final step is done only after we know the bats have gone. Otherwise, any bats still inside the home will be trapped, which we do our best to avoid. We always recommend customers to be vigilant over the next few days, being sure to watch carefully that no windows or doors are left open as the bats often look for a change in airflow to identify a location to exploit and re-enter the home.
Ready to have your home to yourself again?
“Neal instills confidence from the initial visit. We contacted him to check for bat activity and possible infestation. He was able to locate the entry points and then followed up with a number of solutions to safely prevent the bats from re-entering our home. He is very courteous and cleaned up after himself. Highly recommend his services!”
— Sarah K.