Michigan Wildlife Repair Services
Wildlife Prevention and Damage Control
Wildlife prevention is good to keep nuisance animals and attic pests out of your home. Wildlife-proofing your home is essential when dealing with unwanted pests. Most wild animals are very territorial and will often come back to a home if the repairs are not done right. We offer all types of repairs. Chimney caps, eves, gable vents, ridge vents, bathroom vent covers, caulking, screening, flashing, deck screening, and more. We use caulking and roof sealant on all repairs. We never use spray foam for repairs! It looks awful and never last. The absolute only time for spray foam use is when controlling air flow and insulation purposes. Always used from inside out, never outside in. Below are some reasons for repairs:
Common Nuisance Wildlife Entry Points
Chimney Caps
Chimney caps ensure there will be no more raccoons, birds, or bats living in your fireplace. Typically a cap will not keep bats out so we recommend installing a 1/2" hardware cloth underneath the cap to keep bats. Out. If the fireplace is natural gas a 1/4" hardware cloth can be used to ensure no bats will gain entry. There are many types of chimney caps for every flue size. We can choose the cap that best fits your chimney stack.
Ridge Vents
Ridge vents are vents that sit on top of the peak of your house allowing ventilation. Even if there is a fiberglass screen underneath the bats will sit under the vent cap causing the screen to deteriorate. The ridge should be nailed down tight to the roof line. Some metal caps like the one in the picture have a rubber insert at the end of them. Sometimes these fall out or roofers forget to put them in. Replacing the rubber insert or filling it in with hardware cloth and roof sealant will get the job done and keep critters out. The best way to seal ridge vents is with Ridge-Guard.
Flashing
Around chimneys and eves can prevent mice, squirrels, birds, bats, and other wildlife from entering your attic and home. Flashing on bird feeder posts can prevent raccoons and squirrels from eating your feed as they can not grip onto the post. Shiny metal flashing above doorways and on wood siding can deter bats from roosting and woodpeckers from pecking holes.
Eave Repair
Often times squirrels, birds, or bats will enter your house through an eave area. Eaves are areas where one roof line meets another roof line, creating a construction gap. Squirrels will get up under the gap and chew their way in. A bat will fold its body up and slide right in. Birds can make a nest inside the soffit blocking ventilation and also creating airborne bacteria. Repairs can be made with flashing or hardware cloth.
Bathroom Vent Covers
Cages over dryer vents and bathroom vents can prevent birds from nesting in your flex pipe causing your exhaust systems not to work. It's important to remove all of the debris from within the flex pipe. Sometimes this requires going into the attic to remove the flex pipe from the exhaust. Once removed you can clean out the pipe and reattach it to the exhaust. Using hardware cloth instead of the vent cap can clog up sometimes. We don't recommend this method.
Deck Fencing
For deck barriers we dig an 18" barrier trench around decks and porches. Then we install galvanized hardware cloth, 1/8", 1/4", or 1/2" gauge around the deck. Then we backfill all trench areas to keep animals from digging underneath. Especially groundhogs and skunks.
Gable Vents
Gable vents are vents that sit on the side of your house and provide ventilation. We often need to screen the top of these vents with galvanized hardware cloth. Screens from the inside will not keep the animals or birds from roosting or nesting under the louvers. Screens typically blend in with shadows making them less noticeable. Bats, birds, and squirrels are the most common animals entering these areas.
Can Vent Covers
Cages over your attic and canned vents can prevent squirrels and raccoons from chewing through into your attic. This is also a good technique to keep birds out from underneath the vent as well. Screens from the attic will prevent wild animals or birds from entering your attic, but will not prevent nesting under the vent. Birds and squirrels will gather nesting material and make homes underneath the vent top. Raccoons have often torn off these vent tops to make their way into your attic. Applying these cages over your vents is sure to keep nuisance wildlife out of your attic. Cage covers typically come in a galvanized metal or a stainless steal depending on your liking