Animals living in an attic can cause major damage to the wiring, plumbing, and structure and become vectors for disease. Strategies for keeping an attic animal free focus on consistent home maintenance. Routine inspections of the attic and house exterior along with precautionary measures can help prevent animals from making their home in your attic.
1Check to make sure no animals currently live in the attic. If animals have already taken up residence in your attic, you will need to remove them by either trapping and releasing them or contacting a qualified professional to remove them from the attic. The preventive measures you take to prevent animals from entering the attic will also keep them inside, which can result in additional damage to your attic and you may end up having to dispose of the dead animals.
- Listen for sounds coming from the attic. Pay attention to when you hear the sounds and write down what they sound like, for example: thumping, scurrying, or rolling. The types of sounds and time of day can help you determine what type of animal may be living in the attic. For example, you will hear noise from squirrels in the morning and at dusk as they are diurnal, but may hear scurrying at night if you attic is infested with rats or mice. Larger animals like raccoons will make a lot of noise as they move through the attic.
- Inspect the attic if you suspect it may be infested. Enter the attic and check for signs of animals if you don't see any animals during your inspection. Signs of animal habitation include droppings, nests, chewed wires, gnawed boards, and holes to the outside that appear to be chewed open.
- Sprinkle flour in front of any holes to the exterior of the house that you may find. If animals are leaving the attic to gather food, you will see footprints in the flour the next day. Alternately, you can loosely stuff the hole with a paper towel. The animal will push the paper towel through the hole if they enter or exit through it.
2Inspect the exterior of the home. Most animals enter attics through small holes or through man-made openings such as soffit vents and chimney pipes. Larger animals like raccoons will even bite and claw through weak spots in the exterior to create an entrance to the attic. The most effective way to keep animals out of your attic is to find and eliminate any vulnerable areas in your home's exterior.
- Walk the perimeter of the house. Look for any holes in the roofing or between the roof and the siding or brick. Be aware that even small holes can be a potential problem: squirrels can fit through holes 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in diameter, and bats can get through gaps as small as .38 inches (.95 cm).
- Use a ladder to reach any areas you cannot visually inspect from the ground. Pay special attention to architectural features near the roof line. There may be gaps or holes that are disguised by decorative trim.
- Inspect all soffit vents. Soffit vents are the vents located on the underside of the part of the roof that overhangs the sides of a home. Check to make sure your soffit vents have vent covers, and also look to see if animals may be able to fit through the vent holes.
- Make sure attic vents have vent covers that are firmly installed. Animals can pry loose vent covers off to enter an attic. Check the size of the vent holes to make sure animals cannot crawl through into the attic.
- Inspect the chimney. Look to see if an animal would be able to crawl into the chimney through the hole.
3Patch any holes near the roof line or on the roof.
- Purchase .25 or .5 inch (.65 cm or 1.3 cm) hardware cloth.
- Cut a piece of hardware cloth at least 8 to 12 inches (20.3 cm to 30.5 cm) larger than the hole you will patch.
- Staple the hardware cloth in place over the hole with a staple gun.
- Continue to secure the hardware cloth by hammering in u-shaped nails through the cloth.
4Install vent covers. If you don't currently have vent covers on your soffit vents, purchase vent covers and screw them in over the vent holes.
- Consider installing .5 inch (1.3 cm) hardware cloth or steel screen over the vent hole from the attic side for additional protection. Cut a piece of screen, and staple or nail in place.
5Add heavy duty steel screens over attic vents. If your attic vents allow enough room for animals to enter the attic, screens can help prevent them from getting through the vent cover opening.
- Place steel screen in place from inside the attic. Use u-shaped nails to keep the screen in place. Don't use screen that is too small, as you do not want to reduce airflow to the attic, you just want to create a barrier to keep animals out.
- Install screens in the fall or winter if possible. Any bats that may have been living in the attic will have left to hibernate.
6Consider installing a chimney cap. If the opening to your chimney is too large, you can purchase and install a chimney cap to keep animals out.
- Research which type of chimney cap is most suitable for your chimney. Choosing the right cap for your chimney is very important as an unsuitable cap may decrease air flow too much or even lead to a chimney fire.
- Follow the directions on your chosen chimney cap and install it on the chimney, or hire a contractor to add the cap.
7Remove food sources. You can help make your attic less inviting by removing easily accessible food sources from the exterior of your home and your yard.
- Keep all garbage cans tightly closed, and if possible, keep them inside your garage or a shed.
- Feed your pets inside the house or promptly remove pet bowls after feedings so no food remains outside.
- Pick up any dropped fruits or nuts from trees in your yard.
- Make or purchase a heavy lid for any compost piles on the property. Animals may be able to push aside a lid made from light materials.
- Remove bird feeders from your yard.
8Put up a squirrel nesting box on your property. It may be impossible to eliminate squirrels from your property, especially if you live in a wooded area or value your trees, but you can provide a comfy alternative to your attic in hopes that they choose the easier to reach nest.
9Trim or remove tree limbs and branches. If you have trees that extend over your roof, you may want to trim back the branches to restrict access to the roof.
- Consult a professional if it is possible you could damage your roof while removing the branches. Ask whether the changes you want to make will damage the tree before proceeding with any trimming or cutting.
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- Check local regulations on releasing animals back to the wild. You need to make sure you release any animals you trap in the proper locations.
- Mice, rats, bats, and raccoons can carry diseases. Be careful if you find animals in your attic. Don't provoke animals or try to trap them yourself unless you are very knowledgeable on animal trapping.
Things You'll Need
- Paper towels
- Vent covers
- .25 to .5 inch (.65 cm or 1.3 cm) hardware cloth
- Staples and staple gun
- U-shaped nails
- Steel screens
- Chimney cap
- Squirrel nesting box
Sources and Citations
Categories: Pest Control
In other languages:
Español: mantener los animales fuera de tu ático, Italiano: Tenere gli Animali Fuori dalla tua Soffitta, Русский: предотвратить появление животных на чердаке, Português: Manter os Animais Fora do Sótão
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