Bugs and Bats

So I have been up in the attic a few times of late. I have bugs up there and I don't want any more. They are cocoon like mud nests, I think a type of wasp. None are alive, it is just a ton of mud coccon's at each end of the house, which means I have cracks. I went up in the attic and decided to pick up as many cacoons as possible, I filled up two bags worth on one side of the house. Also I spray foamed the cracks from inside the attic, basically where the siding meets the soffit on the gable ends of the house have a quarter inch crack reveal allowing bugs and wasps to get in. I could see that spray foam was not the best method for this, so I only did the one side of the house attic.

I decided to caulk the cracks from the outside, so out I went and cut away all my excess spray foam and caulked away. This will all be painted soon enough.

So off I went to the other side of the house, where I did not venture into that side of the attic. This side also has the chimney and the same gaps and even larger. So right away I noticed bat Guano and stain marks on the white siding where the bats had been entering and exiting. This is a larger gap, half inch or so, between the chimney and siding. So I caulked everything but those gaps and decided because there was no backing I needed to go back into the attic and add some wood support for filler.

Mask, hat gloves, flashlight, tools and wood, back up I go. I get all the way to the other side of the attic and find the large gap area, it is tight, so i get crouched down and worked my way to the wall. I pulled back the tar paper to reveal the crack area and there in my face is two bats hanging upside down and screeching at me. I froze and they froze, we chatted for a bit and I told them I would be right back. I got out of there and came right back with a plastic Animal Crackers cookie jar. Armed and ready, I went back up there, got close to them and put the jar on the wall trapping them, they were pissed, screeching and flapping their wings, and they would not let go. I managed to get the lid on and had a look around, one whole wall cavity was full of Guano. Guano can be toxic and considered a bio hazard, so best to leave it untouched. I plan on removing all my insulation at some point and will remove the Guano and bugs at the same time.

I put some holes in the lid and put them outside. Bats will come back unless you are 100% positive you have sealed up your house and there is no way inside. Hard to do for sure sometimes. I read they will try for days and days to get back in, and even if you drive a few hundred miles away they will find there way. 

I decided to glue corner round into the large gap areas and then caulk the area. This worked perfect. It sounds simple, but the whole job took me a few days. 

My insulation is only 2" thick and I am going to remove it all when I re-do the hosue wiring. At that time I will be adding new batten insulation to a R value of 50 which is a few layers for sure. This means I need vents between each roof truss. So I bought 50 of them today and it means another day up there, not sure when, stapling each one to the roof.