My house is being "eaten"!

[irvingj]

I have a post & beam house, with 4' x 8' panels attached to the outside... They're pre-insulated with 10" of white styrofoam, faced with plywood on the outside and sheetrock on the inside. Cedar shingles cover the exterior, over Tyvek fabric.

I'm now seeing white styrofoam beads all over the outside of one section of the roof; it seems some critter has decided to move in. I think it's a flying squirrel, but that's just an educated guess. Either that or a red squirrel, but it seems most active at night. It got in through a small gap in the cedar shingle siding.

I used the FEL on the tractor to get my ladder up there --since it was a bit short-- and have, for lack of any other ideas at the moment, stuffed a "Bounce" drier sheet into the smaller of two openings, leaving the larger hole unobstructed. I'm hoping the smell may drive it out like it has done to the mice who love my tractor, but....

Anyone have any other suggestions before this thing removes all my R-39 insulation?

 

[two_bit_score]

Try to see if it's actually getting into the attic and try to trap it. Then close up the opening.

 

[slowzuki]

No attic in an SIP house. Place sticky trap pads outside each entrance. We got flying squirrels into our roof space, they made a huge mess and damaged the soffit/siding all over. Tough to catch them at night but I did shoot a few of them with a pellet gun.

Sticky pads work while you sleep, much more effective, just come out and kill them in the morning so they don't die of dehydration etc.

 

[JB4310]

Are the holes big enough for a squirrel? Squirrels are not usually active after dark though. Seems kinda high up for mice.

Maybe some spray in foam to fill the holes in the insulation they made and make sure you close off the gap in the siding.

I had to put moth balls in stockings under the hood of my vehicles this spring after some crazy squirrel decided electrical harness was a delicacy

JB

 

[zzvyb6]

5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of water. Sunflower seeds sprinkled on top. Couple of sticks to climb up to the top of the bucket.

Empty every other day.

 

[retiredmgn]

Are the holes big enough for a squirrel? Squirrels are not usually active after dark though.

JB

Flying squirrles are nocturnal.

 

[Pixguy]

Careful you don't seal the opening while they or their offspring are still inside.

I have a HaveAHeart trap your welcome to borrow.

That's what I would do to catch them and then take care of them.

Us RV owners have to deal with them all the time, and Bounce sheets generally don't work as well as the sonic noise makers. The best thing that works is feeding them a "snack" outside and then sealing the hole with steel wool until you can close it up permanently.

good luck!

 

[irvingj]

Thanks for all the suggestions; I knew the TBN community would come through!

I did catch a glimpse of it last night; it's some sort of mouse. Large ears, long thin tail. Perhaps a meadow jumping mouse, we have a lot of them around here. Only saw it for a second or two as it scurried along the peak and into the hole.

It's a bit tenuous to get up onto that peak with a 12-12 pitch roof, and I don't want to leave the ladder up while supported by the FEL- the loader bucket does slowly creep down. I don't think I could get a water-trap bucket up there. And you're absolutely right, I don't want to trap any live critters inside if I can avoid it!

I'd never heard of them before now, but I'm going to check out the sticky pads. Interesting concept! I'm thinking I could get one of those up there OK.:thumbsup:

Had a bit of a panic last night after I moved the tractor off the lawn, but went back up the ladder one more time to try to get our cat to do his job. The feet on the ladder started sliding backward on the wet grass.... Fortunately, they stopped after about 18". Guess I won't try that again. Had an opportunity to change my pants after that one!:ashamed:

In 26 years being in this house, this is the first time we've had this problem.

Thanks again for all the replies & suggestions. I'll keep ya posted as to progress...and after the wife gets back with the camera maybe some decent pics; had to use daughter's cell phone yesterday.

 

[irvingj]

"SIP" ... Structural Insulated Panels... So THAT's what it's called. Thanks, SLOWZUKI! Back when this house was built (1986), I don't think that term had yet been coined; at least I'd never heard of it. Kinda like my "water-source" heat pump...which is now apparently called a "geothermal" heat pump. Oh, well. Time marches on.

And you're absolutely right- there's no attic. That 10" of styrofoam is in all the panels, including the roof. Even the overhanging soffits are "dummy" spaces. That mouse can quickly do some serious damage up there.

 

[Western]

You may be able to put a good dose of Ammonia in there in the evening, then patch the hole in the morning. Not very many critters can stand Ammonia.