Leaning Masonry & Animals
Squirrels, bats, and other nuisance animals often take advantage of small gaps on a home’s exterior.
These gaps are created when building materials fail, there is wind or water damage, or things move over time. Age is tough on home exteriors.
An overlooked gap creator is masonry movement; when something made of brick or block moves.
Masonry movement is overlooked because most of us associate something made of brick or block with solidness and immovability.
Today’s post shows two different examples of masonry that has moved.
The first is a free standing chimney that has moved away from a home giving squirrels opportunity.
The second shows a whole wall that has leaned over the years allowing bats to move in. Take a look.
Squirrels & Moving Chimney
A drive through any of our Akron, Canton, or Kent neighborhoods will reveal many homes that have chimneys which run up an exterior wall. These are called free-standing chimneys.
They are built on their own foundations and are expected not to move. But, these chimneys often move over time because of minute settling or wind events.
Tall, narrow, single flue chimneys move more often than wider chimneys. In fact, because of this, it is common building practice to attach a masonry chimney to the home by using chimney straps. Some homes don’t have these, however, and are more prone to movement.
Also, building codes require a small space between the chimney and the house (usually an inch). This code-requirement gap can be the opportunity animals use get in if this gap not covered properly.
In the following video, Ryan shows a chimney and home that are moving apart from each other. The space became large enough to draw the attention of squirrels. A little expansion of the gap through chewing and they have moved in.
Removing these squirrels is just part of the job.
Making sure the gap is no longer an issue is how the problem will be solved once the squirrels have been removed.
Bats & a Leaning Wall
Sometimes, whole walls move over time. And just like moving chimneys, moving walls often create gaps that nuisance animals like bats, squirrels, and birds take advantage of.
Closing the gap and evicting the animal is the two-pronged solution to the problem.
Many times, gap closures call for some creativity with trim work and enables removal to be successful.
In the following video, you’ll see an older brick wall that has flexed inward over time.
The flexion of the wall caused a gap to open which allowed bats to crawl in and roost.
The solution to this problem required Ryan to make some custom trim to fill in the gap. Then, once the gap has been filled, Ryan installed a bat tube to let the bats out.
For great visualization, nothing beats a video.
We realize the concept of a “bat tube” is not explained. For more on that CLICK HERE.
Animal Removal & Repair | Akron, Canton Kent OH
Stopping nuisance animals is more than just animal removal. It’s also about prevention through repair.
Even though our name is Frontline Animal Removal we want you to know that we offer preventative repairs as well. It’s the 1, 2 punch of removal and repair that provides the true solution.
Making professional, guaranteed repairs, we strive to be the go-to full service nuisance animal removal company in the Stark, Summit, Portage County, OH area.
We can remove your nuisance animals for sure, but we can also do the guaranteed repair work in an extremely professional manner.
If you live in the Akron / Canton / Kent , Ohio and are in need of professional animal removal AND animal damage repairs please give us a call today!
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