Getting Rid of Bats in the House with Foam Insulation

Bats in the House Can Cause Disease and Injury

By Mark J. Donovan




Getting rid of bats in your house can be a bit of challenge on multiple levels. First, believe it or not they are a protected species, due to the fact that they eat their weight in insects every night. By consuming so many insects they help to prevent diseases associated with mosquitoes and other small insects. Consequently local governments have specific policies on getting rid of bats, e.g. what time of the year to remove bats from a house, and how actually to remove them.

Second, removing bats can be technically challenging as well as a bit dangerous. Bats can have rabies and working on ladders and roofs is dangerous.

One of the most common ways to get rid of bats is to set up a few bat houses near your home, and to seal up any holes or cracks in the exterior of your home. Basically you want to transfer the bats from your home to the neighboring bat houses where they can still provide value to your yard.



When sealing up your home it should be done after the bats have exited it. Commonly you can observe them exiting around the roof eaves around sunset. Make a note of where they exit the home.

To get rid of bats from your home, tape or staple vinyl door/window screen around the holes or cracks, where you observed the bats exiting the home the night before. Make sure to not tape around the bottom of the screen area. By leaving the bottom of the screen un-taped the bats will be able to exit the holes or cracks but won’t be able to return.

How to build a bat house.

The next day, after the bats have left your home, remove the screen and seal all of the holes or cracks. One method for sealing long cracks that may exist between the roof rake trim and clapboard siding is to wedge plumbing foam insulation tube in between the two. I have personally done this and it works great for preventing bats in the house. Plus it’s easy and inexpensive to do.

So before getting rid of bats in the house, check with local authorities first to see if they are “in season” for removing, and then follow the procedure I have outlined above.


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