Here, guano deposits fall out of improperly installed chimney siding.
Bat Guano Decontamination
When a structure hosts a bat colony, it is often populated by hundreds or even thousands of individuals. One individual bat can eat approximately half its body weight in insects every night. As a result, a bat’s culinary delight becomes the guano they deposit in your walls and soffits. Coupled with their exponential population growth, these voracious insectivores can leave volumnous deposits within a structure for years before being recognized as a problem.
How Dangerous is Bat Feces?
Bat guano can pose a respiratory health risk. Bat droppings build up in moist humid cavities where Histoplasma Capsulatum fungus can grow and produce spores. These spores become airborne and can infect human lungs resulting in a respiratory infection called histoplasmosis. In some individuals, if left untreated, infections can become severe.
Bat guano, however, is a great fertilizer and in the outdoors poses little threat to humans. All of the guano we remove is donated to a local organic farm where they use it to enrich the soil and help them grow their crops.
How Do You Clean it up?
Removing bat feces is an involved process which starts with removing all active infestations. Once the structure is bat free, we can start the guano remediation process. Often, brick fascia and soffits are the most common areas for bat guano to collect. We follow a strict decontamination protocal as we begin safe and proper deconstruction to expose the contaminated areas. We’ll then safely remove the guano deposits along with all contaminated material and treat the remaining structure is in a multi-step disinfection process to render any remaining particulates inert. We finish the decontamination process with site preparation and protection to leave your building site ready for a contractor of your choice to safely reinstall the exterior cladding.
How Much Does it Cost?
The price can range widely depending on the level of contamination, the portion of the structure contaminated, and the accessibility of the afflicted areas. It is not uncommon to receive quotes from other companies as cheap as $1,200-$2,000 for “bat guano remediation.” These services are not complete guano decontaminations and only include a chemical fogging of the attic. These measures will not remove the guano, the odor, or the health concern they pose. Often, a true complete removal of a guano contamination concern will cost much more.
If you have a bat guano contamination concern within your building, call (267) 383-8911 to schedule an inspection.
