Advice please! Squirrels in my attic... urine and feces too. :( (Austin: house, buying)

[atlanta hope]

So I had the inspection done on the house I'm buying and the inspector said there was a LOT of feces in the attic. He asked me if I could smell the urine smell... and while there was a distinct odor, I didn't realize what it was just a sour, off smell. Anyway, out of all the little pesky things he found and put in his report, I'm fixated on squirrel pee! The other things I know who to call and how to get them fixed. What in the world do you do to combat squirrel pee odor? Ewwwwwwwww.

Anyone?

Please?

[atxcio]

If it's the attic floor, and it's just plywood, then bleach would work good. We did that after some animal problems in a previous home. Odor problems were gone, and we probably killed some mold in the process. Not sure what you do if it's saturated insulation or something. But I don't know if they would walk on that, so probably wouldn't be pee there.

But first you should call ABC or some other trusted pest control company and get a quote for what they call an "exclusion" service. This will ensure no critters can get in to your attic by covering every vent with fine wire mesh, and sealing cracks/holes that aren't vents. It would also include trapping whatever is already up there.

[calel]

Yeah, definitely get some estimates for exclusion service and what it would cost to clean all that up. If it's really bad, you may need to have some of the insulation replaced.

Also, keep in mind that it may not necessarily be squirrels but roof rats...and no matter what you've got, those critters chew chew chew. Better to have this caught now when they're all staying out of there due to the heat than in the winter when they're all hanging out to stay warm.

[Dr.Mom]

Also, you'll want to ask the building inspector if s/he saw any electrical damage up there. We had squirrels in our attic a few years back and decided to put on a new roof to keep them out. Our general contractor noticed some wires that had been chewed through and were very close to some insulation. He couldn't believe our house didn't burn down.

On the upside, good luck with your new place! Every home has a few glitches, hope this doesn't take the thrill out of the experience for you.

[atlanta hope]

Good point about the wiring -- I just emailed my inspector to find out. Someone referred me to Austin's Wildlife Removal. I'm not sure how they deal with the odor yet. I'll report back when I find out.

There is insulation there. I'm wondering if it needs to be removed.

[CptnRn]

Removing and replacing the insulation is an expensive job, I don't recommend it. Once you eliminate the critters, the smell should go away given a little time.

You don't want to use poisoned bait in the attic or you could have an unpleasant smell for awhile if the animal dies up there. We had that for about a year when we first moved in and I put some of that poisoned bait in the attic. One died and I could smell it in the garage and attic for about a year. It was a faint smell, not strong. The information on the poisoned bait says that it makes the animals thirsty so they will go outside and die, sounds good, but it did not work for us.

Our exterminators advice on removing rats from an attic was simply to buy rat traps and bait them with peanut butter. You will also need to hire a handyman to go around and plug any holes in your eaves or places where the squirrels or rats are getting in, plug them with "treated" wood. Rats and squirrels don't like the treated wood any better then insects do, so they won't chew through it.

[CptnRn]

When we bought our house, the previous owner had two dogs, who made a mess of a few rooms. You could smell them in the house. We replaced carpet in two rooms and cleaned and repainted every room before moving in, and it pretty much eliminated the odors.

[Cookiemeister]

Go to a local feed store and ask them to recommend a poison. I used something that worked but I can't remember the name... it looked like playdow bricks either green or yellow but it is hard and I never had any animal die in my attic and it got rid of rats and squirrels. After you do that make sure you find where they are getting in and close it. You probably need new insulation because they have probably been there a long time and the insulation is probably old. Before you put the insulation down spray with a water and clorox mixture to kill the smell and any mold. If you are handy you might just get someone to take the insulation out and do the rest yourself if you can move around fairly well in your attic (use the long rolls and make sure you get the right insulation for the attic).

[N. Olikee]

There are all kinds of wildlife removal specialists who can come in and seal things up for you so the attic is "impenetrable." Of course, it comes at a cost. We had a problem with squirrels, and the co. we used sprayed the scent of a red fox so the squirrel(s) would hit the road.

Don't know if there was pee or droppings......no one mentioned it. We don't go into our attic, so that doesn't really concern me.

[mark311]

It took a couple of tries, but getting the squirrels out my attic wasn't too big of a chore. They leave to go look for food during the day, so you just need to have someone go up there and seal their entryway in the middle of the day before they come back. They might have chewed through one of those mesh guards or a cap might be off on top of your roof. The smell goes away quickly. I guess that might depend on how long they've been living in there. Exterminator companies should have traps that they can put up there and should be well versed in sealing up the entryways at the correct time.