Anyone Retain a Restoration Company After Raccoon Attic Invasion? (Indianapolis: house, crawl space) - (IN) - City-Data Forum

Southside Shrek · 01-31-2010, 11:14 AM

I am wondering if anyone in the greater Indianapolis area has experienced a raccoon invasion problem in their attic and retained a Restoration/Remediation company to clean up biohazards in their attic left by the raccoons, i.e, raccoon feces, urine, parasites, etc. Would also be interested in learning something about the costs involved and what the remediation company actually did to insure the removal of all biohazards left by invading raccoons.

Is a restoration/remediation company really necessary to thoroughly clean up the mess and kill all biohazards such as Baylisascaris procyonis? Can a Restoration Company actually kill Baylisascaris procyonis with a chemical spray? The Center for Disease Control's website indicates that incineration is about the only way to kill infectious microscopic parasites in raccoon feces because they are so resistant to disinfectants, bleach, etc. Obviously not many people would want to burn their home or attic.

Grandma(in waiting) · 01-31-2010, 01:40 PM

My sympathies to you. We had a skunk who took up residence in a crawl space area and decided to spray. It took months and several treatments to get rid of the stench.

Did you write to the CDC and outline your problem? They have staff there who can make a best-practice recommendation.

Southside Shrek · 01-31-2010, 01:56 PM

I'll give CDC a call tomorrow to see if I can get a different answer than what appears on its website.

Phew!!!!!! I could never stay in a home that was sprayed by a skunk in the crawl space. If that happened to me, I would be calling 911, the fire department, Board of Health, a restoration/remediation company and anyone else to try to get rid of the foul odor.

Grandma(in waiting) · 01-31-2010, 02:11 PM

We did have to move out for a couple of weeks. It was just awful...eye tearing, nose running, cough inducing awful.

Good luck to you.

Southside Shrek · 01-31-2010, 02:56 PM

Did you ever figure out how that skunk got into your crawl space? There had to be an opening somewhere.

Raccoons are strong and powerful. They can rip off wood soffits, claw, scratch and chew through most anything to get in.

Grandma(in waiting) · 01-31-2010, 03:41 PM

There was an opening in the foundation, a very small one, that we weren't aware of until this happened. A couple of bricks had partially crumbled at yard level and the little critter had dug under the ground to get through. The people who cleaned up the crawl space and deodorized it and our house said it wasn't as bad as some they had treated (you could have fooled us, but I've heard of people who have had to replace all furnishings, etc. after something like that).

Luckily, we've had no raccoon encounters.

Southside Shrek · 02-01-2010, 06:15 AM

Another raccoon tried to gain entry into the attic last night. Unfortunately for the coon, he didn't make it.

Grandma(in waiting) · 02-01-2010, 11:23 AM

Boy, they sound persistent.

We've seen them around our neighborhood before, usually trying to get into the trash, but never had a home invasion. That would be awful.

Southside Shrek · 02-01-2010, 11:26 AM

Don't know if this one (a male) had been in the attic before or if it was a first time attempted entry. In any event, he didn't make it but was stopped cold in his tracks. Oh they are persistent creatures.

Southside Shrek · 02-01-2010, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grandma(in waiting)

Did you write to the CDC and outline your problem? They have staff there who can make a best-practice recommendation.

I called CDC and spoke with a gal who didn't know what Baylisascaris procyonis (BP) in raccoon feces is. She put me on hold to look it up and then came back on the phone to say that she would have to 'escalate' my call. I haven't heard anything back from CDC. Maybe they are feverishly working on coming up with a spray to kill BP in home attics without killing the occupants.