Looking for some feedback. A friend had some racoon and bat problems in his attic. He had a pest control company come in and quote him $6000 to remove the roll/batt insulation, vacuum the bat droppings, seal the holes, disinfect the attic and blow in insulation to R49.
Also an extra $200 to build boxes around the canned lighting and an additional $1300 to add wire mesh by the ridge vent to keep the bats out.
Is this legit or is this a scam? Any feedback would be appreciated.
That probably depends somewhat on the size of the house and local rates for the area. He should be getting multiple proposals.
^^^
What he said.
Wow! I feel like I need to get into the pest remediation business! Seems like that is where the money is:-)
Don’t ridge vents already keep out the bats?
It didn’t keep my mother in law out! . 
Maybe he meant gable vents
Ha! Good one Roy! Made me laugh.
I just couldn’t help myself…
I had flippin’ flying squirrels eat through my gable end vents as take up house in my attic…
That’s one of them…
Bats can enter an opening as small as 3/8 inch. Any gap in the ridge vent screening is fair game for them. Found that out when I was researching construction for a bat house to install on my property to help with minimization of evening and night flying insects. Each of those bats consumes their body weight in insects each night. Much more environmentally friendly compared to spraying or electrical arc insect zappers.
Average size home that’s about $2K overpriced.
FYI Bats are creatures of habit and will return to your attic so your client MUST spend the $1,300 extra but that should be included in the 6K. Bats do not like our cold winters. Some bats leave for the winter, most hibernate in their nest. … If the bats have a nest in your home, they will return to the same corner, the same spot, year after year.
You should have called Bullwinkle.
I guess a bat can easily enter through a bathroom/dryer roof exhaust vent as well…
One contractor in my network is a family owned pest control company who tipped me off to the latest marketing campaign by some national pest companies using the same strategy. “If there are pests in the attic, the insulation is contaminated and should be replaced. Of course we can handle that as well.” This is in North Texas, no bat infestations, few squirrels, some mice, snakes, etc…Most of the second opinions he has been called in on, he made the national companies look foolish…
As noted previously, advise they get a second opinion as a savvy consumer. If you have ever been in a dwelling where bats have squatted, you cannot escape that odor.
