A homeowner in Lee’s Summit used an Unnamed National Franchise to remove bats from their attic in the summer of 2022. They received a one-year warranty. The bats were back in the summer of 2023 and when they called the Unnamed National Franchise, they were (correctly) told that bats cannot be removed during summer, and to call back in August (in the summertime bats are taking care of their young, and if the adults are locked out of the attic the babies will die for lack of care - trust us, you don't want hungry baby bats in your attic that are not being taken care of). When they called back to the Unnamed National Chain in August, they were told that their one-year warranty had just expired.

Frustrated with the Unnamed National Franchise, they called us. We found the very small hole the bats were using (top left photo) – a clue was the little specks of bat guano on the wall of the house (see photo). We installed a one-way door to seal the hole and lock the bats out. When the bats were all out of the attic we then removed the one-way door and sealed the hole. Because bat guano is a hazardous material, we inspected the attic to see if the insulation needed to be replaced – but the good news is that the homeowners caught the bat problem soon enough that the insulation was OK and did not need to be replaced.

The moral of the story here? If you do not want to hire a national franchise, contact us - local professionals who have been in business since the 1980's. We live here, we work here, and we love the Kansas City area.

This bat job was in a beautiful Kansas City, KS, historic church built in the 1920s. The architecture was stone masonry, and due to the building's age the mortar was falling out (1st photo). In addition, sometime back in the 1940's or even 1950's a flat roof was installed and some stone was cut so gutters could be added. However, when the hole was cut for the gutter pipe, the hole was cut too large (2nd photo). Bats don't need much space to get in, and that particular hole, plus the cracks in the mortar, gave the bats more than enough room to get in.

The bats loved this particular church attic so much that there was actually a nursery colony present. While this is great for keeping down the resident mosquito population around the church, it's horrible for the interior (attic) of the building as the bat guano built up. The church had been converted into several entities: a women's shelter, and the church. The last thing a women's shelter or church needs is the health hazards that come from bat guano and the risk of airborne histoplasmosis infection - and bats were found throughout the building.

This was a custom and fairly extensive job - and one thing we'll mention here is that for sealing cracks we were using mortar, not foam. Watch out for businesses that use foam for these types of jobs - foam is quick, easy, and cheap. Yet foam looks bad, birds peck it, and bats chew it - foam is a bad solution. We use quality supplies, and in this case, it involved mixing and applying concrete mortar (3rd photo) -- our repairs don't come in a can. This particular job required a lift so that we could access the points for entry of the bats. Oh, and we also tuck-pointed all the cracks around the entire church (tuck-pointing is process to refinish and repair mortar joints - in essence, refreshing the mortar).

Not only were we repairing mortar and fixing the hole behind the gutter, but we also built and installed a custom screen door in the bell tower (4th photo) -- because the little details on a job matter. Previous repairs by building staff or other wildlife removal companies had involved putting up a piece of wire mesh screen in the bell tower, but that wasn't good enough to keep the bats out: they had many other access points. In addition, putting a screen up blocked access by maintenance staff to the bell tower. Our technician created a custom little manual screen door that allows access to the bell tower while keeping bats out.

We sealed up all the access points except for several primary points that the bats were using to gain access to the building. At these points we installed one-way doors (which allowed the bats to leave but not enter again). When all of the bats had been removed we then removed the one-way doors and did the final repairs. We then removed all the contaminated attic insulation and bat guano. Then we were then able to replace the attic with new attic insulation to the proper R-value.

The end result? The bats were safely removed from the building. All health hazards were mitigated and fresh insulation was installed. The exterior of the building was properly sealed. And all of this resulted in a happy customer.

This Overland Park bat removal story is a common one. It started with a free attic inspection which confirmed the presence of bats. Our Wildlife Manager Wade found that the bats were accessing this home’s attic through the louvered vent in the front of the home (1st photo). Sometimes finding all the access points that bats are using can be tricky, as bats can squeeze through gaps as small as 3/8th of an inch (about the thickness of a number 2 pencil). While in this case the easy access point was the vent, our Wildlife Manager Wade ruled out other access points during his thorough home inspection of the soffits, fascia, roof valleys and the other roof vents.

All attic vents should be screened to prevent access by insects, birds, bats, raccoons and squirrels. Most vents, if they are screened, are screened on the inside. Inside screening is generally OK, but bats will roost in the vent itself right up against the screen. They love to roost between the vent louvers during the day or to just digest their food after feeding at night. These areas are very protected from predators which is another attraction. Also the heat radiating from the attic is perfect for bats that love temperatures up to 104 degrees. This is a great average temperature for females to raise her pups.

When bats are in a screened louvered vent, despite not technically being “in” the attic, their guano and urine will still be on the house. Because bat guano/urine is caustic, the result will be damage to the paint and siding of the house. Our experience in this area is one advantage to hiring a company that has been dealing with bats for decades, and this is why we prefer to install the screen on the outside of vents. At first most people balk at the idea of installing a screen on the exterior, but after they see the damage that animals can cause and the decorative screen that we use they fall in love with the function and the aesthetics (2nd and 3rd photos).

The good news here is that the homeowner caught this problem early enough so it was not necessary to replace the insulation in the attic.

And, we will take just a moment here to point out how we do business (i.e. our honesty and ethics): while we could have told the homeowner that the insulation needed to be replaced to get additional work for ourselves, that’s just not how we operate. We work hard during the day and we sleep well at night. We’ve been conducting attic inspections for decades and are experienced in what constitutes an infestation that is a health hazard. Just because bats have been in the attic doesn’t mean all of the insulation has to be replaced. We have chosen to build our business through honest work for a fair price, and in this case, there just wasn’t contamination in the insulation which would necessitate replacing insulation.

Here's a bat removal job that we handled in Leavenworth, Kansas. The call came in the spring and when we arrived to inspect the home the bats already had pups (babies). We quickly found the access point: a damaged chimney crown. The bats were using this to access a heater vent and then getting down into the the homeowner's basement - which brings up an interesting point: bats don't always get into attics, it is not uncommon for them to suddenly appear in other parts of a home.

Bats are an important part of our local ecology and are protected by law. We needed to find a way to protect the bats and their pups until the pups were mature and able to live on their own - but at the same time it's not really acceptable to have bats flying around this dear lady's basement.

We installed a mesh screen in the basement so that the bats were contained to a small area and would not be flying around. A few months later the pups had matured and we installed one-way doors so that the bats could exit, but not re-enter, the home.

Next we repaired the damaged chimney crown. This is an important part of what sets us apart from other bat control companies: we not only do repair work, but we do quality repair work. With other companies you often have to hire a contractor to handle repairs.

The photo shows the repaired chimney crown. Later, we also installed a chimney cap, and it's too bad we forgot to get a photo of the final chimney!