A KCMO homeowner called us because they wanted a second opinion before spending $18,000 with an unnamed National Franchise having their attic insulation replaced due to mouse droppings.

First, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. $18,000 for insulating a house? We've insulated businesses and churches that cost $18,000 or more, but a house? That sounds very high.

Second, mouse droppings?! Sure, no one likes droppings, but let's be reasonable here: mouse droppings are not hazardous. When we say that bat and raccoon droppings/feces/guano are hazardous, we're not simply promoting our services or trying to scare people into calling us - bat and raccoon droppings are hazardous to humans. The CDC lists those hazards on their website. But mouse droppings? First, ok, yes, make sure you don't have active mice. Then second, sure, clean that "stuff" up where you see the mess - but you don't have to throw out thousands of dollars of insulation in your attic and bring in new insulation due to mice.

As I said, the homeowner called us because they wanted a second opinion before spending $18,000 with the unnamed National Franchise. We offer free inspections for insulation estimates only. All our inspections include entering the attic to inspect for any signs of animal or pest activity as well as evidence of damage, such as wire damage, flex tube damage (very common if squirrels or raccoons are present), etc. Our job is to protect your home. Each technician will take pictures to show the homeowner what was found. We can email or text these pictures to the customer for future reference. 

We went out and inspected the attic and provided the homeowner with a report along with our recommendations.

What did we find? Two little mouse droppings. That's it. This is not what would be considered an infestation, and even if there was a larger quantity let's not forget that, despite any type of waste being unclean and unpleasant, mouse droppings are not hazardous. You don't have to throw EVERYTHING out. Only in EXTREME situations would we even consider removing attic insulation because of a mouse infestation. 

The homeowner called us up later in the day, expressing appreciation for the professionalism and expertise demonstrated by our technician, and saying that they are ending their business relationship with the unnamed National Franchise and will only call us in the future for any type of pest or animal control need.

What's sad about this situation is that this is not an isolated instance. We've heard and seen this before. It's too bad that not all businesses choose to conduct themselves in an ethical and honorable fashion. Whether the franchise was simply being greedy and purposely trying to take advantage of this homeowner, or whether the franchise innocently thought that mice droppings were hazardous and doesn't know what they are doing - neither one of those bodes well for the franchise.

For us? What more can we do besides be here, and available. We're continuing to conduct business the way we have for over 30 years. We might be considered "old school" because we're not greedy and are not quoting high prices for unnecessary work and have spent years studying and gaining knowledge and experience in this arena, but we believe that, in the long run, this is the proper way to do business.

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.

The homeowner contacted us about a squirrel problem. They have three groups of solar panels and one section went out. The homeowner was aware that a squirrel was often on the roof but didn’t know that there was a squirrel nest under one of the panels until the solar panel repairman noticed the nest.

Squirrels like to gnaw on wires and that’s exactly what this particular squirrel had been doing.

We went out to remove the squirrel nest and the squirrel. When we were on the roof the squirrel was also staying nearby under the solar panels on the roof (the photo shows the nest with the squirrel nearby); the close proximity of the squirrel to us and the nest made us suspect this may be a female with an active nest of babies.

As we carefully removed the nest we found several young kits, even though it was a little early in the Kansas City area to have squirrel kits (squirrels typically breed twice a year with kits born in March/April and also August/September). We kept the babies close and warm.

We set a live trap on the roof and shortly after the mother squirrel was in the trap (second photo). We were then able to safely relocate the mother and her kits.

But this story doesn't end with relocating the squirrel and her kits. Something unique about us is that we also provide quality repair and mitigation services - saving homeowners from finding a general contractor or having to DIY. With animals, you're generally dealing with damage that needs to be repaired (wires fixed by the solar panel company), and then blocking access so that animals do not gain access again. We carefully installed a quality preventative measure to keep squirrels from ever being a problem again (see photos three and four).

If you have solar panels on your roof it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for squirrels frequently near the panels. It’s not a problem to have a squirrel occasionally run across your roof, but if a squirrel is often near your panels there may be a nest, and because squirrels like to gnaw wires there is a good chance you may end up with damage. Contact us if squirrels are causing you problems.

This is a great example of what can happen with undetected animals living in your attic or home. A family of raccoons got into this house's attic and was living there, unnoticed, for quite some time. The weight of the animals' waste (both urine, and feces) built up to the point where the living room ceiling completely collapsed. 

The good news is that we were able to completely remediate everything for the homeowners, and it was all covered by insurance. Yet the moral remains: if you hear something odd in your attic, make sure to get it checked out sooner, rather than later.