Squirrel based crawl space repairs

[trigggl]

Anybody else have a problem with a squirrel making a nest in their crawl space? It happened to me the first time this past winter. Don't know how it got in originally, but it stripped the fiberglass insulation in a few places to make a nest for itself. After making the nest, then eventually it found a hole in a joist that AC wires went through to go up the inside of the house. In a way, it was good that the squirrel found it because it turns out there's a space of 6 inches between 2 joists going down the length of the house that the builder decided didn't need insulation. If the squirrel hadn't found it, I wouldn't have known about it.

Fortunately, I think it was a male, at least I didn't notice any signs of babies. I've read that once a family starts, they take ownership and it's much harder to get rid of the problem. So, it appears my effort to rid my house of the intruder was limited to one squirrel. I borrowed a high power pellet rifle from a guy at church and I believe I managed to hit it in the head. It didn't die right away and I don't even know if it's dead, but it apparently left and there's no smell of death down there. Furthermore, I've since cut a few holes in that superfluous joist to get some insulation in there. I had to do that because that space is above the cinder block foundation.

So, to repair the damage and replace what the squirrel stripped away, I purchased one bag of 9 count R19 bats to replace what was damaged. It's a nasty job, but I wore the proper protection (mask, dust proof goggles, long sleeves, Army hat that covered my ears) and got it done without developing a cough or having much itching afterwards.

A few very annoying thing to note, the space between most joists is 19 inches. Not only did the "builder" not cut the insulation down from 23 to 19", they also used R11 (used for walls or anywhere else the depth is the size of 2x4's). Just because this is Arkansas, it doesn't give someone the right to skimp on insulation. Most likely I'll replace it all with R19, but as I have time and can afford to. The vapor barrier bats cost more than 2x the ones without the vapor barrier. At least the builder did put in vapor barrier bats even if they did put them in with the wrong R value and width.

[Fire$torm]

Sounds like that builder was stupid, lazy or cheap. But more likely, some combination of the three. Oh and glad to hear you didn't have to deal with any animal cadavers.

[John P. Myers]

Buy the r19 without the vapor barrier. Or more r11 without the barrier. Then just add that to what's already there. That way you keep the vapor barrier that's already there and save money.

In a previous life I spent 8 years as a professional insulation installer ;p

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[Slicker]

Just last week I heard the pitter patter of feet run across the basement ceiling. The wood peckers create holes in the cedar siding and both them and the squirrels have decided our walls make a nice home. Drives the cat nuts. This is the third year we've been battling them. I filled and plugged 6 holes last week but it looks like they created another. In June, the contractor will be replacing the cedar assuming the home owner's association approves the changes. Hard to believe that they have to approve replacing maroon 8" cedar lapboard siding with the same color and size cement board siding.

[c303a]

Don't you love home owners assoc.? I'm glad I don't have them to contend with nor do I have any restrictions except local building rules. Of course the inspectors can be absolute idiots sometimes. We moved in in January many years ago when the temp was -10 and they weren't going to give us permission to move in until we had a finish coat of paint and rain gutters. We put paint on with rollers the had to sand it off and re-do it in spring. Really wwas bad.

[FourOh]

This year I plan to have my crawlspace (or the bottom side of 1st floor, rather) flashed with 1" of closed-cell foam insulation. It has become common practice here to cut down on air infiltration and provide some R-value (around 6.5) where most crawl spaces have no insulation and lots of big holes for plumbing, electrical etc. My house is over 100 years old and leaks like a sieve!

My squirrel problems are generally attic-based. They chew their way through the wood fascia or soffit and tear up the insulation. I keep a trap up there and check it every few days - the Havahart traps are pretty effective and you can get them at most hardware stores.

[trigggl]

Buy the r19 without the vapor barrier. Or more r11 without the barrier. Then just add that to what's already there. That way you keep the vapor barrier that's already there and save money.

In a previous life I spent 8 years as a professional insulation installer ;p

That is an excellent idea. It's almost a no brainer. Why throw away a perfectly good vapor barrier? And this way I can stagger the bats. I still want to take down the old to cut it to the correct size, though.

Can't believe I didn't think of that. I'm glad somebody did. Thanks for the tip!