How to Remove Bats From the Attic
Bat Inspection
You must perform an inspection before attempting an exclusion. If you don't know where and how the bats are entering your attic space, then you'll never get rid of those scratching noises you hear late at night above your ceiling. That horrible odor of bat feces will linger in your home for years, and only grow stronger.
Inspecting the Roof for Bats
Watch your roof during the hours before the sun sets and when the sun rises. You'll most likely see bats leaving or coming toward your roof so that can go feed or return to nest. These creatures have extremely reliable schedules and habits, so it's easy to spot them if you watch your roof from several different spots over a week's time. Inspect the roof during the daylight for any damaged fascia board or shingles. They can enter from there very commonly. Damaged soffit is also a vulnerability for these creatures to invade your property.
Inspecting the Attic for Bats
The best advice is to call a professional to take care of the creatures making noises in your attic. If you want to try an attic inspection yourself, take extreme caution. Bats are volatile creatures when scared, and colonies can number in the hundreds. More dangerous, arguable, is the bat guano, however. Bat guano can cause histoplasmosis, a lung disease that poses serious danger to you and your family.
Finding Signs of Damage
Make sure you check your insulation for bat feces or liquid waste. Once the insulation is saturated, it needs to be removed and replaced to prevent damage to drywall underneath. If you have unexplained spots in your ceiling, this could be wildlife waste, oils, or nesting materials seeping into your living space.
As I've stated before in this article series, you should be do a very thorough inspection to make sure you are not only finding the waste damage, but also any holes where they are getting into the space. Do this during the daytime to use the natural sunlight to illumniate cracks and other broken parts of your home. Get near the edge of the roof to make sure soffit and fascia board are intact.