# Attic Cleanup after flying Squirrels



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Do you have quotes for removal? How much?
An N-95 doesn't fit tight enough, IMO, you would want a full face mask that protects eyes as well.
A shop vac is too small. Check rental prices for larger vac (HD) and cost of the huge bags.

Could much of that insulation be stuffed into large bags instead of vac?

Bud

Do you have a walking path down the middle of that attic or would you be walking on the ceiling loists?


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## Chris616 (Dec 31, 2019)

We did that really unpleasant job ourselves (we had rats instead of squirrels) after we bought our current house. The main reason that we chose to DIY was so that we could investigate the damage done to electrical wire insulation and the plastic vapor barrier under the insulation. Someone may suggest that you don’t need to do the cleanup, since the insulation is still doing its job up there even with the mess. That is true. My wife and I didn’t like the idea of having rat feces and decomposing rat bodies above our living space, though, and we now know that all of the chewed wiring has been replaced as part of the renovations that we subsequently did.

Whether it is a DIY job for you depends on how much is loose insulation vs batts. Ours was all batts, which needed to be bagged and removed by hand. Loose material can be bagged, but it would be easier with a giant vacuum. If you’ve got a layer of loose on top of batt insulation you could do a combination by getting a contractor in to vacuum that all away leaving the rest for you (or rent the equipment). That might be a good approach because it may not be necessary to throw out all the batt insulation. We threw out only about 10% of ours from the locations where the rats had been living. We did remove, clean and inspect under every batt. Most looked fine underneath.

We used half-face respirators instead of N95 masks (we had both available), but they will be difficult to find if you don’t already have. We didn’t use disposable coveralls, choosing to just throw our clothes in the washer at the end of the day.

I go into the attic at least three times a year now looking for vermin and/or weather issues. I’m never doing that cleanup job again.

Chris


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Good post Chris. One additional Item I will add is once all of the insulation is out of the way you have a great opportunity to address air sealing. There are many links to show where and how.

I also found some of the larger air paths, like around plumbing vents, were being used as highways by the mice. Those channels were leading the critters to many places.

Also, if you do DIY rig up an exhaust fan or other to depressurize the attic to prevent the dust from seeping down into the house.


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## Chris616 (Dec 31, 2019)

Yes, we also took the opportunity while the insulation was temporarily removed to seal air leaks and installed insulation baffles to keep airflow coming into the attic from the soffit vents to ensure good attic ventilation (see diagram).

I’ll second what Bud was getting at in his first post about the walking path, which would have been nice. In newer houses with truss roof construction there often isn’t the headroom to walk, but the first thing that I did was build a permanent “crawlway” from two side-by-side 2X6’s to make it easier to move around without going through the drywall ceiling.

Chris


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## Artemis2007 (Jul 13, 2012)

"Also, if you do DIY rig up an exhaust fan or other to depressurize the attic to prevent the dust from seeping down into the house."

Yes, I was worried about this. You mean a fan inside attic directing air outside, through the ridge vent? I don't have any windows up there.


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## Artemis2007 (Jul 13, 2012)

It wasn't that much, $600.00. But they don't have a vacuum, so all of those bags have to come down through the house, which sounds pretty dirty. Which is the same thing I'd being doing if I did it myself.


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## Artemis2007 (Jul 13, 2012)

Chris616 said:


> The main reason that we chose to DIY was so that we could investigate the damage done to electrical wire insulation and the plastic vapor barrier under the insulation.
> Chris


Yes, exactly, I already know that I have some damaged insulation and I want to check for more.


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