Bat House Forum

[jcwren]

I couldn't come up with a descriptive topic, unfortunately.

When I bought my house, it had a standard roof with 3 gable vents. When we re-roofed last year, we switched over to a ridge vent. Now I need to board up the gables, but I have a couple bats living in them. I don't really want to bother the little guys, so I'm wondering if boarding the vents up (from the inside) will bother them in any way.

I know they cling to the screen of the gable, and if the board presses up against the screen, they (probably) won't be able to use it. I'm willing to build a box behind the gable to space it out from the screen.

What do bats care about for their roosting? Is the fact that a gable is open on both sides something that appeals to them, or is it the angle of the slats, where they have some shelter? If I do board up the gable, will this disturb them enough to drive them off (I like having them around, but energy efficiency is a major consideration). If I install bat houses on a couple nearby trees, will they relocate?

Any advice appreciated.

[cloudman75]

I evicted a colony of little browns from my gable louver. I also have three gables with louvers.
I would not do anything until the bats have left for the winter. I put plastic over the one louver which the bats used. I mounted a bat house a foot or so from the louver on the face of the gable for one season use by the bats. When they found the louver blocked and a bat house they moved right in and had pups. There were 17 of them when evicted. I gradually moved them further away each year after they left by mounting the same bat house on a metal pole. They now number about 200 and I have them located about 30 ft from the original louver. I have installed three bat houses all on metal poles.
A ridge vent as you probably know must have a free flow of air entering the attic space to be functional. I would think
and read much before blanking off my gable louvers if I were you. If you are in a warm state you need the outside air coming into your attic in summer to cool the attic and provide moisture movement to the ridge vent. If you have good attic insulation over the ceilings below, the louvers are an asset for energy conservation in summer and winter. In addition to my louvers I have two 1500 CFM electric roof exhaust fans which run in summer from an attic thermostat set at 105 degrees.
They run nearly everyday the sun shines. I am in Georgia near Atlanta. Your situation could be different, but nothing in my opinion would warrant blocking off louvers except for a temporary situation whether you use A.C. or not.
Good luck with the bats as they need your help for sure.

Frank

[jcwren]

Well, actually, for a ridge vent to function properly, it needs to pull air up through the soffit vents. If you leave the gable vents open, it basically short circuits the air flow, preventing an up-flow through the soffit vents. If you look at any house that has an original ridge vent, you'll see it has no gable vents.

As for the bats, I don't want to evict them. They can stay in the gable vent, I'm just wondering if building a box behind the vent to close it off will disturb them too much. I can install the box in the evening when they're out hunting.

I too live near Atlanta. Up in Flowery Branch, actually.

--jc

[cloudman75]

Hello,
I would not do anything until about December if you don't want to disturb the bats. Also if you build a box behind the louver screen,the droppings will stay in your attic space which could be a smelly unhealthy situation.
On the louvers, most soffit vents I have seen have so much resistance and pressure drop especially if they are many years old and dirty that insufficient ventilation enters. My old house has many soffit vents and a louver on each end plus one about
a third of the length.I don't agree they short circuit but only add to the ventilation. I would never agree with you to stop them up and that is my opinion. I'm sure you know what you want to do but you asked for opinions. However this is a bat forum so I should not have gone there I think. I am a retired PE, so could not resist commenting . Sorry about that. Good luck and I am in Lithia Springs past Six Fags off I 20. Good to hear from you.

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

I agree with Frank....

[angielily18]

Any changes in the current condition of the roof will definitely disturb them. They definitely like it as it is. You cannot change it for now unless you want them out.


atlanta roofing

[IowaNate]

I also agree with Frank. If you did happen to block the louvers from the inside it could change the micro-climate that the bats enjoy in the louvers. A bat house or two placed close to the louvers would be a great idea either way. My postings show the same situation of bat houses mounted next to the gable louvers and the bats prefer the houses over the vents.