Bat House Forum

[BrackishBatter]

Here are a few auctions on ebay that look promising. It ain't cheap, but by the sqft, it beats the heck out of anything else I've seen.

Both look good, though the second one has very small holes. Is this ok?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Woven-mesh-pvc-heav ... 7C294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/Woven-mesh-pvc-heav ... 7C294%3A50


I hope to build many more houses! Do these meshes look rugged/durable/appropriate enough for the job?

[BrackishBatter]

found my other post! The old (current) bat mansion

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=551

[cloudman75]

I have three houses with screen put on with galvanized staples as baffles. By the time you bought this 10 yards, paid about 25 bucks shipping and provided stainless staples it would be too expensive for me. My next houses will used white wood baffles scored with Nates idea of screws through a plank. The white wood will be across the width stacked in numbers to provide the desired height. I have one scored baffle house now that over 75 bats seem to enjoy. I did not have a problem with little ones dropping from the scored baffle house.
White wood is easy to score compared to plywood. I think I will buy 1x 10s for baffles and build one shortly to have it ready this spring.
I want to build a much larger bat house but not as large as yours in the older post. I have no front end loader to assist.
I'll use a winch probably. I'll be anxious to see your new houses. My house will be 4 ft wide and 3 ft high with only two chambers. I plan to use two 4x4 treated post to mount it on. My colonies of little browns are slightly over 100 bats. That was some house you built on the farm in VA. Btw, the size in the photo looks good but my experience with ebay is let the buyer beware unless they tell you specifics in writing. mesh opening size? I don't know how pvc mesh ages. I have never used it. I used nylon. Good luck with your new houses.

Frank

[cloudman75]

I forgot to mention that the mesh description is selling a black` roll but the ebay add says color white. Makes one wonder which it is, black, or white?

Frank

[Joe Spencer]

"Pet Screen fabric is made to stand the test of of your pets, yet is attractive. This woven PVC coated polyester fabric is known as an industry standard for versatility and strength. It is .025 diameter, all weather fabric."

Yes it is durable but yes it is expensive: http://www.metroscreenworks.com/shop/petscreenaccessoriespetscreencolors-c-2_74.html

I believe scoring or grooving/kerfs utilizing cheap 1" rough pine or equivalent boards is the way to go. Also using 1x6" boards from a mill instead of 1 x 10" or 1x12" is cheaper per linear ft. since it often comes from smaller less mature trees. (check prices) With the smaller width wood, you also have the advantage of creating a few additional footholds for the bats by placing a small space between the stacked boards and leaving one board with a 1/2"-3/4 " in each partition space to allow bats to change chambers without them exposing themselves to the bat house bottom. Also as mentioned before, consider creating the inner core(partitions) section separate from the bat house. This halves the weight of the installation/maintenance process. You merely slide the partition core into the bat house and fasten it. This also allows for easy repairs or wasp nest removal in the future.

[BrackishBatter]

I certainly prefer the black. PVC just sounds so much more durable than fiberglass, which we have experience with. Roughened has a good track record as well.

Does anyone else have comment on the use/durability of PVC mech generally, and the weave/hole size of these meshes in particular?

[Terry Lobdell]

I have never used the pvc mesh. I have used pet mesh a lot and have had good luck with it. I am in the process right now of building a few boxes gluing the pet mesh on with liquid nail. I cut 12 - 16" X 24" baffles out of a 4X8 sheet of 1/4" lauan. My purpose is to construct 4 - 4 crevice light weight bat houses. I am going to mount these in a couple locations where I had overcrowding last year. I glued the pet mesh on by laying down an 1/8" bead on the lauan. I then placed the mesh on top. By smoothing out the liquid nail running my finger over each bead I was able to also stretch out the pet mesh nicely. Distances between beads of glue were 1 &1/2" to 2". I used no staples at all in the process. Based on past experience with liquid nail these baffles should last a long time. I hope to post pictures soon. Sides and top will be 2" stock. The fronts and backs will be one inch red pine. The heavier wood on the outside I'm hoping will help hold temps.

Most of my bat boxes I build this winter however, will have one inch red pine baffles with 3 crevices. Some will be saw-kerfed, some will just have the rough sawn surface and some will be scored.

The 4 - crevice lauan baffle boxes are just experiments in building light-weight boxes with fairly high capacity.

[Joe Spencer]

I think that bat houses with thinner luan etc. baffles would work fine in areas which attract many bats such as a nursery colony of little brown bats with the amount of insects that a nursing mother eats each night and the rise in metabolism which occurs during the nursing period. They might not be as good for a small bachelor colony but I'm only speculating since I have never used baffles thinner than 1/2".. AS always appreciate your opinions and feedback and whether your planning on placing these thinner baffled houses on poles or buildings. Terry, did you use the oil/petroleum based liquid nails or the latex water cleanup liquid nails?

[Terry Lobdell]

Joe,
These boxes will be mounted on poles for little brown maternities. Although I may use one of them on the east side of a house for a big brown maternity where I had overcrowding last year.

The liquid nail is oil based. They were glued in December so I'm thinking by June they will have had 6 months to cure. Vapors and emissions should all be gone by then. I've done this with other boxes so far with no adverse effects that I am aware of..........although water based liquid nail would probably be better........