Bat House Forum

[Chicken Zombie]

I'm planning to buy a pre-built bat house & had a few questions.
I can either mount it to my vinyl siding or to my brick chiminey. 
The siding will be easier, but will I have good results with it? 
If not, how do I mount it to my chiminey?
Also, some of the houses I've looked at have mesh screen inside. 
over time does this get torn & need to be replaced, & if so how
do you do this?
I could also use some advice on selecting a bat house.  This is
what I'm leaning towards so far:
http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=OBC-FCBH
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[Terry Lobdell]

Hi,

The chimney would be a better mounting location because the masonry holds heat throughout the night. But your siding would be fine as long as you have good exposure to the sun. Facing east or south would be excellent.

To mount to your chimney you will have to drill the morter joints with a masonry bit and use corrosion resistant screws. Lowes or Home Depot could show you different options for screws.

You could also strap it around your chimney.

That bat house looks fine and the mesh should hold up well. I have had very good luck with mesh in bat houses. I would cover the roof of it with shingles or aluminum to ensure it does not leak.

Also, if you live in New York state you will want to stain or paint the bat house a flat black color. Actually any very dark flat shade should draw enough heat to attract bats.

Have you been on Bat Conservation International's website? They a list of criteria for successful bat houses which I have found to be very helpful and accurate information.

Hope this helps!

[Dianna]

Hi Chicken Zombie!
Interesting name. I was wondering if you mounted your bat house yet and if so where? I am just starting on this bat journey. Last week, a bat came down the chimney and was trapped in the fireplace. I found the little creature both terrifying and intriguing. The bat made it out of my house safely. My new bat house is laying here on the coffee table. I was also worried as to how well the mesh will hold up. I was told it works well.
Let me know how your bat house is working out.

[IowaNate]

 I agree with everything Terry said. And the bat house seems to be very well constructed. Definately give the exterior a coat or two of dark paint though. The screening seems to be a plastic type which will hold up much better than typical fiberglass screening. In my opinion it is a very good house for the price.

[cloudman75]

I bought an OBC triple cell and this is the 4th season in use. It was used the first year erected, and is holding up quite well. I bought it direct from OBC the makers. They use the money for bat purposes. They are usually a few bucks cheaper than other sources. Take a look if you like. The house you selected looks like a winner.

http://www.batroost.com/bathousesandfreebathouseplans.aspx

[Joe Spencer]

Below is a link to BCI's bat certification "bat approved" houses

http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=149&idSubPage=164

While OBC obviously builds a fine bat house for the $$ and are a fine organization,  I have only one concern with this particular design.  Roofs which meet flat against a raised plywood backing can leave a small gap and can possibly leak in time if they're not notched.  The benefit of the design below is that you can easily secure it with fasteners on/through the upper plywood backing.  Based on the photo below which shows no notch I would run a bead of 30+ year flexible exterior caulking where the roof meets the plywood prior to painting.  After that you should be all set! :thumbsup1:




Good luck with your purchase and eventual occupancy!

[cloudman75]

Joe,

You are exactly right about the roof design. When I put mine in a different location this year about March. I noticed that the cedar had shrunk away from the plywood back. I used good latex calk to calk it, then drilled some holes through the plywood back into the roof board. I then used several deck srews to tighten it up. I never did paint mine as I am in a warm climate. I used latex calk because it is paintable in case I do further maintenance later. The cedar weathers well but does shrink with time.

I think painting it would help and next time I take it down, I will paint the roof plus add a roofing shingle over the roof.

[Joe Spencer]

Cloudman, good point about the additional screws through the back into the roof for additional fastening.  In my early days of bat house building I built a few 12" wide houses and used a router to notch the pine backboard to accommodate the roof insertion and raised backboard for fastening.  Since then I've only built wider houses and rockets.

[Terry Lobdell]

I cover the roofs of all my houses with aluminum or shingles of some type. A maternity box should have a roof that is absolutely water tight!

[cloudman75]

I agree they should be tight Terry. The two houses I have built, I put in a ceiling board caulked and screwed about 1 inch over the baffles. Then I put the roof board on top of that using latex caulk. I also added a fiberglass roofing shingle on the roof. I painted the roof board first with three coats of latex paint. I have had no leaks to date.