Bat House Forum

[Dave M]

I found somebody willing to give me some used cedar siding to build my bat house. I haven't seen it yet, but plan to tomorrow evening. He said it probably has some old stain left on it, but a lot of it has simply come off due to weathering. He doesn't know if the old stain is acrylic or oil based. I plan to stain the inside of the box with dark acrylic stain, and paint the outside with latex paint. If the old stain on the cedar is oil based, does it matter after it's weathered so long? Would staining over it with acrylic stain cover it up so that it won't hurt bats? Will acrylic stain even adhere well to old oil based stain? Is there any way I can tell what type of stain the old stuff is?

[Terry Lobdell]

Dave, if it has weathered a long time it should be o.k........

As for staining the interior, I only do it at the bottom just to darken the crevices a little where light enters........from my experience bats do like it darker but it does not have to be absolutely black inside the crevices........

I might consider saving the cedar just for the exterior since it will hold up very well in the weather........then use something else for the interior........