Bat House Forum

[IndyBAT]

Hi all,

If this is something that is already discussed in detail, please point me to the thread. Im New to the forum.

I have been using press board aka wafer board for the partitions inside the few bathouses I have built. I have used pet grade screen *the plastic stuff* over the wafer board so the bats have something to hold on to. The issue I have is the staples I use go all the way thru the waffer board, so I find myself grinding all the staple ends off the back of the board. There has to be an easier way?

What do you guys suggest? The wafer board is very thin and very smooth on one side, so I think I need to do something so the bats can hold on. Or is the back side *rough* side enough for the bats?

Thanks!


DW

[Terry Lobdell]

I have used the same method with exact same materials. I used 3/8" stainless steel staples and they did not come through the back........stainless steel is an absolute must.........

I have experimented much in the past ten years on various gripping surfaces...........I now just used plain old rough sawn boards and rough sawn boards with saw kerfs cut every half or 3/4".

There are many threads with pictures on this topic if you browse through the pictures.....

Kent Borcherding who is without a doubt the expert on bat houses in this country just scores one inch boards with drywall screws to make a rough surface.......

Hope this helps!

[Joe Spencer]

If you have a saw mill nearby I'd recommend cheap 1 inch thick rough pine or equivalent. Take your board as Terry and Kent have done and score it with a drywall screw jig. Only takes seconds per board. Additionally, after scoring all boards doing them simultaneously to save time, consider ripping the board (6" width board for example to 3"). Then mount these (divider/chamber slat pieces) separating them vertically by approximately 1/8". Use a shingle for this crack separation. You should get 6-7 or so for a two ft. tall bat house. This will complement the scoring and gives bats a great foothold. When I observed my bat houses years ago after experimenting with this it appeared the majority of bats favored the houses with these slatted dividers when other criteria was identical. It is worth experimenting with. This is one design modification that is easy to implement with a nursery style house but not a rocket

[IndyBAT]

wow thanks guys. any idea where to get stainless staples?

any pics of a screw jig?

Thanks

[Dave Miller]

wow thanks guys. any idea where to get stainless staples?

any pics of a screw jig?

Thanks

Not sure about the staples, but I have found that a wallpaper scoring tool works well for roughening wood surfaces:




In this example I also made some kerfs with a radial-arm saw. But you can see what the scoring tool did to the wood (this is pine).

[cloudman75]

I just used a scrap piece of 1x4 and drilled some small holes in it. Then screw two or three screws into the board so that they extend about 1/8 of an inch. I found that on plywood I could use 3 screws and pull the board toward me. You can adjust the screws for the best working conditions to suit your boards. I drilled extra holes just in case the screws got loose. You could make a nicer one with a handle, etc, but this one worked OK for me.

Frank