Before & After Photos

As any roofer will tell you, terracotta clay-based ceramic roofing tiles can be challenging to work with. Although they are heavy and durable, if accidentally dropped or stepped on, these types of tiles can easily be broken. Terracotta tiles are installed by placing overlapping and interlocking rows of them on the roof. Although clay roofs are built to last and have been around long before asphalt shingles, repairing them can be a big hassle.

In order to access any tiles that are further up the roof from the eaves, you have to get to them without breaking any.  Because the weight of a person walking on the roof is more than enough to break these clay tiles, roofers often use boom trucks. When pieces have to be replaced, if the tiles are hooked over fasteners, you have to go under the piece and cut the fasteners since the overlapping tiles cover the fasteners. If the tiles are glued down, you may need a hammer and chisel. When I think of what roofers who work with terracotta tiles have to do, it makes me glad that I’m just a wildlife technician who only risks getting bitten or scratched by a nasty raccoon or sprayed by a skunk!

I was sent to a home in Belford, NJ to perform a wildlife exclusion along with one of our home improvement specialists. A wildlife exclusion is any project where we seal wildlife entry points (often on or around the roof) to prevent a re-infestation. With this home, raccoons were gaining access through a small area of a terracotta roof that had been damaged. According to the homeowner, this area had been previously patched, but the person doing the repairs failed to secure it properly leaving the gap vulnerable to wildlife.

We were asked by the homeowner to perform an exclusion to this area to ensure that any raccoons in the neighborhood stayed out. For this project, we measured and fit a piece of “trim cool,” aluminum fascia trim, in place that fit together like a puzzle piece. This trim blended into the roof, and just as important, was able to be secured correctly in order to prevent any wildlife access.

We often use trim cool to do repairs because of its flexibility. More and more, we are seeing fascia boards are covered with this product because of its resiliency to the outdoor elements. Homeowners don’t have to worry about peeling paint, wood rot, or wildlife gaining access to your attic by clawing their way through weakened wood.

Recently, a homeowner residing in the coastal community of Belford, NJ contacted Cowleys because of a suspected mouse infestation. Upon arrival, I inspected the areas where there were rodent droppings. The size and shape of droppings contain a wealth of information (in addition to a wealth of pathogens and parasites!). As you’d expect, the size of the droppings is related to the size of the animal. A house mouse, which weigh less than an ounce, produce very small droppings, about the size of a grain of rice, and their droppings often have pointed ends. Rat droppings. Rats weigh many multiples more than a mouse, averaging 8 ounces or so, and not surprisingly their droppings are much larger and often have blunted, rounded ends. The holes I found were big enough for a rat. Although rats need a larger entry hole, it’s not by much. A mouse can enter a hold about the diaper of a dime while rats need a space about the size of a quarter. I told the homeowner the bad news that this was a rat infestation, but the good news is that this infestation would be resolved, and resolved quickly.

I started by cleaning up all of the droppings, which pose a serious health risk. When rodent droppings dry out, particles can become airborne carrying aerosolized viruses including Hantavirus, a potentially fatal respiratory disease. We can’t stress enough the dangers of rodent droppings in an enclosed area. They are a serious biohazard. After finishing up with cleaning the rat mess, I sealed the two entryways being used to access the living areas of the home, one in the kitchen and one in the closet. Because these holes were so large, I used hardware cloth instead of plugging the holes with copper mesh. 

Mice and rats typically enter homes through openings around the foundation, first finding their way into the crawl space or basement. From there, thy travel through wall voids to forage for food and water throughout the home. I located potential access points in the crawl space and also baited the areas where there were indicators of rodent activity. I’m confident that this rat infestation will be resolved quickly with their entry points sealed and the bait stations set up. There should be no more rodent activity in the home’s living areas. I scheduled a two-week follow-up to re-inspect, replenish bait as needed, and apply additional treatments if necessary. Before leaving, I assured the homeowner that there should be an immediate reduction in the quantity of droppings, and if not, to contact us immediately. Although rodent treatments work quickly, they are not instantaneous. It takes some time for those rats inside the home to be eliminated.

While treating this homeowners' property in Tinton Falls, NJ I discovered a large number of spider webs along with the columns on the front porch. Spiders are hunters, so if you see any in your home or their webbing around your property that means that they have a food source. By eliminating those pests, you’re eliminating the spider's food source and they’ll go elsewhere to find food.

With the homeowner's permission, I inspected the entire interior of the home to find any signs of spiders or any pests, to which I found none. I grabbed my broom and then dusted and vacuumed the spider webs. By removing the spider webbing, the spiders will get frustrated and leave that area. I also treated the columns, the front porch, and the exterior of the building with a non-repellant residual and sealed any gaps or opening around the property with a waterproof adhesive. 

I was sent out by Cowleys to an apartment complex in Barnegat Light to remove an active hornets nest. The insects built their nest in a tree that was close to one of the buildings in the complex. Normally, a hornets nest does not pose a threat to people as long as the nest is not disturbed or approached. Unfortunately, every so often, these pests decide to build their nest in locations where people may inadvertently come too close to the nest. If they feel that their nest and territory is being threatened, a multiple stinging insect attack can easily result. This particular nest was built in a sensitive location. It was about five feet from the sidewalk entering the building and about seven feet off the ground. It was clearly a threat to any of the tenants forced to walk by the nest in order to enter and exit the building. It was an unacceptable situation, and I arrived to correct it.

To deal with this hornet problem, I first incapacitated the hornets that were inside the nest by treating it with a quick knock-down product. Once most of the hornets inside the nest were either dead or dying, I carefully cut the branch holding the nest out of the tree. Whenever you are doing a nest extraction, it is important to be mindful of any foraging hornets returning to the nest. They don’t take too kindly to seeing their nest being removed!

Once the nest and the supporting branch were separated from the tree, I
cut off excessive foliage to remove the treated nest, which I then bagged so that I could remove it from the property. The returning foraging hornets will swarm around the nest site for awhile, but they’ll soon move on when they realize that their nest is no more and there is not even any residue of the old nest to build on. 

Territorial stinging insects like wasps and hornets mean trouble when they decide to build a nest too close to a home or commercial structure. In these cases, the nest needs to be removed by a pest control professional, preferably before there is a serious wasp attack on an innocent person who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

This Seaside Heights homeowner wanted to cover his submersible sump pump, and contacted Cowleys. Cowleys offers more than just pest control. We also have a specialized division devoted to keeping crawl spaces and basements clean and dry. Sump pumps, a critical part of any crawl space system, pump out damaging groundwater that has found its way inside your home. While Cowleys sells and installs the sturdiest, most trouble-free sump pumps available, we also will take on specialized projects for homeowners like this one. 

What’s a submersible sump pump? These pumps are located inside the sump basin, and its motor is designed to work when completely submerged in water. The alternative is a pedestal pump. With pedestals, the entire pump is located above the sump pit, and its motor is not designed to be submerged. You’ll usually only see pedestal-type pumps where the sump pit is too narrow or shallow for a submersible. Submersibles are today’s residential standard because they are far more efficient and quieter than pedestal pumps. 

This homeowner understood the importance of covering his submersible sump pump, and contacted Cowleys to do the job. There are a number of important reasons to cover your sump. Covered sump pumps help reduce moisture, and keeping moisture levels down is essential for preventing mold growth. (The primary way to keep down moisture levels in your crawl space or basement is through dehumidification.) Also, covered sump pumps are especially important for homes with a radon gas problem because of the surrounding soil. While a sump pump cover will help to reduce the amount of radon, it won’t completely resolve the problem. Unfortunately, soil gases can seep in from many places, including floor cracks and floor drains. A sump pump lid reduces pump noise, stops debris from falling into the pit, and keeps out insects and rodents. If your sump pump is in the basement, a cover will keep out curious kids who may want to use the sump pit as a fun play site. 

We recommend solid covers if there’s a pipe beneath that drains water into the sump well, and a perforated one if water drains into the well after flowing across the basement floor. Because of two plumbing pipes that funneled into the sump pit, we needed to build a custom cover for this homeowner. While this cover may not qualify as an exhibit at some fancy art museum, the Cowleys crawl space technicians who worked on this job are especially proud of it! As you can see, the cover does exactly what it’s supposed to do, and it made an unattractive area of the home look a whole lot better.