Before & After Photos

This homeowner in Rumson, NJ was tired of having an excessive amount of moisture in his crawl space, so he called our office to encapsulate it. Excessive moisture in your crawl space can have a major impact on your family’s health. In fact, 50% of the air in your home comes up through the crawl space — which means that moisture and mold can seep into your home, where you're breathing it in. After surveying the crawl space, we noticed that the homeowner had a dirt floor crawl space. Dirt floor crawl spaces attract and absorb moisture. When the dirt dries, the moisture from the dirt ground evaporates up into the crawl space, which causes humidity levels to rise in your home. After a thorough inspection, we determined that this was the cause of the moisture build-up in the crawl space.  

First, we leveled the ground for proper draining and installed drainage matting. This material is a dimpled plastic mat that allows all excess moisture to work its way over to the sump pump. Once we finished, we installed a vapor barrier which is a heavy-duty, 20-mil 7-ply sandwich of high and low-density polyethylene with a polyester-cord reinforcement. It cannot tear and is extremely durable. The vapor barrier is also treated with an antimicrobial to prevent mold and is installed over the foundation walls and floor to create a continuous air and moisture barrier.

Next, we installed SilverGlo™ on the walls of the crawl space. SilverGlo™ is a waterproof foam insulation that seals the walls from outside moisture and humidity. Lastly, we installed a Sani-Dry Sedona commercial-grade dehumidifier to control the humidity levels. The Sedona directs the extracted water pulled out of the air directly into the sump pump.

Recently, I was dispatched to a home in Long Branch, NJ that was plagued by mice. Vermin were running around the basement and first floor of the home as if they owned the place. And based on the level of infestation, I have to admit, they temporarily had the upper hand!  But now that I was here, it’s game over for these rodents. 

Mice are overwintering pests that make their way into homes as outdoor temperatures drop. They can potentially contaminate food and leave droppings wherever they go. Mouse and other rodent infestations pose a serious risk for transmitting Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) and other serious diseases. HPS is an infectious disease that starts with flu-like symptoms and can progress to life-threatening respiratory problems. Any activity that puts you in contact with rodent droppings, urine, saliva, or nesting materials can place you at risk for infection. Also, when mouse droppings dry and are disturbed, particles can become airborne and you can actually breathe them in. That’s why you never want to go into a small enclosed area where there is a rodent infestation without proper personal protective equipment like HEPA masks.

Mice tend to enter homes through access points in and around the foundation to get inside the basement or crawl space. Once there, they use wall voids to speed throughout the house, usually finding their way to the kitchen because of all the food attractants. Since mice are so small, there are often many entry points we are unaware of. They only need an opening about the size of a dime to make their way in. As such, they can easily squeeze their way inside through gaps and cracks in the foundation. Also, I’ve seen many homes where the mice have run along the sill plate until they find gaps around piping entering the home, such as a gas pipe behind the stove or water lines under the kitchen sink. 

During a rodent inspection, I generally start with the kitchen since this is their usual target destination. I then work backward to see how they are gaining access to the kitchen. With this home, after inspecting the kitchen for evidence of mouse activity, I moved to the basement where the homeowners had noticed most of the rodent activity. I inspected the entire home and even found mouse droppings in the attic, indicating to that mice had made their way throughout every floor of the home. 

While baiting for mice in the different areas of the home, I noticed daylight by the sill plate in the basement right by some wires. If daylight can shine in, it’s a good indication that there is enough of an opening for mice. A mouse can enter a home through a hole as small as the diameter of a dime. Since mice don’t have collarbones, if a mouse is able to poke its little snout through a hole, the rest of its body will follow. Upon further inspection, I found a large hole in the foundation — a hole large enough for a rat to enter let alone a tiny mouse. Someone had stuffed the hole with a rag. With the teeth and claws of a rodent, a rag would do absolutely nothing to deter a determined mouse or rat from getting into the house. I stuffed the access hole with chew-proof copper mesh to block any more rodents from entering. With the bait stations set up throughout the home, it will not take long for the rodent population to substantially decline. The objective, of course, is to get the rodent population down to zero. One mouse roaming around a home is one mouse too many!

I scheduled a two-week follow up to reinspect, replace the bait in the stations as needed, and determine if additional bait stations are necessary. With a heavy mouse infestation, it is important to have successive follow-up visits until there is no more observable rodent activity. 

Recently, I went on a service call for a new residential client in Long Branch, NJ who contacted us to resolve an issue with birds nesting inside her home. Before beginning my inspection, I spoke to the homeowner about the bird infestation. Whenever possible, I always try to speak with homeowners about whatever rodent, pest or wildlife issue they are dealing with. This preliminary information helps me identify the problem, target my inspection, and find the best solution. Here, the homeowner told me that she saw a bird hovering around on the exhaust vents on the side of her home. Birds are attracted to exhaust and dryer vent ducts to nest because they are private places to lay their eggs hidden from potential predators and they like the warm air that flows through them. So, I already had a good idea of the problem.

As I inspected the exterior of the home to find the birds’ point of access, I came across a damaged plastic exhaust vent. Contractors debate plastic vs metal vent covers, and plastic has certainly become more popular in recent years, especially the new plastic resins like polypropylene. Unfortunately, there are also cheaper plastic vents installed that are prone to cracking and breaking down from exposure to the sun and the harsh outdoor elements. Over time, plastic exhaust vents can get beaten up pretty badly. Occasionally, when the fan turns on, the vent fins get stuck open, and that was the case here. As often happens, birds exploit the vent opening to build a nest inside the home. Damaged exhaust vents not only allow birds and other critters to gain access to your home but also allow moisture to come in, which can lead to mold and mildew problems. However, the biggest risk of all is the nesting material obstructing airflow and creating a fire hazard.

After carefully removed the nest, I sanitized and deodorized the vents with a solution that targets bird mites. Bird mites are parasites that feed on the blood of birds. When birds leave their nests, the mites are left behind without a suitable host for their next blood meal. They will make their way into a home, and once inside they will take over, climbing all over your walls, ceilings, and beddings. To make matters worse, bird mites are tiny and semi-transparent, so they are extremely difficult to detect.  Bird mites are the main reason why extreme care is needed when removing a nest. The last thing you want to do is disrupt the mites that are crawling in and around the nesting material. 

After removing all remnants of bird activity, I replaced the vent with a newer, upgraded exhaust vent with new fins. As added security, I placed a screen on the inside of the vent to prevent any more birds from attempting to access that area. Now, after completing this job, this home is bird-free with a new and improved exhaust vent. Best of all, there is a homeowner who is immensely relieved that her bird problem is gone!

This homeowner in Highlands had wildlife gaining entry into his attic through a gable vent. The wire mesh screen covering the gable vents was damaged, most likely from the animals themselves. With the screen breached, they were able to gain access into the attic.

Homes are equipped with attic vents to provide efficient ventilation. They allow heat and humidity to escape from the attic in the summer and moist air in the winter. You’ll find vents on the underside of your soffits and on the home’s gables, which are the triangular portion of the outside wall of a house that comes to a peak between the edges of the intersecting roof pitches. Homes with a simple gable roof (two roof sections sloping in opposite directions that meet at the roof ridge), typically have gable vents at the two ends of the house, and sometimes over the garage. Homes with more ornate roof structures with multiple gables usually have multiple gable vents. While these vents are necessary for efficient attic ventilation, they often wind up being the “weakest link” in the roof structure for wildlife to gain access. Time and time again, our wildlife technicians have had to deal with infestations with wildlife that used a gable vent as their personal welcome mat to enter the attic. Once inside, wildlife can cause significant property damage. They can ruin expensive insulation and chew through wires, creating a fire hazard, and their droppings are a serious health hazard.

Two members of Cowleys home construction crew were sent in to do the exclusion work and make sure that, going forward, wildlife would be blocked from trying to re-enter the attic through this vent. We carefully removed the damaged screen and installed a new one.

A homeowner in Monmouth Beach, NJ, a small beach community at the Jersey Shore contacted Bird Solutions By Cowleys because of a serious nuisance bird problem. This homeowner, who lived right on the water, had seagulls anding on his roof, depositing their prodigious waste everywhere. Because of the location of the home, the roof was a perfect spot for the birds to roost and nest, and these high structures help them stay on the lookout for food and predators. Gulls are attracted to human habitats because they are opportunistic scavengers that will consume virtually anything.

Seagulls are protected migratory birds. Should these birds become a nuisance on your property, it’s all about setting up deterrents on your property to create a hostile environment for them. The objective is simple: You want the birds to “voluntarily” abandon your property and move on elsewhere. Because gulls nest in coastal regions, they are quite common along the Jersey Shore, and they often become one of the biggest bird nuisances for homeowners who live in Monmouth Beach and our other coastal towns. These birds eat far more than aquatic life. They are  In their search for food, when not in parking lots or garbage dumps, they are often attracted to roofs and other high structures. These are safe sites for them to roost and nest, and it gives them a great vantage point to stay on the lookout for food and predators.

Their droppings can cause significant property damage. Their thick white paste contains acidic uric acid, which is strong enough to dissolve shingles and sheathing. It can easily disintegrate roofing materials enough to cause roof leaks. Also, birds nesting in drains and gutters can block water drainage and lead to dangerous standing water on the roof. 

Because bird droppings contain parasites and other pathogens, they are also a serious health hazard. They are attracted to waste sites, eating garbage containing sewage or medical waste. They can transmit these pathogens in their droppings. That alone is a good reason to not have gulls hanging around your home.

A two-crew team from Bird Solutions carefully installed approximately 1700 bird spikes on the peaks of his roof. The photos show the “before and after” of the spike installation. Without a place to land, the birds soon give up and look for a more hospitable place to land. For these birds, there is no shortage of places to “hang out.” Effective bird control lets them know that your home is off-limits.

The Monmouth Beach homeowner was pleased to finally have these gulls vacate his property. Sea gulls are a potential nuisance in any coastal community. However, it is not something that homeowners have to tolerate.