Cleaning Out a Pest Infested Attic or Crawl Space

Many homeowners don’t expect to discover surprise houseguests living in their attics or crawl spaces when checking insulation or tracing some wiring that isn’t behaving correctly. Finding out that a family of squirrels, mice, or even raccoons have taken up residence in this part of your house can be very frustrating because of the cleanup required, and possible damage repairs that need to happen quickly to avoid potential safety hazards like a house fire.

If you have already managed to get rid of unwanted wildlife upstairs, but don’t want to hire an expensive restoration service, there are precautions to follow before handling this project on your own.

Inspect Your Attic or Crawlspace Before Starting Repairs

Evicting a freeloading family of squirrels is only the first step in taking back your property, you still have to inspect the infested area to determine what remains and the level of repair you have ahead. The outcome of your inspection will depend on several factors, most importantly of which involves the type of species, where their nesting area was, and how long they had lived in your attic or crawlspace.

When conducting an inspection, make sure to wear appropriate safety equipment like long sleeves and pants, gloves, respirator mask, goggles, and a hat. The area is not sanitized and could potentially harbor diseases in feces that could make you seriously ill.

Cleaning Up After an Animal Infestation in Your Attic

Many homeowners would prefer to hire a professional service to come in and handle the cleanup and sanitization of an attic or crawl space that had an infestation issue. These services can be expensive, and homeowner's insurance doesn’t always cover vermin incidents. If you must do this process on your own, you must wear health and safety equipment and have a plan in place ahead of time for the disposal of waste and debris, like a dumpster rental service.

You should also verify there is no longer a wildlife presence in the area any longer.

Clearing Out Debris

This step is by far one of the worst phases because of the amount of feces and debris you will likely have to remove. Make sure you are ventilating the area, have on breathing equipment, and a shop vacuum with a specialized filter to keep unwanted particles inside.

Often ruined insulations are the biggest casualty of animal infestations. They use it for nesting and defecating, and you can expect to replace it once the sanitization step is complete. You will also need to do the following:

• Vacuum
• Double bag and remove debris

A dumpster rental is your best friend for this phase of reclaiming your attic or crawlspace. Not only will avoid struggling with cramming numerous bags of insulation into your regular trash for pick up, but you will have room for additional damaged flooring, paneling, and any destroyed belongings.

Use a Dumpster When Sanitizing Your Infested Attic or Crawlspace

Disinfecting your attic of potential viruses, larvae, or other unwanted toxins is essential to eliminate any further health hazards from the infestation. The Centers for Disease Control recommends the following infestation clean up strategies to destroy any lingering diseases or bacteria:

In places where you find evidence, or even suspect, there is urine, droppings, or other nesting materials, spray with a bleach and water solution with a 1:9 ratio. You may also use a household disinfectant, but follow the product guidelines to ensure proper application and results. Let it soak in thoroughly and only wipe away excess from non-porous surfaces.

For storage boxes with exposed exteriors:

Take outdoors, put in direct sunlight, and wipe down with the recommended bleach and water solution or a household disinfectant. Treat your belongings inside as potentially contaminated, so make sure to still wear a mask, goggles, and gloves when removing them from storage.

• Clothing should be washed and dried on hot cycles. If this will ruin the item, it should get pitched.
• Plastic, metal, or glass items can undergo sanitization using bleach-water mixtures or a household disinfectant spray. Anything you don’t need or could part with, you should do so.

Rent a Dumpster for Attic Restoration after an Infestation

After an infestation, you may discover you have some renovation projects ahead. Plan on renting a dumpster to manage the debris. Not only will this save you a lot of hassle with your local trash service not wanting to take your waste, but you can keep it all in one centralized, contained area to prevent further exposure. Once you finish, just make a phone call, and your infestation debris is gone forever.

Bin There Dump That provides premier dumpster rental services, including cleaning up the area where the bin sat after we haul it out. No one cares about customer experience as we do! Call us at our North Atlanta area office at (770) 932-2838 or contact us online for more information today. Check out our blog for additional tips and tricks to maximize the benefits of your dumpster rental experience!

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