Bird Barrier products were recently used to combat bird problems at a Southern California office building:
Facility managers spend a lot of time planning their maintenance budgets for each of the properties under their care. They factor in a wide variety of expected problems and generally have a reserve account to tackle new, unforeseen expenses as they occur. However, the facility manager for a Southern California office building recently had a problem that was both unexpected and quickly becoming very costly.
Pigeons and sparrows had decided to exercise their own lease option on the building, nesting both on and under the HVAC equipment in a rooftop pit. At first the building management didn’t realize the extent of the problem they had on their hands, as it was all out of sight on the rooftop. Eventually a horrible smell began to creep through the building’s air systems. When the facility manager sent for a HVAC specialist to diagnose the source of the problem, they discovered a bird problem that had gotten out of control. Dead birds were scattered amongst nesting lives ones and the droppings and nesting material buildup was awful. It was so bad that the HVAC repairmen refused to enter the pit because they were concerned about the health risks, as mites had descended through the air system and were biting the officer workers.
The facility manager realized this was a large scale bird problem and was concerned about the health risk posed to the building’s inhabitants, as well as damage to the roof itself from the acidic droppings. He contacted the bird control team at Orange Coast Building Services for help resolving the situation. Orange Coast’s Mike Wiley worked with Mark Thorsell, sales manager for Bird Barrier America, a manufacturer of bird control products, to determine the best bird control product to use in eliminating the bird problem. Thorsell recommended installing StealthNet bird netting to seal off the entire HVAC pit, as this would completely deny the birds any access to the area.
“It was a real mess down there in the pit,” claimed Wiley. “There was a large buildup of bird droppings several inches thick and a lot of nesting materials. We spent a lot of time thoroughly cleaning the site and disinfecting it before we even began to install the products, because with all of that bird mess there was a lot of potential for bacteria and parasites that would remain if we didn’t clean the area properly,” Wiley continued.
The decision to go with bird net was an easy one. “The ¾ inch bird net was a logical choice as they needed to completely exclude the birds from the entire rooftop area,” said Thorsell. “Our StealthNet bird netting is guaranteed to withstand the elements for a minimum of ten years and it seals off the entire area. Plus, they put in net zippers or clips wherever they need access for maintenance, which makes for a perfect solution to this problem,” he finished.
“The first thing we did was to remove all of the rooftop gravel and thoroughly sanitize the site,” said Wiley. “With all of the bird debris up there, and the mite problem it was really mandatory to have it completely clean before we installed any products,” he continued. “After we had it all cleaned up, we laid down fresh roof gravel and then install the bird net to keep the birds out for good,” Wiley finished.
The bird net installation included a stainless steel perimeter cable system that was attached to the parapet cap surrounding the HVAC pit. The rooftop was divided into six separate problem areas and each was enclosed with netting. Sectioning the roof made it easier to stretch the bird net completely taut across the area to deny birds access as well as ensuring no gaps were left along the perimeter cable through which birds could squeeze. The design also incorporated zippers and special clips that allowed the netting to be removed when other trade crafts needed access to specific areas.
“The project only took us about a week from start to finish,” said Wiley. “They were really happy with the results, and I know they haven’t had any more problems because we’ve followed up with them to make sure no birds squeezed through the netting,” he continued.
The building now has a long lasting deterrent system that will keep all bird squatters locked out of that property for years to come.
