It’s not fun to think about, but occasionally dust isn’t all that is in your duct system. You may hear animal noises coming from air ducts and fear you have unwelcome tenants. You can try and lure the little guys out but if they’re nesting they may not leave their babies. Call BW/Cook Service Experts for a comprehensive duct cleaning and we will confirm your duct system is rid of all these unwanted house guests, including:
Bugs and Insects
Nothing is worse than aiming to kill a spider and watching is escape into an air vent. You can’t get to it now and all you can do is sit on the couch and imagine the spider laying all those spider eggs. You may even think you hear a couple scampering around your duct system. No worries. BW/Cook Service Experts will come see you and give you a full duct cleaning and make sure that spider and any of her bug friends are out of there. Eggs, too.
Rodents
When rats, squirrels, and other wildlife make a home in your duct system, commonly through gaps in the duct work and breaks in the foundation or home exterior, it causes many issues. First, squirrels, mice, or raccoons can leave droppings behind and can ruin anything they encounter, including Christmas decorations or old baby clothes you’re keeping in your attic. Second, animals tend to chew, which can result in exposed wiring. That combined with the twigs and dried grass they’re likely carrying in to build a nest, and now you have quite the fire danger in your attic, behind your walls, and in your duct system. A good duct cleaning can get rid of rodent droppings or nests, but you may also need to call a professional animal removal company to remove the mice, squirrels, or other wildlife and perhaps an electrician if there has been any damage to wiring.
Birds
Birds usually look for safe and dry places to nest, like your air vents. Nests mean baby birds, which means they are feeding babies, and that means BUGS. If you find birds in your vents, you’ll likely end up with creepy-crawlies in your home. But that’s not the worst part. Birds assemble nests in your vents, and given the great amount of leaves and grass they use to assemble said nest, it can end up completely clogging a vent, preventing any airflow. As with mice, squirrels, etc., a full duct cleaning from BW/Cook Service Experts can remove any droppings, feathers, or other possible illness-carrying leave-behinds. You might also need an expert animal removal company to actually remove the birds from your vents or attics.
Mice in Air Ducts
If you have mice in your ductwork, you should take steps to quickly remove them. Mice nibble on wires and leave droppings like all rodents, but they also add to their population quickly. And when they run around in the ducts, treating it like the road system of your house, they eventually die in there. This creates unhealthy living conditions, and you may notice an unsavory odor.
You may think of mice because of the noises you hear – lots of scratching and scrabbling along sheet metal. Or you may actually notice one making an escape through the air vents in your house. You might even confirm their passage by inspecting the ducts for mice droppings. Either way, if you suspect mice you have a couple options. You could trap them yourself, by placing traps inside each vent and checking them in the morning. Or you can hire a pest control company.
After you’ve verified that the mice are removed, you really should have your ducts expertly cleaned by an HVAC company. If mice have been present, they will have left mice refuse in your ducts. Mice leavings are toxic, and if you ignore them in your ducts they can make you and your family sick. BW/Cook Service Experts offers duct cleaning services that will remove most debris from your home’s air ducts.
Call BW/Cook Service Experts today for a complete duct cleaning to help assure the air you and your loved ones are breathing is healthy and pest-free.