Bat exclusion gets the animals out. Attic restoration handles what they left behind. In Altoona's railroad-era homes, the two often go together — sometimes urgently.
The Victorian and early 20th century worker homes in Fairview, Juniata, and Logan neighborhoods sometimes have bat colonies that have been in residence for 30, 40, or 50 years. Previous owners may not have known. A colony of 50 Big Brown Bats depositing guano for 40 years fills an attic space considerably. We have seen it. The insulation is saturated. The structural wood is stained. The histoplasmosis risk is real.
This is the high-ticket part of bat control, and we approach it honestly: not every situation needs a full restoration. A recent infestation — one summer, a small colony — may require only modest cleanup. We assess on-site and tell you exactly what the situation is.
Histoplasma capsulatum is a fungus that grows in nitrogen-rich soil and organic material — including bat guano. When dried guano is disturbed, spores become airborne. Inhaling the spores can cause histoplasmosis, a serious respiratory illness. In most healthy adults it presents as flu-like illness. In immunocompromised individuals, it can be severe and even life-threatening.
This is not a scare tactic. It is why we wear N95 respirators and full personal protective equipment in contaminated attics, and why we do not recommend homeowners attempt to clean bat guano themselves. If you smell strong ammonia from your attic and have had bat activity, do not go up there without protection. Call us.
$2,000 to $6,000 for a typical residential attic. What drives the range:
Railroad-era Victorian homes with large attic spaces and multi-decade bat colonies typically land in the upper half of that range. Smaller more recent infestations are at the lower end. We give you a real quote after the assessment — not a "starting at" number.
Some policies cover it, many do not. Bat damage is often excluded as a "pest" exclusion in standard homeowner's policies. We can provide detailed documentation of what we found and what we did, which gives you the best possible record for a claim. Check your policy carefully and call your agent directly.
Not always immediately, but it should be done. Histoplasmosis risk increases as guano dries and spore concentrations build. Beyond health risk, saturated insulation provides essentially no thermal benefit and contributes to moisture problems. Most homeowners schedule restoration within a season of completing exclusion.
Yes. When we reinstall insulation, we bring it to current recommended R-values for the Pennsylvania climate zone. The energy savings over a few heating seasons often offset a significant portion of the restoration cost on older Altoona homes that were underinsulated to begin with.
Related services: bat removal and exclusion · general wildlife removal
Guano cleanup, insulation replacement, decontamination. Real quotes on-site for Blair County homes.
(814) 800-3215