So I get a call last Friday from a guy who says he's had raccoons in his attic for a little over 2 1/2 years. Reason being there's nobody around here close who does this kind of work. So I go over and take a look. Total devastation. They had feces piles 6" deep almost every 6ft, holes joining the two attic spaces, an entrance hole under the soffit where the two roofs join, etc. So I tell him this is gonna be a big job and that it was hard to tell at this point how much, but probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-10,000. He freaks (which I would too) and I tell him that homeowners insurance should cover this type of thing. I tell him that I would contact his insurance the following Monday and find out for him, and he tells me to go ahead and start work. So I set two traps at the entrance hole under the soffit on the back roof, and get my guys started on the decontamination process in the attic. The next morning I have two raccoons, which were later dispatched. I set the traps again and begin working to get supplies purchased and lighting set up in the one of two crawl spaces. The customer said he had been hearing activity in the walls and ceilings throughout the house, so I began drilling holes and using the Milwaukee inspection camera to see what we were dealing with. By the time it was all over, I had breached the ceilings in the lower bathroom, hallway, and entrance way, and pulled out 4 Wally World bags full of feces. They had chewed 90% of the wiring and destroyed two of the light fixtures. One of the light fixtures had feces and urine in the plastic bowl. Long story short, I've had Pest Control ULV the attic and ceiling spaces for fleas, mites, etc, the electricians repair the wiring and junction boxes in the attic, and repair the 2 fixtures, and we have completely removed and decontaminated all the attic spaces. Now we're just doing minor cleanup with the shop vac in the attic so we can begin the blow in process hopefully tomorrow. The place is a mess with all our plastic tarps down and supplies and equipment everywhere. It hasn't helped that it's been raining of and on for the past week and we have to be very careful not to track in mud on his carpets. This place is in a high-dollar neighborhood and the house is probably upwards of $200,000. He called me this morning and wanted me to come set more traps because last night the raccoons were literally at his upstairs bedroom window scratching and chattering. One left a nice "surprise" right next to his window. I'll keep you informed, but as of now, the insurance has been wonderfully helpful and prompt, and has paid the next day after receiving a bill from me. They will have one more coming that will have more labor and a blow in charge..roughly another $8,000.

congrats on a nice job... Im extremely curious how you handled all of that raccoon feces. did you take protocol for destroying raccoon roundworm eggs?

That's kind of a curious deal. I kept the bags of contaminated insulation outside for the insurance adjuster to see in case they were going to be difficult to work with. Work stopped once we found out insurance was covering the job, and lots and lots of pics were taken during the process before hand, which saved my rear. I was full prepared to suit up the adjuster and get a respirator on him and take him into the attic to see it all first hand. The urine had actually seeped down through the ceiling drywall and left stains that were visible from the living room, dining room and one bedroom. To answer your question, no, but they will be removed first thing in the morning. I wasn't aware of any one particular way to destroy the roundworm eggs. We soaked all the feces and insulation down with disinfectant before work began, and then during and after as well. How do you recommend we do this?

for the record I am no expert or have not performed a raccoon latrine clean out but, Steven Vantassel has the answer I believe you are looking for. The only way to effective kill the raccoon roundworm eggs is by a direct (high) heat source, blow torch, boiling water or a steamer. Considering that the feces is a contaminant, serious measures must be taken not to infect the rest of the house by spreading the roundworm. By this I mean having changing areas,use a specific set of clothes, shoes, full body ty-vec suite, booties, respirator, and gloves that get used only in the cleanout area and is not tracked through out the house. A huge important factor in doing this is cleaning your respirator after each use in the cleanout area. Again I would contact Steven for more directions. Good luck.
Bud

my recommendation in situations that involve potential risk that can be psychologically induced.............. Sub contractor with a vac truck....

We have taken those measures. The bags of contaminants have been tied, sealed and placed outside away from the house. We use the disposable chem suits. Once they have been worn, they are disposed of. The respirators are good for pesticides and asbestos, and are sterilized after each day with alcohol. They booties are too small for our shoes, however small trash bags have been working great, and are duct taped over the shoes to the chem suits. Plastic drop tarps are all over the residence wherever we are working to avoid cross contamination, and we all wash our hands several times a day with the disinfectant. Goggles are also worn above the respirators, and heavy duty rubber gloves used for dish washing are used. The bags of contaminated insulation and feces are marked "BIO HAZARD" and the customer has been given all the information about roundworm and the health hazards associated with it. My guys are also washing their gloves each time they remove them with the disinfectant to prevent possible cross contamination. We are doing everything I know and some extra just in case.

Here's some pics of the job so far:









































[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1820.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1821.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1822.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1823.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1824.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1825.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1826.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1827.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1828.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.trapperman.com/forum/gallery/34/full/1829.jpg[/img]

Wow, nice pictures and nice job! I thought roundworm eggs had to be ingested. (that means eaten for those of you who don't know)
My big question here is, since I didn't know about a lot of these precautions until just recently and I've been doing this stuff for 22 years, shouldn't I be dead several times over??

Nice Job.....

I like to cut access though the roof if possible for large "hand" clean outs.....make life easy and protects the interior of the home from further contamination....

My Input on dog and pony shows......

When building a "decontamination area, make it a completely enclosed...and divided into two or three separate areas or chambers..decontamination protocol in place/ all clothing and filters bagged daily

Same applies when removing contaminates.... An enclosed plastic tunnel is constructed from attic exit to the door that the waste is remove by........

Lighting is provided by string along construction lighting with rough service bulbs.....

Negative pressure is created within the attic by direct venting.. using one or more drieaz hepa 500 high flow filters

Full face respirators

I concur Dave.

this "Killing with steam" has me intrigued...


The problem I see currently, if it was used on a large scale is the dry time or the possibility of Mold without proper dehumidifying...


Time to head to the shop to "Build a better tool">>>>>!

The STEAMERANATOR..............

Captured Steam... Bio Hazard Sterilizing... Residue Collection System..

Well guys, it's almost 2am and I just got home. Been working at the job since 8:30am, but have the insulation blown in. His original insulation was only 2" deep, and roll in too. I think I figured it up at a whopping R-2. We blew it in at 10" which should give us an R value of much higher..something like R-35. Basically all that is left is to clean up tomorrow and give the insurance the rest of the bill. I have to hand it to this site, if it weren't for you guys here, I would have never known to be persistent with the insurance companies. I probably argued with the gal for 10 minutes before I finally convinced her to call the main office. After a few seconds she hung up and told me they did in fact cover raccoon damage in an attic. They were originally going to send an adjuster, but after I sent them all the pics, they said just to send them the itemized billing and they wouldn't have to come. I think I scared the adjuster! HAHA! I told the agent that he'd be required to get chem suited up and wear a respirator and PPE. I have a feeling he likes the comforts of his little cubical better than a feces filled attic. However, I bet I made more today than he'll make all month!

By the way, thanks guys for the nice comments! I appreciate being told that I look like I know what I'm doing..HAHA! I'll have more pics of the final product coming soon. Thanks Again Guys! This Is A GREAT Site!!

Great job! Here are the pictures that didn't show up in krd_expd's "pics" post-

Great shot of a drywall knife in action. I have been known to turn a perfectly good house into a war zone when someone puts a drywall knife in my hand!

Ron Thank You! I couldn't figure out why those didn't show up. They were some of the best ones too. I had some good help on this one, both the guys in the pics are also my part timers with my lawn business and they do a great job.

Well, I submitted the final bill and it came to $22,000 and some change. We went back today to finish cleaning up our supplies and the extra insulation that decided to blow out of the machine when the hose came off in the guys newly mulched flower bed near the front door. I took the contaminated insulation to my farm and burned it. Now all that's left is to get all the stuff out of my truck and decontaminate it all. Here's the pics of us blowing in the insulation. I really wish I would have taken some pics of the attic when we finished, but it was almost 1am and the customer had been kind enough already...not to mention we pulled a 17 hour shift last night. We weren't exactly in the best frame of mind. I did the figuring, and he went from a previous 2.5 R value to an R50 when we were fished with the insulation. I'd say our promise of replacing the previous insulation with the same or better R value kinda came through. The best thing about the type of insulation we used is it's all recycled paper products and it's completely "itch free". Not nearly as nasty to deal with as the fiberglass stuff. Not that I'm concerned about the planet, just concerned about the welfare of my employees.

Wow what a saga.

How long do you think it took, from the day the first coon moved in, to cause this mess?

The customer told me he had been hearing them in the attic for about 2 - 2 1/2 years. He'd contacted the Conservation Department but all they were willing to do was loan him some traps. Now we're just waiting on the insurance check so I can get my debts all paid off.

Gosh, what a mess. Thanks for sharing!

Luke