# Anyone have trouble with BATS entering thru ridge vent?



## Goldstarroofing (Aug 26, 2016)

We have over 10M roofs and have never been tasked with bats supposedly entering thru or under the GAF shingle over ridge vents. Any chance someone else had this happen? Any suggestions?


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## roofermann (Jul 7, 2012)

10 million roofs?


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## Goldstarroofing (Aug 26, 2016)

Excuse me, 10k


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## sammismith (Jul 28, 2016)

I've had to deal with bats twice before and it was with barrel tile roofs that have a ton of gaps in them. Pain in the butt to get rid of.


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## reillyroofing (Mar 10, 2016)

Goldstarroofing said:


> We have over 10M roofs and have never been tasked with bats supposedly entering thru or under the GAF shingle over ridge vents. Any chance someone else had this happen? Any suggestions?


Did you find a solution to your problem? 


Reilly Roofing & Gutters


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## BRT (5 mo ago)

This thread is older, but I'm a homeowner facing the same situation now and I'm pretty frustrated with my options. My wildlife guy, who I've had great dealings with in the past, wants to use this ridge vent screening product Ridge Guard. This would involve installing nearly 200 screws (1 per linear foot of ridge guard) through the shingles where it's attached to the roof. The company selling the product has some scientific explanation about how the screws would heat the tar from shingle/underlayment and pull tar into the hole with the screw. Each screw has a rubber gasket, but the gasket would sit on top of the gaurd, not neccesarily flush with the roof. The wildlife guy says he'd use additional sealant around each screw, but it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I've been on a trapper forum where other wildlife folks have weighed in saying they've never had an issue with leaks but then there's also some feedback that it's not a great idea to screw through the shingles. My roofer (didn't install this roof) says he can install new ridge vent and screw it down, but won't guarantee bats can't get back in. Both solutions (ridge guard and new ridge vent screwed down) are roughly the same cost and not cheap. I've also seen solutions where hardware mesh is installed along the vent opening before putting the new ridge vent down. Bats could potentially still get under the vent and roost on top of the mesh, but at least they wouldn't get into the house. My roofer has never seen nor implemented that, and I'm not sure he feels comfortable with it. Hoping some professionals can weigh in here.


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## roofermann (Jul 7, 2012)

I personally like the hardware mesh under the ridgevent idea, definitely more visually appealing than the product you've mentioned. And I don't like exposed fasteners on anything except smooth metal roofing, can't really see hoe the gasket could seal against the granules on a shingle. And that "screws heating up the tar" sounds like total bunk to me.


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