How to bird-proof my balcony?

[Urbane224]

I have been losing a battle against pigeons for a long time now. For whatever reason, there are a number of pigeons that are attracted to my building - and they constantly try to get into my balcony. I have tried numerous measures to keep them out including netting, spikes, fake birds, and reflective surfaces - nothing seems to work in the long run.

My balcony has two main openings—one larger one (119cm wide, 272cm high) and one smaller one (32cm wide, 272cm high), both with a fence/balustrade about 105cm high. See the attached pictures.

I need some advice on how to permanently keep them out while also retaining the breeze that comes through the balcony. Unfortunately, I can't install hooks or anything to the outer wall of the building as this needs strata approval.

Any advice or guidance would be much appreciated as I am at my wit's end!

[JacobZ]

Hi @Urbane224,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Is it possible to get a couple of extra photos? Particularly, the ceiling above the major openings.
 

Bird netting is going to be your best bet, but it needs to be tight and firmly mounted on all sides to prevent the pigeons from finding a way through. You'll likely also have to use it to cover the aluminium slats on the long side of your balcony directly opposite the door because I imagine a pigeon could fit through these gaps. 

I see you've been using zip ties to hold the netting in place. Where possible, using zip ties on the solid structures will be the least damaging way to effectively hold the bird net in place. They'll need to be tight and spaced no more than 300mm apart.

Finding a way to attach the netting to the rendered wall and the ceiling are the main two issues we'll have to find a solution for. This could be tricky if your Strata isn't on board. 

Have you spoken with your Strata about the issue? They might have some compassion for your issue and allow you to make some slight modifications to the external wall that can be fairly easily removed and fixed at a later date.

There are adhesive hooks, such as these Command™ Small Clear Adhesive Utensil Hooks which could be used where zip ties aren't possible.

Allow me to tag @Dave-1, @Noyade and @Nailbag to see if they have any ideas.

You might also like to check out How do you keep pigeons away?

Let me know what you think.

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Good Afternoon @Urbane224 

When you have used the bird netting on your balcony, are you covering all the bars as well?

@JacobZ 's recomendation of 30cm spacing for cable ties Id go with or even down to 20cm spacing as the less movement of the bird netting the better. Id also have the netting taught as he suggests. Do you have a photo of the netting before?

The side bits might be a bit of a pain, but make sure the netting stays away from your instantaneous hot water heater as it wont be friendly to the nylon netting Im thinking of a telescopic aluminium post for the sides. Something that you can extend to the ceiling and wedge to the floor. That way you could cable tie the material to the post either side. I would probarly also physically fix the pole to something so it cant fall down from the balcony in the wind  Hy-Clor 1.5m - 4.5m Extension Pole 3 Piece is what I am thinking of using. 

Dave

[Nailbag]

Hi @Urbane224 

My suggestion would be to continue to use the bird netting. Pull the netting nice and taught and secure using cable ties along the top and bottom rails and middle of every 3rd vertical pole.

Then at each end, secure the netting to the building wall and picture below using "Gaffa Tape". There are cheaper cloth tapes available but this is the only one that will stuck and stay stuck . It costs twice as much but it works. It's the same product used in the Music, TV & Film industry to secure just about anything. Run a layer half on the netting and half on the building. Then another layer has on the tape and half on the building. Press it in firmly and it should be right to go.

Nailbag