How to seal gaps under eaves?

[Greg56]

I need to somehow stop animals such as possums and rats climbing into the roof space. I assume the gaps are there to allow airflow. How do I stop the animals and allow the air?

Community manager's note: Check out How to deter possums from your roof for expert advice.

 

 

 

[Dave-1]

Good afternoon @Greg56 

Welcome to the Bunnings community page I can think of a few options you could consider.

1- Spiky strips for pidgons (may be hard to fasten to the timber)

2- Small chicken wire in rolled up sections and wedged in. (Like this one the most for ease of use and blending in)

3 - There are courrogated insulation strips you can purchase but they usually are short in height.

If you roll the chicken wire mesh/bird mesh tight abound say a rolling pin a few turns there shouldnt be a lot of space for rast to get through either.

Dave

[EricL]

Hello @Greg56 

Allow me to welcome you as well to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us and thank you for sharing your question about sealing the gaps under your eaves.

It's great that you've received excellent advice from @Dave-1. Just to add to the suggestions made, I recommend using 18 x 18mm 5.4m H3 Treated Pine FJ DAR Primed LOSP to build a custom rectangular cover to fit into the gap of your eave. I've sketched up a sample below to give you an idea of how it can be put together.

I propose using Saxon 90cm x 3 x 0.7mm x 5m Animal Wire Netting and using a staple gun to fix it to the timber frame. You can mount the frame by drilling it into the side of the timber rafters. Please note that the measurements are for reference only, please adjust them to your needs. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[NinjaTomato]

Hi Greg56! 
seeing this gave me flashbacks! 

We had a house with an identical problem…open gap between upstairs and downstairs…we had Possum Olympics each night! With the patter of possums racing up and down our ceiling/floor! 
I was told there was mesh specifically for this purpose, but in the meantime the problem solved itself when a 3 meter python moved in!!! 😳😳😳 It certainly cleared up our possum problem…🫣🤔 not sure what was worse tbh 😆😅

Anyway - hope you find a good solution! Best wishes 😉

[pamitha]

 hi, I have the similar problem and recently cats entered the roof. Animal wires will work for this?

[Dave-1]

Good Morning @pamitha 

Welcome to the Bunnings community You are definently in a good place to solve this type of question

I would use some liquid nails and the bird spikes or something like this Saxon 500 x 100 x 110mm Stainless Steel Bird Spike - 10 Pack 

As soon as the cas whiskers feel the spikes they hopefully wont want to push through. You could also glue a piece of facia timber that covers that hole. Not sure how much movement there is in the roof so wouldnt make it too tight, maybe leave a cm gap.

Dave

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @pamitha. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about sealing a gap.

It's great to see that @Dave-1 is already on the case. 

Folding up some chicken wire and pushing it firmly into the gap would likely be enough to prevent animals from entering the roof cavity. You might then add some roof flashing over that, as it also looks like an area where water could enter the roof cavity in a rain event with driving winds.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell