How To Deal With Woodpecker Damages On Your EIFS Home

Woodpeckers and other birds seem to be attracted to EIFS homes and buildings for some reason. Repairing the damages these birds do is not easy and can become costly. The problem with the repairs is that it is very hard to patch a small area in the middle of a wall. The only way to fix a bird hole and it to look new again is to resurface the entire wall the hole is on. At times it is not too bad to resurface a small wall, but as you could imagine on very large walls it would get quite costly. Another major issue is matching the color of the existing wall. Nine times out of ten the customer does not have the original color on file so it has to be matched. Color matching the stucco is a tedious process due to the fact the top coat of the synthetic stucco has the paint in it. You’re not just running to the paint store to match a color. The EIFS manufacturer actually matches the stucco color and texture. It is near impossible to match the color exactly. If you could imagine, it’s like going down to the basement and grabbing the can of paint you painted your living room with last year and painting a square in the middle of the living room wall. The paint would not match even with it being the exact same paint. The stucco is much harder to match than that because it has been out in the elements getting weathered for years. On projects with extensive bird damage all over the house, it is recommended the house be painted after repairing the holes.

Once the repairs are all completed and the customer is happy with the job, what prevents the same bird from coming back and making holes again? After all, you may have just kicked him out of his home or even worse his roosting spot. Some birds are very territorial and will not give up their spot without a fight. People use a variety of items to keep the birds away, from owls to streamers. The best thing I have found to keep the birds away is the reflective streamers and the guys working on the house. The best deterrent is the guy on the house working for several days. If the woodpecker finds a new home while the work is being done that is the best case scenario because the bird will be territorial to his new home. It is important to nip the problem in the bud before it gets out of hand. If you drive the bird away after his first hole, he is not going to be as attached to the area as if he had been there for months. Another thing to keep in mind is that every hole the bird makes is allowing moisture to get behind the system which can cause problems over time.