If you care about your roofing, siding, windows, and gutters, you no doubt are preoccupied with defending them from nature—and you’ve got a great plan in place to do just that. For example, you know that cleaning your gutters prevents mosquito infestations. Odds are your exterior contractor has also told you that trimming back your trees prevents wayward squirrels and other riff raff from taking up residence rent-free in your attic.

But there’s one animal threat that’s a bit harder to defend against, one that can wreak just as much havoc as the ones mentioned above—and it comes with a chirp and a song on feathered wings. Below, Perfect Exteriors, your Monticello roofers and siding contractors, discusses the various ways birds can bring chaos to your exterior, and how to humanely keep them away.

The Gross Truth About Bird Poo

More than you ever wanted to know about this subject: bird poop is acidic. Highly so. In fact, according to Axle Addict, the substance can even eat through a car’s paint, so imagine what it could do when left on your roofing or siding! While there’s no need to panic about a little accident now and again—your home’s exterior can take it—if you’ve got big colonies of birds up under the eaves, then there could be a problem.

Sea Bird Sanctuary recommends closing up cavities and removing food and water sources as humane methods to keep birds away from an area. Your home exterior contractor can help with repairs if a dilapidated home is providing the local avian population with free real estate.

Birds Can Clog Your Gutters

If a family of birds decides that your illy cared-for gutter system is the perfect place to build a nest, you could be in for trouble—trouble in the form of stained siding and more from gutter overflow! Plus, such a situation is obviously not good for the birds.

Take it from an exterior home contractor: the best way to ensure that both your home and the nearby winged wildlife stay happy is to clean your gutters regularly. We recommend doing so at least twice a year, once in the late spring and once in the fall.

How Birds Can Wreck Your Roof

Remember our blog post on if you should wash your roof? Well, suppose you’ve got birds around. In that case, their excrement provides an ideal start for a crop of moss, according to NeighborWorks of Grays Harbor County. You’ll constantly be up there cleaning if you neighbor too closely with these creatures. Because of the aforementioned acidity of their poo, your roofing can quickly suffer.

Perfect Exteriors: Keep Pests Away With a Home That Looks and Works Great

When your exterior is well-maintained, pests like birds cannot nest there as easily—and you’ll reap the benefits in a sense of pride, too! Reach our Monticello office of exterior contractors today at 763-271-8700.