Raccoon Ramifications

So I need to unload my raccoon stories here. There are a number of them but here's one: I was doing a home in Alpine, not far from my own home. The client had a few specific questions for me on this home because there were some obvious issues. One of them was the apparent water damage at two of the outer corners on the home. It looked like water was leaking from the roof onto the corner of the bedroom, where the water expanded along the corner of the sheetrock.

So, Like, Is That Water?

The damage took a pyramid shape on the sheetrock, and the obvious question was "where is the water coming from?" So I got on the roof. Much of the rest of the home was trash, but the roof was in great condition. No leaks. Not even any areas where leaks could potentially occur. The water wasn't coming from the roof.

Now this is more than a bit odd because plumbing doesn't go in the attic - it's too cold up there in the winter. Plumbing would burst and cause heavy water problems. Nonetheless, that was one of few remaining possible sources for the water damage.

Insulation Hallways

I got into the attic later, and found that there was no plumbing. I did notice however, that the insulation was tracked down in areas, and toward the center of the attic there were large feces - the size that a larger dog would make. It was then that I realized what was happening. The attic had raccoons. They were making their solid donations in the center, but like other animals, would go to the corner to do their water damage. Apparently urine smells worse than poop if you're a raccoon.

Maybe it's Water with Some Flavoring

So I learned to be even more careful about watching for methods for raccoons to get into the attic, and I learned that pathways in the attic insulation are dead giveaways for raccoons. I also learned one other thing: sometimes water damage isn't water damage. Sometimes it's something else.

Garth Haslem

www.crossroadsengineers.com