Mike Cottom's Wildlife Removal
PO Box 964
Mike Cottom's Wildlife Removal
PO Box 964
39 years of experience
Wildlife Removal
"I called for a bat exclusion inspection. First, (which should have been a red flag) they insisted I give them my credit card information before the visit. The inspection was $399 plus tax. The cost of the inspection would go towards the cost of the service as long as I used them to bat proof the house. The technician who came out was Mike Cottom Jr. He got to my house on time. He talked to me for about 10 minutes to get the information about the history of bats in my house. He spent about 5 minutes taking pictures and came inside to look at the two access holes the attic the electrician made to run some wiring. He said he saw no sign of bats, a colony or an infestation, just a small amount of bat poop. Then he went to his truck for about 20 minutes to write up the quote. Then spend another 20 minutes going over what he found. In total, he was here for about 1 hour. He never got up on my roof, which is one of the most likely the points of entry. There are huge gaps on either side of my attic dormer where it meets the roofline. The quote for exclusion was $5643.88. The first line item was caulking where the chimney meets siding. He guesstimated that was 60 linear feet. the total for caulking that area was $630. It shouldn't take more than an hour, maybe two if you are really slow to caulk that area. I am a paint and home repair contractor who has been caulking peoples houses for 25 years. I know how long it takes because Ive done it 1000 times. He also had $1700 for sealing the corner trim of the vinyl siding. Basically, stuffing it with steel wool and spray foam. I dont live in a mansion. I live in a very typical 3 bedroom center hall colonial. He counted 20 sections of corner trim at $85 per section. Seriously. He also quoted $995 to rent a lift to seal the three sides where the roof meets the soffit. If the 4 th side has to be done from a ladder, why cant the other three be done that way as well? Also, I rent lifts for a living. Its more like $300. He had $795 to install one bat valve. Basically, that a tube bats can leave, but cant come back in screwed onto the place he thinks is the point of entry. It takes about 20 minutes to set up the ladder, go up there, screw in the pipe and put the ladder away. He has $1470 for installing 6 "animal patches" where the roof meets the soffit. Basically, metal flashing screwed and caulked where the roof and soffit connect. If he knows how to measure, its a 6 hour job at most to do all 6 spots. He also wanted $390 to bend some hardware cloth and attach it to my bath fan and kitchen fan. Again, a crazy amount of money for a job that maybe at most would take one hour. The list he gave me is a one day job for two workers. The worst part is that even after charging over 5 times what a reasonable contractor would charge in labor for the services they are providing, they don't even guarantee you will be bat free! They only guarantee that no bats will penetrate the work they did. So, if they missed a spot bats can get in, you are back to square one paying them even more money to seal the spots they missed in there already expensive initial evaluation. Save your money, call someone else."
Eve P on September 2021
Wildlife Removal
"I called for a bat exclusion inspection. First, (which should have been a red flag) they insisted I give them my credit card information before the visit. The inspection was $399 plus tax. The cost of the inspection would go towards the cost of the service as long as I used them to bat proof the house. The technician who came out was Mike Cottom Jr. He got to my house on time. He talked to me for about 10 minutes to get the information about the history of bats in my house. He spent about 5 minutes taking pictures and came inside to look at the two access holes the attic the electrician made to run some wiring. He said he saw no sign of bats, a colony or an infestation, just a small amount of bat poop. Then he went to his truck for about 20 minutes to write up the quote. Then spend another 20 minutes going over what he found. In total, he was here for about 1 hour. He never got up on my roof, which is one of the most likely the points of entry. There are huge gaps on either side of my attic dormer where it meets the roofline. The quote for exclusion was $5643.88. The first line item was caulking where the chimney meets siding. He guesstimated that was 60 linear feet. the total for caulking that area was $630. It shouldn't take more than an hour, maybe two if you are really slow to caulk that area. I am a paint and home repair contractor who has been caulking peoples houses for 25 years. I know how long it takes because Ive done it 1000 times. He also had $1700 for sealing the corner trim of the vinyl siding. Basically, stuffing it with steel wool and spray foam. I dont live in a mansion. I live in a very typical 3 bedroom center hall colonial. He counted 20 sections of corner trim at $85 per section. Seriously. He also quoted $995 to rent a lift to seal the three sides where the roof meets the soffit. If the 4 th side has to be done from a ladder, why cant the other three be done that way as well? Also, I rent lifts for a living. Its more like $300. He had $795 to install one bat valve. Basically, that a tube bats can leave, but cant come back in screwed onto the place he thinks is the point of entry. It takes about 20 minutes to set up the ladder, go up there, screw in the pipe and put the ladder away. He has $1470 for installing 6 "animal patches" where the roof meets the soffit. Basically, metal flashing screwed and caulked where the roof and soffit connect. If he knows how to measure, its a 6 hour job at most to do all 6 spots. He also wanted $390 to bend some hardware cloth and attach it to my bath fan and kitchen fan. Again, a crazy amount of money for a job that maybe at most would take one hour. The list he gave me is a one day job for two workers. The worst part is that even after charging over 5 times what a reasonable contractor would charge in labor for the services they are providing, they don't even guarantee you will be bat free! They only guarantee that no bats will penetrate the work they did. So, if they missed a spot bats can get in, you are back to square one paying them even more money to seal the spots they missed in there already expensive initial evaluation. Save your money, call someone else."
Eve P on September 2021
