Order In The Courthouse

When the Old County Court House in Santa Clara County, California was restored recently, bird control was a requirement. Several hundred pigeons had been using the 134-year-old building as a nesting site, and their accumulation of droppings, nesting materials and associated behavior had visibly damaged much of the building's exterior facade. The restoration involved the repair and replacement of stonework, metal structures, internal modifications, and, finally, internal and external painting.

Hot Foot America, the Sausalito, Calif.-based bird control company, was chosen to provide the solution to this challenging problem. The selection of Hot Foot was based on the company's 18 years of experience in bird control and its range of products, which carry a guarantee of performance with no annual maintenance.

The architects for this project had well-defined criteria that the bird control materials to be used on the courthouse had to satisfy. They comprised a balanced emphasis:

• Guaranteed effectiveness for a minimum of five years.

• Low visibility.

• Long product life with minimal, preferably zero, maintenance.

• Absolutely minimal drilling into the surfaces of the building.

GOOD TEAMWORK. An essential prerequisite to a successful job of this magnitude is a close working relationship with both the architects and the site contractors. The architects provided building plans and scale drawings, descriptions and samples of the building materials, and details of modifications to existing building surfaces where the bird repellents were to be applied.

Communicating with the site contractors was essential because the bird-proofing required scheduling the application of some hardware items prior to painting and "Hot Mopping," and then finalizing the applications immediately following painting and prior to removal of the scaffolding.

A good example of the benefits that come from a careful analysis of the building with the architects is that some surfaces of the building were constructed of cast iron, while others were masonry. Upon visual inspection at the site, one could not tell which was which, and this could be a trap when estimating labor time and equipment required.

Some of the more challenging areas were the gutters; the top ledge, which measured about 7 feet wide; the column tops; and the window "eyebrows," which were made from cast iron.

THE NUTS & BOLTS. To stop pigeons from nesting in and on the gutter edge, a 2½-inch exclusion net was fitted across the gutter. This was fixed to a stainless steel cable fitted to the rear of the gutter using special Hot Foot clips attached with sheet metal screws and the net, then wrapped over the gutter to the underside of the facia. After the application of the Hot Mop, any possibility of water leakage was eliminated.

A single track of Hot Foot's Springwire system was attached. All stick-on posts were used to eliminate drilling, and the corner supports were anchored using the same clips as those that were fitted to the inside vertical gutter surface. These were drilled into the top edge of the gutter where it rolled over to form a lip.

The wide upper ledge was a favorite roosting area for pigeons. In fact, at the start of each work day, it was not unusual to find several pigeons roosting inside our toolboxes and other open containers on the ledge.

Another 2½-inch square-mesh stone-colored Invisi-Net was fitted to this ledge, commencing 3 inches back from the edge to ensure that no fittings were visible from the ground. The net was run at a shallow angle to the underside of the window ledges, and to stop birds from landing at the edge, four tracks of Springwire were fitted. The final two tracks actually ran over the edge of the net to stop the birds from perching where the shallow net met the ledge. This ledge was made of masonry, and the corner eyebolts were fitted into mortar joints to avoid drilling into the stonework.

All holes were injected with silicone prior to the insertion of any hardware items, and were re-coated after the hard ware items were fitted. Silicone type G.E. RTV 108 was used.

The column tops were netted in an identical manner, fitting the upper cable to the wooden column top and running it around the mortar joint at the base of the column to avoid masonry damage. Since sparrows often choose columns as roosting points, we fitted a ¾-inch mesh in place of the 2½-inch mesh used on the ledge.

The window "eyebrows" were constructed of cast iron. This is extremely time-consuming and difficult to drill. Deter Spikes were selected for the curved eyebrows because they could be fitted using the special clips supplied with the product. These clips were attached to the iron using the fast-drying epoxy resin HIT-100, which is extremely strong, and when dry enables the spikes to be removed and refitted without removing the clips. This is essential in areas where window cleaning will take place and access is required.

The V-pointed eyebrows were treated with Springwire, which can be dismantled and re-tensioned quickly to permit window cleaning.

TIP SHEET. In summary, when treating an old historic building of this nature, or any building on which above-average care of the application surfaces is essential, here are some tips that we followed:

• Drill into mortar joints whenever possible as opposed to drilling into the stonework itself.

• Keep the hole sizes to a minimum and seal with silicone prior to and after hardware insertion.

• Use stainless steel components, including screws, etc., whenever possible, and do not apply excessive tension to cables. Rather, use less tension and fit more "clips" along the cable run.

• Use stick-on posts in place of drill-in posts wherever possible when fitting a Springwire type of system.

The project took 1,000 man-hours to complete, and was done by Western Exterminator Co. technicians, with site involvement by representatives of Hot Foot on request. The building today remains free of pigeons, and no dispersal, trapping or other measures were employed apart from the application of repellents. PCT

Roger Snow is president of Hot Foot America, Sausalito, Calif.