Thank you. words of encouragement do help. I read many of the comments that insult me or call into question my heritage, I just delete them and shake my head. Thanks for a positive comment.
Would it not be easier to put the sides on the baffles before attaching the front and back to the sides? It seems to me that it is not so much the thickness of the baffles, but the space between the sides. Even if the thickness is an issue, a dry fit before the glue up can prevent any issues as well.
Yes, we sell fully finished bat houses, kits ready to build and preassembled kits ready to paint. If you don't see what you want in our estore it may be in short supply at the moment. Feel free to send us an email from the store. estore.habitatforbats.org
I am in Savannah, Ga. About where are you?We are Non-profit. We are trying to squeeze all this information in. We are so interested in this. We don't know anyone who has a bat house to ask the questions. Glad you are there.I can watch you build those houses all day!!!
No, that these are not hermetically sealed. The bats will move down toward the vents as the house heats up. They idea is to give them options when roosting. By adding vents at the top, the bat house may never heat up to the point it could providing less options for the bats. Remember, bats are comfortable at 85 to 100 degrees, that's their desired temperature ranges.
Very good and skilled building. might have to build one of these houses. Do you suggest installing a predator guard and is that to have a 3/4" or 1/2" entry point??
Predator guards are not strictly necessary but if you know the bat house is likely to be visited by raccoons or snakes they can be very helpful. Currently, all of our chambers are 3/4" including the entry points.
@@h4bats Niiiiiice! How much would it cost for a house like this and how many big and little brown bats can it handle?? I live in Northern Kentucky. Also July temperatures here average from high eighties to mid nineties.
thanks for the video, what kind of wood do you use?Is it exterior grade? do you have to let the materials off gas ? is the calking toxic to the bats is there a specific kind or brand?I have a lot more questions.
We use ACX grade pine plywood, search our FAQ playlist, I've answered that question a few times. We use a polyurethane adhesive used in roofing, a roof and flashing sealant. It cures in 24 hours and by the time we ship and it is placed, off gassing will not be an issue. Bats do not chew on stuff so they are not going to mess with any small amounts of caulk that may squeeze out.
Great video! I plan on purchasing one if you have a kit available. I’d also like to point out that that was a “cheese grater “ you used...it’s used for removing excess bondo in auto body work whereas a farriers rasp is more like a file. I’ve used both ;)
The 4 chamber kit is not released yet, I'm working on issue with the roof design. It is currently "testing" for warping and separation problems. We test all of our bat houses in the environment to see what may go wrong and the 3 chamber design did not simply "scale up" without issues. I think I have it solved with my last batch but leaving them out for months to be in the environment takes time. I don't release something until I know it's RIGHT.
I live in SE Pennsylvania. I am interested in having a bat house. Will bats hibernate in the bat house during the winter or do they vacate the house during the winter months?
SherlockHolmesofUK Bats will typically migrate to warmer areas or gather in caves to hibernate for the winter. It would be rare for them to remain behind in a bat house.
Old video but I have to ask, what is the significance of the slots cut into the side pieces, near the bottom? Is it to direct the airflow from the front vent out the sides?
The 3/4" spacing between chambers seems awful small. I have seen on several sites where they have 2" spacing. On the Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife site they have plans showing 1.5" spacing and then only 3/4" at the bottom for entry. I am in SE Oklahoma and I don't know what variety of bats are here so I don't know if that is good for them or not. What is best? I mill my own rough cedar from local trees and I am planning to use 1" thick boards building them 18"x24" with 3-4 chambers and then painting the exterior only with Flood CWF-UV water repellent which is not supposed to be toxic and is water based. We do have hot summers here with several 100 degree days.
Chamber size is actually a range, from 1/2" to 1.5" is generally accepted. However, every bat biologist we have asked "what makes a good bat house" (and that would be about 2 dozen over the years) immediately home in on 3/4" being the sweet spot, but up to 1" is OK. We choose 3/4" for two reasons, it's the "sweet spot" mentioned by bat biologists and paper wasp tend not to build nests in any crevices less than 7/8" to 1" in size. Going up to 1" does not increase the species range of the bat house but exposes it to the potential of wasps building nests... so we use 3/4". In your area that should be fine for the species most likely to roost in the bat houses.
We used to make our sides from an exterior grade sign material, a composite. It is not MDF. We stopped using it due to how much of a MESS it is to cut. Machining it creates a fine durable waterproof stick powdery coating on everything involved. I had to shut down the shop of all other activity, turn on the dust collection, 2 air scrubbers and wear a face mask when cutting sides. Even then, everything would have this sticky dust on it. Very durable and weatherproof material, a piece survived a year without a finish floating in our pond with minimal distortions. In the end, however, not worth the pain. We now use 1" thick exterior grade ACX plywood (which is very difficult to source here) for our sides.
I don't know if we can help you in Newfoundland, but our bat houses and kits are available at eStore.HabitatForBats.org and our kits are on Amazon.com just search for "H4Bats BCI Certified" We have a hard time keeping stock on Amazon, at the moment more is one the way.
What are the measurements on this house? How much space is between each chamber? How many bats can live in one of these 4 chamber homes? What are the holes in the front for?
The chamber should be 3/4” depending on the species. I make mine 7/8 for good measure. I haven’t had one bat knock at my door to complain. I also don’t use glue which is a waste of time and money. A few gaps and cracks just give ventilation. Bats crave heat but you don’t want to cook them in the middle of Summer
Screens and meshes can come loose over time and entangle bats unless they are installed with great care and stainless steel fasteners. Bat guano, urine and the environment are corrosive and galvanized staples can fail. Glues/puttys/gel adhesives etc... can out-gas in the heat. We use cut in grooves that cannot come loose or endanger the bats. It is considerably more work but creates the safest roost option.
Hello sir, I have a question for you. I'm volunteering at a national park and we're working on bat houses. What do you think about a bat house with 10 chambers? Is that too much or will the bats like it? I'd love your opinion on it. Thanks
greieba Check out www.batcon.org/resources/for-specific-issues/artificial-roosts They have lots of information that might help. They do say the bigger the house the better.
greieba Typically, once you exceed 4 or 5 chambers bat houses become more difficult to handle, ship and mount, that's why you don't see many larger than that available for retail sale. However, most bat houses larger than that are built in place or on site and we have done a few of those including some 7 chamber bat houses custom built for a ranch. One option is to have multiple 4 chamber bat houses on a single pole or next to each other on a structure. Larger is typically better and a 10 chamber bat house should do well, just make sure you get the chambers 15"+ wide and 22"+ high when you build.
is there a good way to: chase the bats off;... clean their house;... then hope they come back? also... would the bats like holes between chambers? also.... best defense against skunks? bill 949-209-7398
It's best not the try and interact with the bats. Generally, if you wait until the winter they will leave on their own to a place to hibernate or to head even further south. I don't know where you are, if you are in an extremely warm climate then they may stay year round. All you can really do is put up another bat house and exclude them from the troubled one before fixing it. There should be passage ways between chambers. As for skunks, I try to leave them alone and so far they have left me alone. Henry, my Sibe that passed away last year, did find a skunk once... he learned to leave them alone too.
I just bought a black caulk tube for sticking metal window sashes to my glass RV windows. It is Sikaflex 200+ Polyurethane Adhesive. The glass shop that sold it, uses it for sticking windshields to cars, so very strong. Wonder if its the same thing as your Loctite product? Putting it here as an option for others.
Might a side rabbet plane -- www.woodcraft.com/products/woodriver-side-rabbet-plane -- be a useful addition to your arsenal of tools to enlarge the grooves to accommodate thicker partitions?
Just be careful, we don't want to be responsible for the founding of the NFSO (National Foot Sawing Organization) and the inevitable competitions that will arise nationwide encouraging dangerous feet sawing behaviors in search of the world record. Just say no to foot sawing.
Excellent demonstration and safety tips.
Brother, I've only ever commented on dumb videos...but yours are fantastic so I just had to say I love your videos!
Thank you. words of encouragement do help. I read many of the comments that insult me or call into question my heritage, I just delete them and shake my head. Thanks for a positive comment.
Would it not be easier to put the sides on the baffles before attaching the front and back to the sides? It seems to me that it is not so much the thickness of the baffles, but the space between the sides. Even if the thickness is an issue, a dry fit before the glue up can prevent any issues as well.
True. You'd think that someone who invented the 90 degree twist at the end of the screwing would already have thought of that
Very Good Job.. Do you sell preassembled kits? Thank you
Yes, we sell fully finished bat houses, kits ready to build and preassembled kits ready to paint. If you don't see what you want in our estore it may be in short supply at the moment. Feel free to send us an email from the store. estore.habitatforbats.org
I am in Savannah, Ga. About where are you?We are Non-profit. We are trying to squeeze all this information in. We are so interested in this. We don't know anyone who has a bat house to ask the questions. Glad you are there.I can watch you build those houses all day!!!
I put a ventilation slot at the top below the roof as hot air rises. The bats in nature don’t live in hermetically sealed structures
No, that these are not hermetically sealed. The bats will move down toward the vents as the house heats up. They idea is to give them options when roosting. By adding vents at the top, the bat house may never heat up to the point it could providing less options for the bats. Remember, bats are comfortable at 85 to 100 degrees, that's their desired temperature ranges.
A hollowed out cavity in a tree is probably pretty well sealed. I mean it’s all one continuous piece of wood right?
I built a bat house out of ceder what color paint should i use.
Very good and skilled building. might have to build one of these houses. Do you suggest installing a predator guard and is that to have a 3/4" or 1/2" entry point??
Predator guards are not strictly necessary but if you know the bat house is likely to be visited by raccoons or snakes they can be very helpful. Currently, all of our chambers are 3/4" including the entry points.
@@h4bats Niiiiiice! How much would it cost for a house like this and how many big and little brown bats can it handle?? I live in Northern Kentucky. Also July temperatures here average from high eighties to mid nineties.
thanks for the video, what kind of wood do you use?Is it exterior grade? do you have to let the materials off gas ? is the calking toxic to the bats is there a specific kind or brand?I have a lot more questions.
We use ACX grade pine plywood, search our FAQ playlist, I've answered that question a few times. We use a polyurethane adhesive used in roofing, a roof and flashing sealant. It cures in 24 hours and by the time we ship and it is placed, off gassing will not be an issue. Bats do not chew on stuff so they are not going to mess with any small amounts of caulk that may squeeze out.
Great video! I plan on purchasing one if you have a kit available. I’d also like to point out that that was a “cheese grater “ you used...it’s used for removing excess bondo in auto body work whereas a farriers rasp is more like a file. I’ve used both ;)
Where’s the four chamber kits? I didn’t see any :(
The 4 chamber kit is not released yet, I'm working on issue with the roof design. It is currently "testing" for warping and separation problems. We test all of our bat houses in the environment to see what may go wrong and the 3 chamber design did not simply "scale up" without issues. I think I have it solved with my last batch but leaving them out for months to be in the environment takes time. I don't release something until I know it's RIGHT.
I live in SE Pennsylvania. I am interested in having a bat house. Will bats hibernate in the bat house during the winter or do they vacate the house during the winter months?
SherlockHolmesofUK Bats will typically migrate to warmer areas or gather in caves to hibernate for the winter. It would be rare for them to remain behind in a bat house.
Old video but I have to ask, what is the significance of the slots cut into the side pieces, near the bottom? Is it to direct the airflow from the front vent out the sides?
Correct, those are vents.
Where do I find the design layout for this ?? I’m in Alberta Canada so hopefully this works
Look for the Bat House Builders Handbook by Dr. Merlin Tuttle. Thanks for loving bats!
The 3/4" spacing between chambers seems awful small. I have seen on several sites where they have 2" spacing. On the Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife site they have plans showing 1.5" spacing and then only 3/4" at the bottom for entry. I am in SE Oklahoma and I don't know what variety of bats are here so I don't know if that is good for them or not. What is best? I mill my own rough cedar from local trees and I am planning to use 1" thick boards building them 18"x24" with 3-4 chambers and then painting the exterior only with Flood CWF-UV water repellent which is not supposed to be toxic and is water based. We do have hot summers here with several 100 degree days.
Chamber size is actually a range, from 1/2" to 1.5" is generally accepted. However, every bat biologist we have asked "what makes a good bat house" (and that would be about 2 dozen over the years) immediately home in on 3/4" being the sweet spot, but up to 1" is OK. We choose 3/4" for two reasons, it's the "sweet spot" mentioned by bat biologists and paper wasp tend not to build nests in any crevices less than 7/8" to 1" in size. Going up to 1" does not increase the species range of the bat house but exposes it to the potential of wasps building nests... so we use 3/4". In your area that should be fine for the species most likely to roost in the bat houses.
Thanks!
Ok so If you build a four chamber can you build a single chamber for males? And mount it beside the other or under it?
Yes, typically the larger bat house would be mounted facing the sun with the smaller bat house on the back of the pole as a "bachelor house".
is the sides of that house MDF? How well does it hold up outside?
We used to make our sides from an exterior grade sign material, a composite. It is not MDF. We stopped using it due to how much of a MESS it is to cut. Machining it creates a fine durable waterproof stick powdery coating on everything involved. I had to shut down the shop of all other activity, turn on the dust collection, 2 air scrubbers and wear a face mask when cutting sides. Even then, everything would have this sticky dust on it. Very durable and weatherproof material, a piece survived a year without a finish floating in our pond with minimal distortions. In the end, however, not worth the pain. We now use 1" thick exterior grade ACX plywood (which is very difficult to source here) for our sides.
Do you have a price list for a nursery kit?
Thank you
from Newfoundland.
I don't know if we can help you in Newfoundland, but our bat houses and kits are available at eStore.HabitatForBats.org and our kits are on Amazon.com just search for "H4Bats BCI Certified" We have a hard time keeping stock on Amazon, at the moment more is one the way.
What are the measurements on this house? How much space is between each chamber? How many bats can live in one of these 4 chamber homes? What are the holes in the front for?
Our website, estore.habitatforbats.org have all the bat houses listed will all the dimensions and capacities.
The chamber should be 3/4” depending on the species. I make mine 7/8 for good measure. I haven’t had one bat knock at my door to complain. I also don’t use glue which is a waste of time and money. A few gaps and cracks just give ventilation. Bats crave heat but you don’t want to cook them in the middle of Summer
Curious why you do not put some sort of mesh or screen on the inside walls to aid the bats climbing.
Screens and meshes can come loose over time and entangle bats unless they are installed with great care and stainless steel fasteners. Bat guano, urine and the environment are corrosive and galvanized staples can fail. Glues/puttys/gel adhesives etc... can out-gas in the heat. We use cut in grooves that cannot come loose or endanger the bats. It is considerably more work but creates the safest roost option.
@@h4bats %%
Hello sir, I have a question for you. I'm volunteering at a national park and we're working on bat houses. What do you think about a bat house with 10 chambers? Is that too much or will the bats like it? I'd love your opinion on it.
Thanks
greieba Check out www.batcon.org/resources/for-specific-issues/artificial-roosts They have lots of information that might help. They do say the bigger the house the better.
greieba Typically, once you exceed 4 or 5 chambers bat houses become more difficult to handle, ship and mount, that's why you don't see many larger than that available for retail sale. However, most bat houses larger than that are built in place or on site and we have done a few of those including some 7 chamber bat houses custom built for a ranch. One option is to have multiple 4 chamber bat houses on a single pole or next to each other on a structure. Larger is typically better and a 10 chamber bat house should do well, just make sure you get the chambers 15"+ wide and 22"+ high when you build.
WOW
is there a good way to: chase the bats off;... clean their house;... then hope they come back? also... would the bats like holes between chambers? also.... best defense against skunks? bill 949-209-7398
It's best not the try and interact with the bats. Generally, if you wait until the winter they will leave on their own to a place to hibernate or to head even further south. I don't know where you are, if you are in an extremely warm climate then they may stay year round. All you can really do is put up another bat house and exclude them from the troubled one before fixing it. There should be passage ways between chambers. As for skunks, I try to leave them alone and so far they have left me alone. Henry, my Sibe that passed away last year, did find a skunk once... he learned to leave them alone too.
? Haven't seen black caulk before. Tx
what kind are you using for this?
It is a polyurethane roofing adhesive and sealant. This is Loctite PL-S30 we are currently using. Takes 24 hours to cure but is very tenacious stuff.
I just bought a black caulk tube for sticking metal window sashes to my glass RV windows. It is Sikaflex 200+ Polyurethane Adhesive. The glass shop that sold it, uses it for sticking windshields to cars, so very strong. Wonder if its the same thing as your Loctite product? Putting it here as an option for others.
Might a side rabbet plane -- www.woodcraft.com/products/woodriver-side-rabbet-plane -- be a useful addition to your arsenal of tools to enlarge the grooves to accommodate thicker partitions?
Are you recommending not to run a table saw with your feet from experience?
Wouldn't recomend sawing with my feet? Challenge accepted . Jk
Just be careful, we don't want to be responsible for the founding of the NFSO (National Foot Sawing Organization) and the inevitable competitions that will arise nationwide encouraging dangerous feet sawing behaviors in search of the world record. Just say no to foot sawing.