GB2313136A

GB2313136A - Means for keeping pests out of roof space

Info

Publication number: GB2313136A
Application number: GB9610260A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roy Ohren
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-05-16
Filing date: 1996-05-16
Publication date: 1997-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 2016-05-16
Also published as: GB9610260D0; GB2313136B

Abstract

In a building installation comprising a wall (10), a roof (14) at least a part of which lies spaced from the wall, and guttering secured relative to at least one of the wall and roof, entry of unwanted creatures into a building space (18) is inhibited by providing a guard (20) of a material resistant to damage by the creatures and arranging that the guard extends across entry spaces between the roof and wall or guttering to provide a barrier to entry of unwanted creatures through said spaces. The guard may comprise a retention region for location, and a sealing portion (25) which extends across entry spaces

Description

PEST CONTROL This invention relates to a method of and means for inhibiting creatures such as large rodents from potentially causing damage to a building space.

It relates in particular, though not exclusively, to a method of and means for inhibiting creatures such as squirrels from causing damage in a designated part of a building such as a loft space.

Squirrel damage in a loft space preferably is avoided by ensuring that the creatures cannot gain access, but in practice it is usually difficult to achieve that objective at a reasonable cost. Difficulty arises because of the awkward nature and variety of the spaces that require to be sealed, e.g. the spaces between the top of a wall and the ribbed or irregular undersides of roof tiles, especially curved, louvre type tiles, (or slates). Difficulty arises also because of the squirrel's ability to damage and destroy many building materials, particularly those which lend themselves well to the sealing of irregular gaps.

It is known to employ chemical means to poison squirrels. Many chemicals are known and have for long been employed successfully. However it is now found that many squirrels are developing an increasing resistance to the effects of conventional chemicals. Additionally there is increasing concem about the health and humanity considerations associated with the use of poisons, and that particularly creates a reluctance to use more potent poisons.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved method of and means for inhibiting creatures from damaging a building space such as a loft space. In a particular aspect the invention seeks to inhibit entry via the underside of curved type tiles such as louvred tiles.

In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for inhibiting entry of creatures into a building space comprising providing an elongate guard member of a material resistant to damage by said creatures, and arranging the elongate guard member to extend across entry spaces present between the roof and wall structure or guttering of a building.

The invention envisages that the guard member may be located externally of the building and lie in close contact with lower edges of the lowermost row of roof tiles.

The guard member may be arranged to bear resiliently against said lower edges; it may be secured to the roof structure, for example it may be secured to roof tiles or slates by retention clips which may be a friction fit. It may be secured to the wall structure.

Rainwater guttering may be utilised to secure the guard member against displacement.

The guard member may be secured to either an outer region of a gutter or to an inner region, i.e. a region of the gutter closest to the wall structure. It may be secured to an upper edge portion of either the inner or outer region.

The method may comprise securing the guard member in a positive manner by the use of mechanical retainers such as screws or bolts or the like and which may be arranged to extend through openings in the guttering.

Alternatively or additionally the guard member may be retained in position by frictional engagement with the guttering; it may be a spring type fit. Said frictional engagement may be a direct engagement between the guard member and the guttering, or use may be made of a friction type retainer such as a spring clip which frictionally engages the guttering and, for example, interlocks with the guard member or vice versa.

In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a guard member for use in inhibiting creatures from entering a building space, said guard member being of elongate shape and comprised of a material resistant to damage by said creatures, the guard member comprising a retention region for use in retention of the guard member to guttering or a roof component such as a tile, and a sealing portion for extending at least in part across entry spaces existing between the roof structure and wall or guttering of a building.

The present invention provides also a building installation comprising a wall structure, a roof structure at least a part of which lies spaced from the wall structure, guttering secured relative to at least one of the wall and roof structures, and a guard member, said guard member having a retention region at which it is secured relative to the guttering, and a sealing portion which extends across entry spaces between the roof structure and wall or guttering to provide a barrier to entry of unwanted creatures through said spaces.

Although the invention is concemed particularly with avoiding the damage caused by squirrels, it may be employed also to inhibit damage by other pests and vermin such as bats, rats and birds.

The guard member preferably is of a perforated or mesh type material which does not create a barrier to air flow or rainwater. Preferred materials are galvanised metal and stainless steel, but other materials such as plastics or aluminium may be employed.

The guard member may be a multi-layer type wire mesh in which a first set of wires extends in one direction and lies superimposed over a second set of wires that extends in a second direction, typically at right angles to the first set. The mesh preferably is orientated such that one set of wires extends lengthwise, parallel with the length of the elongate member. The lengthwise extending wires may lie outwards of the other wires. The lengthwise wires may be may be utilised to assist location of the guard member. The guard member may be curved in cross section, in which case lengthwise wires may lie at an outer surface of the cross section.

The guard member may be arranged to lie close to and optionally bear resiliently against the wall or roof structure regions that define the spaces therebetween. It may, for example, bear directly against a lower edge or underside surface of a tile or slate.

The guard member may serve additionally as a barrier to inhibit displaced tiles or slates falling from a roof, particularly at positions where guttering extends over a glazed roof. It may serve also to stop free entry of leaves into gutteri ng.

If the guard member is secured to an outer region of a gutter, it may be arranged either to lie close to an upper edge portion of the inner region or be spaced therefrom. Particularly, but not exclusively, in the latter case it is envisaged that an end closure member may be formed integrally with or be secured to the elongate guard member at end regions. If the guttering extends lengthwise beyond the roof structure, an end closure member may be arranged to extend into the guttering channel to restrict access to a covered part of the guttering, particularly if the guard member lies spaced from the upper portion of an inner region of the guttering. This inhibits squirrels gaining access by moving along a length of guttering.

The retention region of the guard member may incorporate adjustment means such as an adjustable retention means whereby the position of the guard member may be adjusted in situ for example to compensate for the conventional drainage slope of guttering and consequential variation of spacing from roof tiles.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view of part of a conventional building structure; Figure 2 is a side view in the direction of the arrow A of figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view of part of the building structure of figure 1 and in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 to 7 each show a view similar to that of figure 3 but in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 8 is a perspective view of part of a guard member.

A wall 10 (see figures 1 and 2) is topped by a wooden bearer 11 which supports the lower ends of rafters 12. Battens 13 are secured to the rafters 12 and support roof tiles 14 in known manner. Guttering 15 is secured to the wall by spaced brackets 16.

A plurality of entry spaces 17 exist between the tiles 14 and the bearersl 1.

Conventionally, in addition to allowing ventilation of a roof space 18, the spaces 17 ailow creatures such as squirrels to gain access to the roof space 18.

In an installation of the present invention, as shown in figure 3, a guard 20 extends lengthwise along the guttering and is secured by bolts 21 to the upper edge portion 22 of an outer edge region 23 of the guttering. The guard is formed from a metal mesh, though non- apertured sheet material alternatively may be employed. The bolts locate in nuts pre-welded to the guard and the guard is used as a template to mark on the edge 22 the positions at which bolt holes require to be formed.

The metal mesh of this and other embodiments of the present invention may be galvanised mesh of a gauge which permits it to be pre-shaped by bending but to retain that shape against the displacement force which squirrels or other pests might exert.

The guard has in cross-section a horizontal portion 24 which extends close to the rear upper edge 26 of the guttering, and an inclined portion 25 which extends up to the underside of the tiles 14.

The horizontal portion 24 acts as a cover to deflect leaves from entering the guttering. The inclined portion 25 provides a barrier over the entry spaces 17 to prevent pests gaining access, through those spaces, to the roof space 18.

In the embodiment of figure 4 the guard 28 is secured to the rear portion 29 of the guttering. It is shaped so as to comprise a first, barrier portion 30 which covers the spaces 17, and a safety extension 31 which captures any slipped tiles.

The guard 30 is secured by bolts 32 to an inner portion of the guttering.

In the embodiment of figure 5 the guard 50 is of an inverted V shape in crosssection, and the apex region 51 bears resiliently against the lower edges 52 of the lowermost row of tiles 14. The lower, free edges 53 of the guard member bear resiliently against confronting inwardly facing edges 54 of the guttering 55, and retention bolts, not shown, are provided at intervals along the length of the guttering to secure the outer free edge to the outermost of the guttering edges 54.

Figure 6 shows a variation of the figure 5 embodiment in which the guard member 60 is of an inverted U shape instead of an inverted V shape.

Figure 7 shows a variation of the figure 6 embodiment in which the central region 70 of the inverted U shape lies below the level of the tiles 71 and an extension limb 72 extends upwards to lie alongside and bear resiliently against the lower edges 73 of the tiles 71.

Particularly in the installation configurations of figures 4 and 7, the conventional variation of spacing between the guttering and tiles, due to the drainage slope of the guttering, does not affect the ease with which the access spaces 17 may be effectively covered. However in both these and the configurations of the other embodiments use may be made of adjustable fixing means so that a pre-cut guard of uniform and constant cross-sectional shape and size along its length can be adjusted in situ to provide cover for the access spaces 17 despite the variation of spacing between the guttering and the roof tiles.

Figure 8 shows an example of part of a guard member 80 suitable for use in the embodiment of figure 6. It comprises a first plurality of U shape wires 81 maintained spaced apart by longitudinally extending wires 82. The wires 82 lie superimposed over the outer facing surfaces of the U shape wires to which they are welded at cross-over points.

Claims

Claims.

1. Method for inhibiting entry of creatures into a building space comprising providing an elongate guard member of a material resistant to damage by said creatures, and arranging the elongate guard member to extend across entry spaces present between the roof and wall structure or guttering of a building.

2. Method according to claim 1 wherein the guard member is located externally of the building.

3. Method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the guard member is arranged to lie in close contact with lower edges of the lowermost row of roof tiles.

4. Method according to claim 3 wherein said guard member is arranged to bear resiliently against said lower edges.

5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the guard member is secured to the roof structure.

6. Method according to claim 5 wherein retention clips are employed to secure the guard member to roof tiles or slates.

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the guard member is secured to the wall structure.

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the guard member is secured to the guttering.

9. Method according to claim 8 wherein the guard member is secured to either an inner or an outer region of the guttering.

10. Method according to claim 9 wherein the guard member is secured to an upper edge portion of an inner or outer region of the guttering.

11. Method according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising securing the guard member in a positive manner by the use of mechanical retainers.

12. Method according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising securing the guard member by frictional engagement with the guttering.

13. Method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein use is made of a guard member which comprises perforated or mesh type material.

14. Method according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described.

15. A guard member for use in inhibiting creatures from entering a building space, said guard member being of elongate shape and comprised of material resistant to damage by said creatures, said guard member comprising a retention region for use in retention of the guard member1 and a sealing portion for extending at least in part across entry spaces existing between the roof structure and wall or guttering of a building.

16. A guard member according to claim 15 and comprising perforated or mesh type material through which air or rainwater may flow.

17. A guard according to claim 15 or claim 16 wherein the material of the guard member is selected from the group of materials comprising galvanised metal, stainless steel, aluminium and plastics.

18. A guard member according to any one of claims 15 to 17 and comprising a multi-layer type wire mesh in which a first set of wires extends in one direction and lies superimposed over a second set of wires that extend in a second direction.

19. A guard member according to claim 18 wherein the second direction is at right angles t the first direction.

20. A guard member according to claim 18 or claim 19 wherein one set of wires extends lengthwise parallel with the length of the elongate member.

21. A guard member according to any one of claims 15 to 20 and which is curved in cross-section.

22. A guard member according to any one of claims 15 to 21 wherein the retention region of the guard member comprises adjustment means whereby the position of the guard member may be adjusted in situ.

23 A guard member according to claim 15 and substantially as hereinbefore described.

24. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 and comprising use of a guard member according to any one of claims 15 to 23.

25. A building installation comprising a wall structure, a roof structure at least a part of which lies spaced from the wall structure, guttering secured relative to at least one of the wall and roof structures, and a guard member having a retention region at which it is secured relative to the guttering, wall structure or roof structure, and a sealing portion which extends across entry spaces between the roof structure and wall structure or guttering to provide a barrier to entry of unwanted creatures through said spaces.

26. A building installation according to claim 25 wherein the guard member is secured to an outer region of the guttering.

27. A building installation according to claim 25 or claim 26 wherein an end closure member is formed integrally with or is secured to an end region of the elongate guard member.

28. A building installation according to claim 27 wherein said end closure member extends into the guttering chanel.

29. A building installation according to any one of claims 25 to 28 and comprising a guard member according to any one of claims 15 to 24.

30. A building installation according to claim 25 and substantially as hereinbefore described.