46
Infiltration
(discuss.tchncs.de)
Four goobers tried to break in through my window
When that failed, two of the babies dropped down my chimney
A nearby rental is owned by a slumlord and they do not maintain anything. The garage has open vents that hosts a den of raccoons every year.
Before I figured out how to prevent them from climbing my downspouts (flashing at the top, so they can’t get to the roof), they used to get into the soffits on my dormer windows. They can’t get into the house, but they’ve made a real mess of things on the roof. One of them even damaged some flashing, causing a roof leak.
The estimate I got last year to fix the damage to the soffits was about $5k USD.
I’d recommend doing everything you can to prevent them from getting onto your house. (And install a cover for your chimney!)
We actually had a cover, but it looks like it rotted out (we found chunks of rusty grate when we were cleaning after the fact.) Getting it replaced shortly