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Homeowner Forum / Construction / July 2005Expanding urethane foam
Hi There is a corniche around my house and there is a 10X10X10 inches box hole in it situated where the electric wires are entering the house. The birds are going in and they make a lot and I mean a lot of sh.t that drop on the wall and groundl. There is only one opening in the box and it is at the bottom. So it will be above my head when I will work to block the access. There are three wires going in the box from the street so it is virtually impossible to use a plastic sheet to block it unless I was working with scaffolding and it would be overkill to use one for a so small job. I tried using a ladder but I have no place to hold on and it is very high. Also the three wires are not tight together so using a ladder while making a template with three holes is impossible in this position unless you are an alpinist. I was thinking using expanding urethane foam and to hold the ladder with my left hand while using the foam spray can with my right hand.. I read it is used to fill wide crack but I was wondering if I could use it to block such a big hole. I do not mean to fill it completely as long as the bottom is filled. I would make one pass on each four sides and on the wires then wait a bit then make another pass over and over untill the hole is closed. I have never worked with such a product so can it be done or I should find another solution. As the hole is above my head, I will not like to see all the foam dropping on the ground or me. Look below to get an idea Thank you |\ | \ | ___ \ | | | \ <---- Corniche |__|__|______\ | ^ | |_______ Box | | <--- wall Here's an idea... Cut a peice of heavy meshed screen 12" square. Cut a hole in the screen ~ 1" diameter only large enough for the wiring to pass through. Make a cut about 2" from the edge of the screen to the hole... ----------------- - - - 0-- - - ------------------ Get it? The edges of the cut screen can be spread apart allowing you to slip the wiring into the hole. Then nail the screen to the underside of the soffit and wire the cut edge of the screen closed. You want to have some method of inspecting and accessing the wiring if neccessary. This idea should solve both of your problems. As for the short ladder I recently had a similar problem. I built some scaffolding and put my ladder on the scaffolding which raised the ladder higher up on the wall. The scaffolding can be something like the rear of a pickup truck, the trunck of a car backed up to the wall, made of lumber or whatever. Just make sure the scaffolding is stable and you stay safe so you can come back to let us know how it turned out without breaking your neck :-) <%= Clinton Gallagher METROmilwaukee (sm) "A Regional Information Service" NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com URL http://metromilwaukee.com/ URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/ > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > | > | <--- wall > Here's an idea... > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > slip the wiring into the hole. Then nail the screen to the underside of > the soffit and wire the cut edge of the screen closed. Yes, I understand what you mean. Then I would have to attach the three wires together because I would need a 6 inches hole in the screen. The wires join together deep inside the box. One is a metal cable that hold the two other and it would be easy to attach them together as the two other are loose. In fact thinking about it a heavy mesh screen would be enough to tight the wires together but my only concern would be electrocution. I was not planning to touch two of the wires at all. I imagine they must be 120 volt each although I really do not know. > You want to have some method of inspecting and accessing the wiring if > neccessary. This idea should solve both of your problems. Yes this was also one of my concern but we never had problem before so I did not really care. > As for the short ladder I recently had a similar problem. Sorry if it was not clear enough. Obviously English is not my main language. The ladder is long enough but I will not be working ten foot above the ground but about two story above the ground. If the work to be done was on the wall all would be ok but I do not see myself so high on a ladder while one of my hand or arm is keeping me up there by touching under the cornice while holding a piece of screen. I heard once someone was electrocuted by touching a wire with a metal pole while cleaning his pool. I am not sure if breaking my neck is as bad as being electrocuted. ;)))LOL In the worse case I will hire a professional but it would be costly for a small job. I can not see how someone can do it on a ladder with no place to hold himself while electricity is running in the wires so why was my expanded foam idea. Dan You can build or attach a small box to the top rung of the ladder. When the ladder is placed against the wall the small box will hold the ladder x number of inches away from the wall increasing your reach in the opposite direction from the wall. DO you get it? This technique is common. Just remember, modifying the way things work is the way work gets done but saftey has to always be your first priority. I also agree that asking the utility company to come out to take a look may prove useful. <%= Clinton Gallagher >> Here's an idea... >> [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > > Dan - clintonG - > I also agree that asking the utility company to come out to take a look may > prove useful. - Nehmo - What for? Because there's an itsy-bitsy chance the utility company will give some free work? Is that how you're supposed to get jobs done? The problem is on the house, and it’s the homeowner’s responsibility. This particular homeowner is still learning English, and perhaps he is learning about American society as well. He should learn that most Americans are proud of the positive American attitude toward work. Americans get the job done, now, and without passing the buck. They don’ t make up sissy lies about birds causing the lights to flicker. |||||||||||||||| Nehmo Sergheyev |||||||||||||||| > - clintonG - > > I also agree that asking the utility company to come out to take a [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > -- > |||||||||||||||| Nehmo Sergheyev |||||||||||||||| The creator ruined a perfect a.shole when he put teeth in your mouth. PLONK > I was thinking using expanding urethane foam and to hold the ladder with my > left hand while using the foam spray can with my right hand.. I think birds will peck the foam. - Nehmo - Are the birds actually inside? How are you going to make sure the birds are out before you seal the hole (which is in the soffit)? - Den > There is a corniche around my house and there is a 10X10X10 inches box hole > in it situated where the electric wires are entering the house. The birds [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > | > | <--- wall |||||||||||||||| Nehmo Sergheyev |||||||||||||||| >- Nehmo - > Are the birds actually inside? How are you going to make sure the birds > are out before you seal the hole (which is in the soffit)? No there are no birds or nest inside. In fact with my time schedule, I rarely saw a bird there but with the quantity of sh.t a lot are coming or one or two often do. I would never trap a nest with eggs or birds inside. Dan > >- Nehmo - > > Are the birds actually inside? How are you going to make sure the birds [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Dan Why not call your power company and tell them that you think the birds are causing your lights to flicker and see if they would come and check it out. A lot of times they will fix things like that free of charge. At least ours does. -- Make it just one gnat to email. J.C. You know, that's a damn good idea. It worked for me once and I had completly forgotten about it. Some dipsh!t from one of the utility companies (telephone in this story) had screwed an eye bolt into the rake board of the gable on the roof and had used the eye bolt to loop and connect cable coming from the utility pole to the house. I went out to paint and noticed the weight of the cable had caused the rake board to warp and pull away from the house. I wouldn't have noticed but some dumb bird probably looking for a place to nest tried to wiggle itself in between the rake board and the brick veneer of the house. It trapped itself somehow and died. I showed the utility company the dead bird's @ss sticking out from the rake board and they redid the entire job at their expense. :-) <%= Clinton Gallagher METROmilwaukee (sm) "A Regional Information Service" NET csgallagher AT metromilwaukee.com URL http://metromilwaukee.com/ URL http://clintongallagher.metromilwaukee.com/ >> >- Nehmo - >> > Are the birds actually inside? How are you going to make sure the birds [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > J.C. - Nehmo – The utility company corrected a problem it caused. That's good. But every problem near the wires is not the company’s responsibility, and in this case, it is not. When there is no direct cost for work, people sometimes selfishly ignore that *someone* needs to pay or provide the work. Even a simple inspection trip out to a house requires a worker, a truck, some preparation, and some time. In your case, getting the company involved was appropriate, but indiscriminately calling the company trying to get freebee work is unethical. - clintonG - > You know, that's a damn good idea. It worked for me once and I had completly > forgotten about it. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > I showed the utility company the dead bird's @ss sticking out from the rake > board and they redid the entire job at their expense. :-) |||||||||||||||| Nehmo Sergheyev |||||||||||||||| > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > | > | <--- wall Expanding foam should work like a charm. You can also drill a 1/4 inch hole into the back (or some other convenient spot) of the area to fill and fill from behind. I used the stuff to fill a void in my rafters near the chimny that birds were going in. I drilled through the cieling in the adjascent room and filled from below. You may need to go back up later and trim off any foam that comes out after it expands, it can be painted too and molded to shape when it is half hardened. Only fill the minimum area to block the opening, no need to fill the whole volume, if you need to get back in there later, the stuff can be easily gouged out with just about any tool. |
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