BYE-BYE BIRDIE

A veteran pest management professional offers advice on what to look for, how to work with customers and how to bid commercial bird work.

Bird work is demanding. Bird control work could be as small as fixing a hole in a building’s siding (which could take less than a day) or as large as a corporate project that could make your company’s year. Your company has to think through what needs to be done for each job. Bird work from residential to commercial varies significantly.

Let’s start with the inspection. A major part of an inspection is the customer interview. Is it the customer’s house or business that is the problem? If they can hear or describe the noise, see or describe activity or can lead you to the problem, they can save you a lot of time. The customer will also let you know what they have in mind. But you’re the one who needs to make the recommendation on the type of treatment necessary to solve the problem. You’re the professional, but a team approach with the customer is the best way to sell the job and remedy the situation. If you go in with the attitude that you don’t need their input, you will have difficulty closing the sale.

When talking about bird work, the more you educate your customer, the better of you are. First, they may be calling you because of an appearance problem. When they walk over a pile of droppings to get into their building, it’s a great incentive to call you. Their incentive goes up another notch when their customers are walking through the piles of mess.

WHAT’S LEFT BEHIND. During the inspection it is your job to educate them as to the possible property damage and health hazards that may be occurring as a result of bird droppings. Roof shingles could be deteriorating from acidic droppings. Exposure of employees and customers to droppings poses possible risk of contracting histoplamosis, cryptococcus and numerous other illnesses. Effective education of the consumer will greatly increase your chances of obtaining the contract.

If you find only droppings, you can still tell what type of bird problem the customer is having. It’s quite a business when you know your poop, but it can be interesting! Many times you will identify the problem by what’s left behind.

One thing to be aware of, even while performing the inspection, is that you may be personally exposed to the droppings. I’ve been in bell towers of churches where the droppings were 8 to 10 inches deep. The wind was blowing so hard and moving the possible biohazard around so that as soon as I saw the saw the situation I was entering, I went to my truck and got my full-face respirator. I then reentered the contaminated area. As you may know, dust particles just flying in the air can expose you to many diseases, some possibly fatal. Histoplasmosis is just one example of a small amount of exposure with a deadly result. When push comes to shove, be safe. You will be healthier and live longer for it.

Most home jobs that I have done involve flushing the bird out and then sealing the hole. Birds are opportunists. They use what is available to them: an empty squirrel hole, bad construction or warped boards. They may damage their way in by pecking a hole through the siding, usually by pecking out a knot hole. This makes up most of the residual bird work my company does during the spring nesting season. They are loud and dirty neighbors. Many times, if left alone, they will leave when finished nesting, about three to five weeks, with repairs needing to be done at that time. I try to bid repairs while I am at the house the first time. Repairs range from simple to complex and can be a profitable part of your business.

If you make a drawing or take a digital picture it can save a lot of time later. Adding a digital camera to your bidding process helps you look more professional. It also serves as a resource to refer back to, particularly when a customer waits a long time before having the work done. I’ve had bids out for a year or more before the customer made a decision to deal with the problem. A nesting situation will probably repeat itself yearly. I have even gone to putting the pictures on a CD by the job name, then mailing copies of the pictures to the customer with notes and the bid. That way we both know what is going to be done to correct the problem.

COMMERCIAL COMMON SENSE. Now let’s examine the commercial job. Commercial bird work is by far the most difficult to secure because many times you are bidding against many competitors. You need to find out if the customer has specifications as to the type of materials to be used. If there are no written specifications, a clear explanation of products, materials and manufacturers’ installation specifications needs to be given to the customer to justify your bid and differentiate it from a competitor who may be using inferior products or installation techniques.

For example, I bid a commercial netting job that involved hanging net on the underside of steel beams. Our bid, according to manufacturers’ specs, called for attachments every two feet using attachments shot into the steel. Our competitor bid beam clamps every five feet. Though this was an inferior installation method in this instance, I didn’t do a good job educating the customer and I lost the bid. The positive side of this story is that I received the next bid from this client because they realized the previous work was unsatisfactory.

I frequently take two people when bidding a large job. Different people see some things differently. Another person may come up with a way you didn’t consider that could save a lot of time or money.

For example, say you go to bid the job and there is a lot of overhead steel with exposed beams and a few ledges. Some of the ledges can be covered with netting, some may need spikes. The type of material used in the building will determine the type of attachments or adhesive needed. A brick wall may require anchors and steel pins; a steel beam may require shooting attachments; an undercover brick ledge may require liquid nails to attach spikes; exposed ledges may require a more specialized adhesive. Sometimes you may need multiple types of attachments. My preference is to use only stainless steel cable and attachments. This is a permanent solution, not a short-term fix. If the netting needs replaced years later, it can still be done using the same hardware.

Measure the length and depth of the ledge. Your measurements are crucial. A mistake in these measurements could cause a lot of problems, from not enough material to an unsightly appearance. Many times I will mix the types of materials I use on the job, some netting, ledge products, etc. Identifying what needs to go where come with time and experience.

With a netting job, you will need to determine the size and color of the net to be used. The type of netting is selected according to the size and species of bird causing the problem. For instance, pigeons need 2-inch by 2-inch netting, where house sparrows require ¾-inch by ¾-inch netting. In areas involving more than one species of bird, use smaller size netting. Color is another thing to consider. Black netting is harder to see than light-colored netting, even if the lighter colors match the color of the building, because black does not reflect the light. Transparent netting is available, but it gets dirty with time and is no longer transparent.

EQUIPMENT NEEDS. The type of equipment needed to install the products should be your next consideration. How high is your working area? This varies from job to job. Proof of insurance is mandatory when renting a lift or boom. I’ve paid $300 to cover a lift for two weeks. I have an inland marine policy that covers lifts up to $70,000 in value and I pay about $400 a year. You’ll need a safety harness when working on a lift. I usually make an appointment with a lift rental company to meet me at the site and tell me what size lift I need. That way if their estimate is wrong, they’re responsible to supply the proper size lift to complete the job.

Last summer I did a bat job that required a 120-foot boom lift that cost $3,500 a week to rent and finished the lower areas with a 65-foot lift that rented for $900. You need to know the information about which equipment is needed before you submit your bid to include these prices in your estimate (cost for the lift, insurance, delivery/pickup and taxes).

The final aspect of bidding a job is to estimate how long it will take to complete. Look at this carefully. It is easy to underestimate how much time is required and if the calculation is off by much, you could lose a substantial amount of money. Try to be as accurate as possible in this area and keep good records to help bid your next job.

I have more specialized tools for bird work than for any other work I do and these tools are costly. I have an air-powered hog ringer. The hog ringer cost more than $800 plus the air compressor needed to power it. On bigger jobs, this type of hog ringer is necessary due to the number of attachments required. This tool is used for attaching the net to the perimeter cable. On ¾-inch by ¾-inch netting, you need a hog ring every other space. That comes out to nine rings per linear foot. With 2-inch by 2-inch netting, you need six rings per linear foot.

Many netting suppliers have computer programs to help you determine your calculations. They enter the size of the net and it tells them the other materials you need such as how much cable, how many attachments and how much netting. They can even give you some good labor estimates.

Various bird product manufacturers will also offer you advice and provide product literature that helps you determine pricing, amount of materials, etc.

What I like most about bird work is you can see the effectiveness of what you have done immediately. When I go to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, I see a great job that I did that’s still working. I think of it as my art. I have put my signature on that structure. That’s when pride for the type of work you do kicks in and it’s a great feeling. Good luck!

The author is president of Holper Pest & Solutions, St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at jholper@pctonline.com.