It’s a problem we all face that only a seldom few have had the misfortune of experiencing: a bird dropping a little present on your head as you walk down the street. It’s an instant day restarter: you have to immediately go home, take a shower, and completely reboot your day. Now try to imagine how your roof feels when that happens hundreds of times per year. In this post we will explore the damage that bird poop can cause to your roof and how to prevent this from happening.

Damage caused by bird droppings

Fun fact for the day: birds do not have a bladder. Meaning, inside the fowl’s stomach they store food and liquid together, hence the watery nature of their droppings. The droppings are comprised of uric acid, which gives their droppings a pH level of 3-4.5. This low level eats through paint. Short term there is little damage but long term (over multiple seasons) the excrement causes worn out shingles, missing granules, and weak spots. Primarily, this creates leaks and holes.

How to remove bird poop?

The easiest method to remove bird droppings is to use a garden hose on low pressure. Other options include using a bird poop cleaner, which costs up to $50 on Amazon. You can also hire a professional but like the previous option, this gets expensive.

Prevention

Short of utilizing bird spikes, which work great for commercial buildings but are an eyesore in a residential area, we have a few more practical options.

• Trim overhanging trees: birds are simple creatures and eliminating a place where they congregate, that happens to be above your roof, will alleviate your issue
• Remove nests: physically removing a nest, in a humane way, will discourage birds from returning
• Use bird deterrents: these include a plastic owl or different predator strategically placed so that the birds will see it can be effective. You can also purchase fake bird of prey eyes which are essentially balloons
• Sound recordings: playing sounds of other predator birds over a speaker will tell birds to avoid the area. High frequency sounds are effective but dogs can also hear these
• Cover shingles with deterrent gel: we found some online for $77 or it can be purchased at Lowe’s. It is invisible but will make life more difficult for the birds