How To Vacuum the Attic to Get Rid of Animal Waste

10.24.2003 - This attic was infested with rats. They left thousands of droppings throughout the attic. The homeowner wanted his attic cleaned, but did not want to pay for complete insulation replacement. Thus, I cleaned the attic manually. It involved several steps. The first is to physically remove as many of the rat droppings as possible. This attic had rolled-out BAT insulation, which is easy to vacuum, unlike the blown-in loose fill insulation. In the above photo, we see that I'm vacuuming rat droppings off a duct and into a small portable vaccum. This type of vacumm is good for use in attics, because I can carry it about to all of the small nooks and crannies, and the suction power is not so strong that it sucks up insulation. It's good for picking off rodent poop off of the isulation. After I remove as many droppings as possible, I fog the attic with an enzyme-based waste cleaner, such as BioShield or Bac-Azap. This destroys the remainder of the animal waste in the attic, and destroys the odor as well. The attic is now sanitary and the odor, which would have attracted new rats to the attic, is eliminated.