Bat House Plans - Assembly Directions

This bat box house plan has been successful in attracting nursery colonies of little brown and big brown bats. Bat roosting requirements are strict, necessitating adherence to construction details.

1.    Cut out parts according to part details.

2.    Tools and supplies needed for assembly include:

• Screw driver (preferably electric)
• 1¼ inch long drywall screws. Screws are required.
• Caulking: tube of black - Blacktop & Roof Repair
• Caulking gun for above
• Black, matte finish, dark base, solid color, Acrylic Exterior Stain
• Black Rolled Roof (25½" x 9¾")
• Staple gun with 3/8" staples
• Utility knife with snap off blades
• Fiberglass Window Screening (22" x 6")

3.    Apply a bead of caulk to front edges of box sides and attach to box front with 6 screws per side. Clean excess caulk. Refer to graphic illustration of assembly.

4.    Score inside of front and sides with utility knife to roughen. Also score bottom 4.5" on outside of box front below vents. Make horizontal scratches ¼ inch apart. While the knife is out, score both sides of both short and long roosting baffles and the interiot of box back. These are landing/roosting footholds and are very important. Do not use saw to roughen, this will cause plywood to delaminate.

5.    Attach 2 baffle spacers to inside front corners with two screws each, and screwed in from front of box. Space about 1.5 inch from top of box front with ¾" dimension to sides. Lay assembled parts front down on table or floor.

6.    Attach short roost baffle to spaces about 1" down from top of sides. Use 2 screws on each side and into baffle.

7.    Attach 2 baffle spacers to new corners made by short roost baffle. Use 2 screws on each side and into baffle.

8.    Attach long roost baffle to spacers about 1" down from top of sides. Use 2 screws on each side.

9.    Repeat installation of baffle spacers and roost baffles alternating short & long roost baffles until six roost baffles are in. The last 2 baffle spacers should be attached to previously affixed baffle and box sides for stability.

10.   Caulk back edges of box sides and attach box back with scored side in. Do not caulk inside vent areas. Back should extend 2" above the tops of sides. Use 6 screws on each side clean excess caulk.

11.   Center roof attachment strip on inside of box front. Align angled edge with top edge of front and sides. Attach with 3 screws through box front.

12.   Center roof attachment strip on inside and 2" below top of box back. Align angled edge with top edge of sides. Attach with 3 screws through box back.

13.   Apply bead of caulk to top of sides, front, two roof attachment strips and angled back of roof.

14.   Lay roof in position and attach with at least three screws on each side, front and back. Clean excess caulk.

15.   Caulk back of roof top where it butts against the back. Smooth with damp towel. Inspect all other calked seams and caulk exterior as neccessary. Top of box must be air tight to hold heat.

16.   Apply two to three coats of stain to exterior including landing plate.

17.   Cut section of rolled toofing to fit on roof top. Apply thin bead of caulk around top of roof edges. Set rolled roofing into position and staple down. Caulk back edge of rolled roofing where it butts against box back. Caulk exposed staples on rolled roofing.

18.   Cut out piece of fiberglass window screening to fir on landing plate to provide a good landing platform. Staple to bottom front of box back. Coat exposed staples with black stain. Landing plate should be roughened under screening since screening may eventually fall off.

19. Attach box at least ten feet high to a building or pole, following the pole mounting directions. Orient box to southeast to catch the morning sun if possible. If not possible, orient between the southeast and southwest to get at least seven hours of direct sun. When evicting bats from a building, place box near existing entrances, preferably a year prior to eviction. Do not evict bats between May and end of July when flightless young may be trapped inside. Capacity of this box is about 250 bats. If more capacity is needed, additional boxes can be placed side by side.

Wasp Control: if wasps become a problem, use a long thin stick to scrape old nests out in the winter. New nests can be knocked out in May or early June, during cold mornings or evenings, when wasps are less aggressive. If bats are present, don't disturb. Bats and wasps can coexists in boxes. Bats provide travel lanes for wasps to reach their nests. Wasps, in turn, provide some protection against box disturbance.