A Pigeon Oasis Causes Resident Nightmares

This apartment building in downtown San Francisco on the edge of Pacific Heights should have been a dream location for its many tenants. But it was also an oasis for a flock of pigeons, who settled on the upper parapet and then flew down the building's airy light well to roost and nest in the protected center portion below. The ground was a mess, the parapet above was a mess, the walls were a mess - the fecal matter these pigeons left behind was quite concentrated causing an incredibly bad odor for the tenants in such a tight space. Worse, the droppings attracted flies and other insects, which, if allowed to go unchecked, frequently make their way into the apartments themselves.

The building owners called Hot Foot to help find a solution. The most obvious one was to enclose the light well with Hot Foot InvisiNet 2" exclusion netting. This would keep the pigeons out while still allowing the sunshine to cascade in. But there was a problem. The apartment building shared one wall with an adjacent building - and that meant securing permission from that owner to attach the netting hardware.

So Hot Foot found another - and as it turned out, equally effective - solution. Although the birds nested on the ground, they relaxed and kicked back on the parapet above. We knew that all we had to do is rid the birds from that parapet, and they would leave the building for good. Think of it this way: if you were buying a new home and the living room was uncomfortable, wouldn't you move on to another house?

First, we pre-cleaned the parapet, walls, and ground using a pressure washer and odor neutralizer. This is an important starting point because birds are strongly attracted to their own roosts by their smells and nesting materials. Once these were eliminated, we applied one track of Hot Foot Repellent Gel along the upper parapet ledges above. This sticky substance is totally harmless to the birds, but makes them uncomfortable. It's sort of like sucking through mud with rubber boots - it gets tiring and annoying after a while!

We then covered the repellent gel with a protective sealant called Crystal Coat. This is a fine, clear, brittle plastic coating that is sprayed onto the gel to put this barrier between the gel and the environment. In city areas, dust and dirt and other pollutants quickly settle on sticky repellents making them ineffective in as little as a few months. The Hot Foot coating prevents this from happening, extending the life of the gel markedly. Although we say two years, installations lasting over 10 years are not uncommon. (Please note: Hot Foot Repellent Gel is the only repellent that has this special coating.)

The results were dramatic. The birds landed once on the parapet and decided they had enough, leaving the building and were never seen again. Today, the courtyard below is clean, the air fresh, and the insect population was eliminated.

Hot Foot's incredible products were a big part of this project, but Hot Foot's expertise in bird deterrents played a large role too. Hot Foot was able to come in, assess the situation, and provide a variety of viable solutions to effectively get rid of these pigeons for good, safely and humanely.

You can get advice from us as well. Contact us by email or call us directly at (800) 533-8421, and we'll give you installation tips, help you find a Hot Foot installer in your area, or perhaps even come on as your contractor.