Voot Peka (Woodpecker)

[The Grebe]

There's a danged woodpecker, maybe several of them, that have punched some quarter sized holes and a couple about fist sized in a neighbors house and she asked me if I could fix them? She has wood siding, she is elderly and is not going to get the siding replaced.

Well, I certainly can't get rid of the bugs and larvae in the siding, that the woodpeckers are after, so I'm just looking to cover the holes in the most eye appealing way that I can? This is the problem.....what is the most eye appealing way?

I thought of using some kind of expanding, aerosol fill and seal on the smaller holes, that would probably work, and can be painted after it dries, but what to do with the bigger holes? Squares of thin sheet aluminum? Can that stuff be painted?

Anyone have any ideas?

[pureinsanity]

That is the minor problem. the bigger problem is riding of the problem. and well there is only a couple options. some how live trap them, and the other I wont mention. My friend tried everything online to stop those darn wood peckers from destroying his home.

I say use great stuff, shave it when dry and paint it.

[cavalierowner]

I used to have the same problem when I had wood shakes. I never did find anything that scared away the woodpeckers. The only thing that helped a little bit was to spray the whole house with liquid Diazanon. I used Rock Hard Putty to fill holes and then painted the patches. The only thing that ended the woodpeckers reign of terror was re-siding with HardiePlank.

pureinsanity, doesn't Great Stuff absorb moisture? I would be worried about it holding moisture and promoting rot.

[pureinsanity]

I am not sure. but if it is painted over or sealed by something how would moisture get in there?

[CAMAN]

I would use an outdoor non-shrinking wood putty or better yet a two-part epoxy. Then paint.

How big are some of the holes? If they are too big that you would use a boatload of putty, cut it out and make a wood filler then epoxy into place.

[daylate]

Like Caman said, epoxy is the best ticket!

[TRITC]

This sounds a little silly, but I've got a neighbor who had the same problem and then one day I noticed they had a cheerleader's pompom (yes I said pompom) attached to their house near the area where you could see the holes. I talked to him about it and he swears that it has worked, no more Peka.

TRITC

[Tom7227]

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1279.html

[upnorthvoice]

In the future, if you have in the past, don't cut down all the dead trees or dead limbs from trees. This will give the peka's a natural place to find food and the bugs a place to live other than behind the siding. Living in B.C. may prevent you from leaving snags, etc. for the peka's. Spray the house with "bug stop" by spectra-side (sp).

To repair the holes use a hole saw. cut out replacement plugs from another piece of siding, Use caulk to adhere and seal the plugs in the holes. Then stain or paint to match.

[PurpleFloyd]

In the future, if you have in the past, don't cut down all the dead trees or dead limbs from trees. This will give the peka's a natural place to find food and the bugs a place to live other than behind the siding. Living in B.C. may prevent you from leaving snags, etc. for the peka's. Spray the house with "bug stop" by spectra-side (sp).

To repair the holes use a hole saw. cut out replacement plugs from another piece of siding, Use caulk to adhere and seal the plugs in the holes. Then stain or paint to match.

+1

[delcecchi]

In the future, if you have in the past, don't cut down all the dead trees or dead limbs from trees. This will give the peka's a natural place to find food and the bugs a place to live other than behind the siding. Living in B.C. may prevent you from leaving snags, etc. for the peka's. Spray the house with "bug stop" by spectra-side (sp).

To repair the holes use a hole saw. cut out replacement plugs from another piece of siding, Use caulk to adhere and seal the plugs in the holes. Then stain or paint to match.

Now that is a good idea. Thanks.

[LightningBG]

To repair the holes use a hole saw. cut out replacement plugs from another piece of siding, Use caulk to adhere and seal the plugs in the holes. Then stain or paint to match.

I like this.

For the small ones, you could fill with wood filler, or plug it with a wine bottle cork, countersunk, then puttied over the top. Prime and paint.

But for the larger, I would do the hole saw, cut a plug with the same saw, adhere in place, wood filler around the seam. prime and paint.