The Break In

(From Erica)

I received a call one day from a customer concerned about something in the attic. I foolishly assume it was an animal. I do not go into great detail with the customer about what they are hearing or what makes them think something is in the attic. I assume this call is just like any other call I receive thinking its either raccoons or squirrels. The technician goes to the house and starts talking with the homeowner. Come to find the homeowner thinks people are getting into the attic. This person was convinced that a person/people some how would get onto the roof and pull off a roof vent and would hang out in the attic of their house. The technician informs the customer this situation is probably better suited for the police. He is told by the homeowner the only way they would investigate this situation would be if the homeowner could explain to the authorities how these people were getting into the attic. I guess the next logical step is this situation was to call a wildlife control company.

The technician proceeds with a whole home inspection; including climbing on the roof and thoroughly inspecting the vents to discover they are securely attached to the house (the homeowner was convinced these people would pull the vents off the house and climb into the attic). He then goes into the house to access the attic. On his way to the attic the homeowner wanted to make sure he had drill because the scuttle hole had been screwed shut. The homeowners had screwed shut the attic access because while they where away on vacation someone had come from the attic into their home. My first thought “Was how do they know that happened?” Apparently, when they returned home they found several pieces of insulation in the closet that was not previously seen. Needless to say the technician found no possible point of entry for people or wild life to access this house and explained to the homeowner that maybe they just heard a large bird on the roof. As I’m typing this I get a phone call from a person that has some animal in there home. I ask some more questions and find out this person has some animal in her house that she only sees at night but can smell it during the day…she thinks it lives under her bed. Nice.