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Years ago I remodeled a number of condos in the Villas Cariari in Belen, Heredia.
A problem with bats scurrying around in the cathedral ceilings had been annoying residents for years. The management had tried everything known to man to deter the bats from entering the space between the metal roofing laminates and the ceilings. They had installed compressed foil balls hanging from the exterior soffits and insecticide pellets to deter the bats. They even brought in a rodent specialist to solve the problem to no avail.So to kill two birds with one stone I decided to add ceiling fans in rooms with cathedral ceilings while at the same time solving the bat problem. I needed to go up and remove the metal roof laminates to install the electrical cables. Upon removal of the roofing I discovered a lot of bat excrement and hundreds of dead insects that fed off this filth. So we removed the filth and installed our electrical cables, then stapled a thick black plastic over the tongue and grooved wood ceiling slats that were nailed into the rafters in order to keep any dirt from entering the rooms through the wood ceilings that contract and expand with changes in humidity. Next I installed rolled 4″ thick fiberglass insulation over the plastic which filled in the space between the metal roofing laminates and the rafters. Once the roofing laminates were screwed back down the fiberglass insulation took up the space where the bats previously entered. The fiberglass insulation has a coarse surface that is abrasive and deters rodents that come in contact with it. This solved the bat intrusion problem, provided needed ceiling fans and helped keep the condos clean by preventing dirt from entering in the wood ceilings. Additionally, the R-19 fiberglass insulation provided heat and noise barrier which enhanced the livability of the condos. Several condo owners heard about the procedure and hired me to complete the same on their roofs as well. To this day the bats do not enter the roofs where I installed this system.
We live in the woods 50 miles N of Seattle and happen to have a concrete tile roof. Since clay and terra cotta like roofing is prevalent in CR, I would ventur to guess you might run accross this issue also. They like to live in the triangular gap craeted by the overlap of the tiles on the roof eaves. Since we live on a lake, they are fantastic insect control, however, they have gotten into the house on ocassion and approximately 1 in 20 are rabies carriers.
Where did you get that 1 in 20 have rabies? I believe this is a myth and it’s more like 1/4 percent or something really low. Bats get a bad rap!!! http://cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/bats_&_rabies/bats&.htm
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