Critter Quitter: Squirrel Vent Shields

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Plumbing vents are those little pipes you see sticking through your roof. Your home will usually have between 4 and 8 depending upon the number of toilets, sinks, and washing areas.They are what allows air to displace the water when you flush the toilet or use the sink and allows the water to leave the house down the drain. When a builder constructs a building, he will run the plumbing vents through the roof. He has to have some way to seal this vent to the roof so that rain cannot enter the house. This is done usually by one of two methods called flashing. These methods are:

Lead Flashing
Rubber Grommet Flashing

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Lead Flashing is basically a lead pipe that is nailed to the plywood base, the vent run through, and the top then folded over the pipe to seal it. You can tell if you have lead flashing by the gray colored, often “beat up” look.

Rubber Grommet flashing is a flexible rubber disk that is nailed down to the plywood roof base and the vent run though the rubber which seals it. These can always be identified by the white or painted PVC pipe sticking through.

In the South and coastal areas, lead is used as it’s not affected by high sunlight unlike the rubber, which tends to harden and crack in these conditions. Unfortunately squirrels like to eat this lead. Nobody knows exactly why, but its thought they sharpen their teeth on it. When the squirrels eat the lead, it not only likely kills them, it also causes your vent to start to leak and over the life of the roof this can be an expensive repair as it rots out the plywood base. So both the ecology and your property are damaged.

If you look up at your roof and see white sticking out of your lead flashing, your vents have been damaged. But really the best way is to go on the roof and check them, often squirrels will chew the top of the flashing and you cannot see this from the ground. If you have never been on your roof before we recommend using a professional or someone that has experience on roofs.

Unlike other products that are either screens or guards that just cover the vent to keep squirrels away, the Critter Quitter™ has a patent pending design that takes the rain water and directs it into the vent and out the house drain, thus keeping the area between the outside of the pipe and the damaged flashing from becoming wet. This stops further leakage into the plywood base and thus further damage. Its outside shell protects the vent from squirrels, and it’s an attractive addition to any roof. Certainly an improvement over ugly gray lead or white pipes. Its easy to install, comes in two standard pitches (roof angles) that will cover most houses, and can be ordered custom cut.

Have you ever heard of a frog, rat, or snake getting into your toilet or sink? It happens. In fact it happened to me. My wife was screaming about a frog in the toilet, and sure enough a giant tree frog was in there. Later on, my father in law called and said he had a rat in his toilet. Now frogs are bad enough, but rats are dangerous and can both bite and spread disease, plus if they get loose in your house they are hard to catch.

Apparently, the vents are a major way these animals get into the house. They either jump in or crawl in. Once heading down they can’t turn around, and they fall into your homes drainage system. They will swim through the toilet or sink trap and end up in your house.

So my Critter Quitters™ are equipped with a grated inlet that stops these from entering your house, along with keeping leaves and other debris out of your system.

Absolutely. In fact, that’s the best time to install them. If you have lead flashing it will protect it. If you have rubber flashing it will keep animals out of your plumbing and add a nice look to your roof.

Also lead flashing has another problem. Over time, depending the quality of the lead and the environment its exposed to, it will oxidize and cause streaking. This streaking detracts from the roofs appearance, and is hard to remove. Critter Quitters™ stop direct sunlight from hitting the lead, so this oxidation is greatly reduced or eliminated, hence the streaking does not occur and your roof maintains its attractive look over its life.

If your home has rubber flashing, the Critter Quitter™ serves no function to protect it from squirrel damage as they do not chew on these. However, you still have a chance of getting an animal in your plumbing through these vents as they have larger openings because there is no lead folded over to seal them. Hence rats, snakes, and frogs have larger access into your home.

In addition, usually this type of flashing leaves the white PVC pipes unpainted. These white pipes can be unattractive. Critter Quitters™ will cover these with an attractive look and add value to your house.

Yes, all it takes is a screw driver. I have included ordering and installation videos for your convenience. We do recommend using a professional as a roof is a falling hazard and they can do this work very quickly so cost should be a small.