Went back to a job last week and found raccoons had chewed through my cable run

I did a big install at a farmhouse outside of Nashville about 3 years ago. Ran all the lines through the attic crawl space like normal. Last week they called me back saying their internet kept dropping. Found raccoon droppings everywhere and three cables chewed clean through in different spots. Has anyone else dealt with animals wrecking your work after the fact?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennys7216d ago

Man that's rough. I had a similar thing happen with a job out in the sticks. Squirrels got into the attic and chewed through my ethernet runs twice before I finally figured out a fix. I started wrapping all my cables in metal conduit anywhere they run through open spaces now. It's a pain to install but haven't had a single issue since. Did you try using the spray foam around the entry points to block them out?

ruby45015d ago

Wait, you guys are dealing with actual squirrels? And here I thought my problem was bad when I found out mice were nesting inside my wall jacks and shorting out the connections. Have you checked if the squirrels are actually after the cables for a specific reason, like maybe they're using the insulation for nesting material or something? I had a buddy who painted his cables with a hot pepper oil mix and the rodents left them alone completely. Might be worth trying before you go full metal conduit on everything, because that spray foam trick only works if they haven't already made a highway in your walls.