[MassHistPres] Cleaning of Barn timbers

[Elizabeth Ware]

Good morning,

I am presently working on the rehabilitation of an almost 300 year old post and beam barn in South Berwick, Maine.  The property has an interesting history and when we bought the property two years ago, we made a commitment to the rehab of the barn.  Given it's age, the barn is actually in pretty good condition, mainly due to the English tying joints holding it together and a cut granite block foundation.

The good news and the bad news is that we have bats in the barn.  Bats eat a lot of mosquitos but leave guano.  So, the game plan for the bats is that we would like to ease them out in the late fall, when they normally leave, and then built bat boxes for their return in the spring..........so next spring they return to the bat boxes instead of the barn.

Obviously we need to make the barn bat-proof, so that there are no little holes that they can get into and reestablish themselves in the barn.

So, the key question is:  How does one clean the barn of the guano smell?  Between shovels, brooms and vacuums, we can get the guano out, but is there some form of spray or treatment that can address the cleaning of the timbers and other wood within the building?

I have a friend who has offered me the use of his sprayer and has suggested Clorox and water, but I'm not sure I want so much water in the barn.

Any thoughts, experiences, and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,


Betsy Ware

Director of Community Development
Town of Dracut, MA.
Tel: 978-453-4557
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