DIY Bird Spikes Guide: Pre-Assembled vs Making your own

Birds are smart about choosing their roosting spots; environmental signals like sunset, rain, or even human behaviors such as outdoor meals drive birds to gather where they can be warm, dry and safe and where they can potentially find food.

If you stumbled upon this blog, you’re probably looking for a simple DIY solution to your bird control problem. Lucky you! We made it easy and summarized why we encourage all DIYers to install our  Pre-Assembled Bird Spikes and avoid the dangers of trying to hand craft your own.

What can you do?

Bird Spikes: A Tried and True Solution

Bird spikes are a reliable and effective physical barrier against birds roosting on narrow ledges and other horizontal surfaces. A bird spike strip system consists of rows of needle-like rods mounted at different angles into a base that is fastened to a flat surface. Homeowners everywhere have been relying on bird spikes for years to provide simple but effective protection against roosting nuisance birds.

How do bird spikes work? You might assume that the guiding principle behind bird spikes is pain, that birds will avoid areas protected by spikes because they are prickly and they hurt. While it’s certain that sharp spikes will deter birds, it’s really important to understand that bird spikes do not need to be sharp to be effective. Birds don’t dive bomb roosting ledges, they flutter down gently to find a foothold and then roost.

With that in mind, to be effective, spikes need to do two things: first, they need to be a bit uncomfortable on the undercarriage of the birds, and second, they need to be long enough to painlessly prevent the birds’ feet from reaching the flat surface. Most birds will never even make contact with spikes; they’ll see them and recognize they need to go somewhere else.

To reiterate, spikes should never be harmful; hurting the birds is not necessary nor is it humane.

Bird spikes will help you do the following:

1. Prevent bird infestations on your home and around your yard
2. Avoid costly property damages
3. Stop the spread of diseases

A Great DIY Option

One significant reason these systems are so popular with DIYers is their simplicity. Spikes require no complicated assembly and the only maintenance is making certain that the spikes remain free of from leaves or other debris. Once you install them, bird spike strips provide consistent deterrence day and night for years.

Enthusiastic DIYers have two general options when it comes to bird spikes: creating and installing their own spikes or completing a DIY installation of pre-manufactured spikes.

Creating your own:

Many handy folks have used their creative talents to fashion their own bird spikes. The internet is full of inventive ideas, some more effective than others. But be cautious; one thing many of these ideas have in common is that the spikes are sharp. 

Materials such as nails and cut scrap wires are not only dangerous to work with but they also create an unnecessary hazard for birds. While homemade spikes sound like a good idea, often the materials and time required to construct safe, humane versions are cost prohibitive.

DIY Installation of Pre-manufactured Bird Spikes

Bird B Gone carries a wide variety of bird spike strips suitable for residential use. All our strips are simple to use, require no special tools, and can easily be installed by DIYers of any experience level.

Plastic versus Stainless Steel

Bird spikes are available in two materials: plastic and stainless steel. Both have a UV resistant polycarbonate plastic base and are humane, durable, weather resistant, and equally effective at deterring pigeons. 

Stainless Steel Spikes are more expensive than plastic up front and carry a longer product warranty. They also have a lower visual impact than plastic. Plastic Spikes are thicker, slightly more visible, but come in different colors to assist with camouflage.

Width

Getting the width right requires considering the width of the spike strip and the width of the area to be covered. Narrow strips have few spikes that extend from the base at sharp angles and wider strips have more spikes that extend from the base at more obtuse angles. Spikes must extend over the edge by at least ½” and be no farther away than 1” from any walls. Plastic and stainless steel strips can be placed in multiple rows to achieve the right coverage.

Spike Height

Standard plastic and stainless steel spikes are 5” high, but Bird B Gone also offers a  Mega Stainless Steel Spike that is 7” high. Remember, to be effective at preventing roosting, the spikes need to be longer than the birds’ legs; if the spikes aren’t long enough, the birds can stand over them. Five inches will keep pigeons and seagulls away, but if you have larger birds like cormorants or geese, you’ll need mega spikes.

All Bird B Gone’s spikes are reasonably priced and are available in packages that offer different coverage for considerable flexibility. If you need help selecting the right product, call and speak with our bird control experts.

Once you’ve selected the right products, installation is a breeze. On wood, you can screw strips down using 2-3 #8 wood screws per 2’ strip. On concrete, metal, brick, or stone, you can use construction adhesive. A full bead of adhesive placed in the glue trough at the bottom of the strip will hold the strip securely in place for years. One tube of adhesive will install about 25’ of spike strips. Or, if you want a temporary installation, you can simply attach strips to the surface using zip ties.

Keys to Success

Every DIYer needs a sound strategy for success.

1. Clean and Prep. The area must be clean to keep birds away and to ensure that the strips will adhere properly. Remove debris and disinfect with a 10% bleach or ammonia solution. Always wear PPE when cleaning up after birds.
2. Measure. Determine both the number of strips you need to cover the area and the width of the spikes required. Plan to cover the entire area. You need to place spikes in every location where nuisance birds could potentially roost; if you just treat one area, birds will just move to the nearest unprotected area.
3. Look at the birds. Bird spikes come in two heights: the standard 5” spike and the 7” mega spike. If smaller birds are your problem, choose shorter spikes. If larger birds are the issue, you need longer spikes.
4. Install. Follow manufacturer directions carefully for temporary or permanent installation.

With careful attention to these keys to success, every DIYer can successfully protect their property for years from nuisance birds.

Trust Bird B Gone

Bird B Gone is the #1 resource for bird deterrent spikes. It’s not our purpose to simply sell products; we’re here to help you solve your bird problems. Call us today to ask about our selection of bird spikes and to get tips for successful DIY installation.