Best Siding Material to Deter Racoons?

[Michael Garofalo]

BP community,

I've had issues with racoons for ~6 months for one of my properties. Previously a family made their way into the attic and then the chimney. I had rodent control remove them, place a cap on the chimney, and seal up a hole in the siding that they had used to enter the attic. Thought that was the end of it but got a call from one of my tenants last week stating something made its way into the attic again. Long story short, over the past week rodent control has captured 3 racoons and 1 possum. 

My question is: once we are confident these critters are gone, what would be the best material to use to deter them from climbing and clawing their way back into the house in the future? The siding is cedar shake and quite old, I could patch the area again with wood but I am considering re-doing the siding since this is a 100+ year old duplex and that would need to happen at some point over next several years anyway. My preference would be to use vinyl since this is a standard rental, but I would consider hardie plank if folks feel that would do a superior job at preventing the racoons from clawing their way back in. 

[Caroline Gerardo]

Galvanized welded 2 mesh 16 gauge will keep out possums and raccoons, a 8 gauge will keep out mice and rats but not strong enough for racoons. You need to order enough for the circumference of the structure. This will act as an underlayment for whatever siding you choose. Temporarily you can use it to cover the old cedar but screwing it into flaking cedar shakes is not going to last the buggers. five pound bag of cayenne pepper- sprinkle all around the structure (this deterrent is temporary). The area where they nested needs to be cleaned out (gross), and spray clean with household ammonia to get rid of animal feces (smell that they like). Garbage cans are the food source:: so how can you lock them down at night? Remove ponds and bird baths (no water no leaking faucets). As to what siding to choose... I'm not fond of vinyl and it gets brittle and they can chew through it. What stone sources are near you? Think about a stone veneer even four or five feet up from the ground that goes with the architecture, underlay the wire and grout the stone over.  Cut branches that touch the structure allowing bridges, check the roof gaps at chimney and plumbing pipes. Add steel wool and wood glue and push them into small gaps.