Cat broke into AC vent

[shastadaisies]

This morning I had a cat come up thru my vent and want out into my mobile home. I have been after my husband to put up our underpinning for years and years and he refuses to do so. He wont make any repairs around here and I am the only one who worries about saving energy. Now I am worried that because of the cat we are leaking out heat and air. I dont know where to start about fixing it. Could you please give me some advice. Thank you so much for your time.

[Arlo]

Sorry no one has answered you yet. You should try to post in the general repair forum. I think it sounds like vent box has come loose from the duct. You might have to get some duct tape and a flashlight and crawl up under. Get a sheet of cardboard or plastic to lie on. I'm wondering if the cat wanted warmth or he was after a critter. Maybe also put down (and check later) some mousetraps. Also Mark's book has a really good chapter about putting up skirting that is insulated and will last. You can also do a search on this site for "mice" "cats" "skirting" "ducts" and see what others have done. There are often questions similar to yours and there's a lot of info here. Let us know what you do!

[Yanita]

Hi,

I am going to move this to the Repair Forum, although you were correct in thinking that you needed to out your vent problems in HVAC.

Arlo is correct but I will elaborate a little further. Apparently there is an opening in your skirting that allowed the cat to get under your home. Secondly it has separated your ducting somewhere in order to get into the duct. oops, sorry I just reread your post and you have no skirting.

You need skirting, anything at this point. Skirting is your homes underbelly first line of defense from cats, critters etc... Apparently the cat has clawed or pulled down some underbelly fabric, made way through the insulation and into a sealed duct. Your water lines are now very susceptible to freezing. You are also losing all heat from that duct, and could possibly feel cold air coming into your home from that register.

You will need to get under the home, find the separation in the duct and get it back together. You should rivet the pieces together, then wrap with a foil backed tape and then cover that with mastic. If you only have duct tape available right now then use that if it will stick in the cold. This is only a temp fix and will not last much beyond springtime.

Your underbelly is currently a warm nesting area for any critter. Every time a mouse, cat, coon etc walks on your insulation it flatten it, it is then pretty useless. Best to replace that and then get your underbelly repaired and skirting put up.

This is going to be a tedious job, if Hubby does not help maybe you can entice a friend to help you. You will notice a much warmer home if all of this is taken care of.

Yanita