Bird Poo on car

[redrabbit29]

I have a driveway in my new house which is underneath trees. I've noticed (it's hard not to) that everyday there is another splattering of bird poo.

I am not precious over my car but equally I don't want to just allow the paint to get damaged which I understand is the case if you leave it on there.

Is there any way of protecting the car's paintwork other than covering it or moving it out the way (both of which aren't really feasible)? I wasn't sure if there was a cleaning product which would add more protection?

I could clean the poo off everyday but that would get tedious very quickly, and also I only use the car about 3-4 times a week .

Thanks

[Luke.]

No, sadly.

[Funk]

I have a similar problem - the birds use the gap between buildings across the driveway as a 'strafing run' I think...

I've found that a ceramic coating works wonders if you're not in the mood to hose down your car every morning. If you already have any etching from bird poo, clean the area and then heat the etching with a hairdryer 1-2cm above the spot and the mark will gradually reduce (mine disappeared entirely).

Thread here on Detailing World: https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread....

Once the paintwork's in good shape, in my experience the ceramic coating really does work to stop any further etching, however it's still advisable not to let the poo sit on it for too long if you can help it. The coating will need re-doing maybe a couple of times a year.

[swisstoni]

Is some kind of car-port possible?

[Lester H]

Not leaving it on for too long especially if weather gets hot. Good finishing wax does help. Bit of a counsel of perfection but something like a cheap ( no pun intended) baby wipe will remove it . Reason for post is I lost the lacquer off an entire wing ( no pun intended) because of this.

Edited by Lester H on Friday 14th May 09:18

[Aunty Pasty]

Are you able to prune the trees?

[Lester H]

Just seen this again. Mercedes offer a ‘Bird and Bug’ neutraliser spray when they give you one of those cleaning kits in a man bag. Never tried it, but it will surely be re packaged from Autoglim, Maguires, or similar.

[swisstoni]

I wouldn’t worry about it. The op has gone.
Maybe a big one took him out.

[redrabbit29]

swisstoni said:

I wouldn’t worry about it. The op has gone.
Maybe a big one took him out.

Sorry I am back! :-) Catching up now and also have an update

[redrabbit29]

UPDATE

The previous owner actually applied to have one of the trees which is about 2 metres from our boundary removed. This was rejected, and also rejected when appealed to. The tree in question is very large - they all are actually, all above 30metres (as a rough guess).

Reading the application he also says about sap falling on the car, plus debris like branches and things which have damaged their cars.



The only thing I can really do is ask the land owner (a housing association) to cut the tree back. Building a cover for the cars is not really an option and neither is removing them.

The house has a south facing but due to the trees, the sun disappears around 3-4pm roughly. So having them trimmed would also let more light through.

[Sheepshanks]

Did the above not come up when you bought the house? Did you have a survey?

I'm surprised it's considered OK to have such a big tree so close to the house - we had insurance refused once due to any tree being closer than 10 metres.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 1st June 10:09

[steveo3002]

get some traveling tree cutting caravan dwellers round to cut down cash ...deny all knowledge if asked

[redrabbit29]

Sheepshanks said:

Did the above not come up when you bought the house? Did you have a survey?

I'm surprised it's considered OK to have such a big tree so close to the house - we had insurance refused once due to any tree being closer than 10 metres.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 1st June 10:09

We have home insurance through Tesco and they have no issues with the presence of the trees.

We did have a Homebuyers Report completed, which mentions the trees:

[i] Although I saw no evidence of damage to the building, outbuildings or boundary walls the trees to the
front and rear of the property, including but not limited to beech and pine trees, could cause problems
to the property. Specialist advice should be sought from an appropriate contractor such as a qualified
arborist. The Arboricultural Association at www.trees.org.uk is able to provide local, qualified arborists
who will be able to help you identify any potential problems or safety and maintenance issues you may
have with the trees.

In this area, the trees are sometimes protected by 'Tree Preservation Orders' so you may need the local
council's consent to cut them back and/or remove them. You should contact your legal adviser to check
this (see section I1). [/i]

Prior to moving in I did identify the owners of the trees and spoke with the company responsible. I also spoke with the previous owner about them - but it was more about whether they caused issues around blocking of sunlight.

[swisstoni]

You can cut any branches that overhang the boundary, on the line of the boundary. But you will probably have to get permission from the council if the trees are protected.

[Welshbeef]

Lester H said:

Not leaving it on for too long especially if weather gets hot. Good finishing wax does help. Bit of a counsel of perfection but something like a cheap ( no pun intended) baby wipe will remove it . Reason for post is I lost the lacquer off an entire wing ( no pun intended) because of this.

Edited by Lester H on Friday 14th May 09:18

A number of years ago we went on a 2.5 week holiday in the med - lovely holiday. Came back and it was clear that year the U.K. in Aug had been a scorcher too.

However clearly some birds had made a hefty deposit on the cars roof. I suspect from the looks of it the day we left or soon after. We tried everything and even a valet company it had ruined the paint & needed a paint job to correct the damage.

I’ve no idea how you prevent such situations when your not in the country and using an airport car park.

[redrabbit29]

swisstoni said:

You can cut any branches that overhang the boundary, on the line of the boundary. But you will probably have to get permission from the council if the trees are protected.

Thanks, I can see that there was an approved application from about 12-18 months ago for the trees to be trimmed back. I have emailed the housing people (as recommended by the council) to request they do some work on the trees.

They're so big I am not sure I would be able to afford to pay for someone to trim the trees back myself.

I've sent a few emails this morning to tree companies to ask for advice and what their thoughts are on the big tree right next to the boundary.

[julian987R]

Welshbeef said:

Lester H said:

Not leaving it on for too long especially if weather gets hot. Good finishing wax does help. Bit of a counsel of perfection but something like a cheap ( no pun intended) baby wipe will remove it . Reason for post is I lost the lacquer off an entire wing ( no pun intended) because of this.

Edited by Lester H on Friday 14th May 09:18

A number of years ago we went on a 2.5 week holiday in the med - lovely holiday. Came back and it was clear that year the U.K. in Aug had been a scorcher too.

However clearly some birds had made a hefty deposit on the cars roof. I suspect from the looks of it the day we left or soon after. We tried everything and even a valet company it had ruined the paint & needed a paint job to correct the damage.

I’ve no idea how you prevent such situations when your not in the country and using an airport car park.

A car cover with the cut out for the number plates and a. circle where like the old tax disc would be to show the ticket

[Welshbeef]

julian987R said:

A car cover with the cut out for the number plates and a. circle where like the old tax disc would be to show the ticket

True but purple parking or others where you turn up and drop the keys off they then move it to wherever in the car park.

[georgeyboy12345]

If that Oak tree is 30 m tall then it is probably at least 150 years old, so in my view it has more right to be there than you or your car has. The council were right to refuse permission to get it cut down.

If you can get it cut back where it overhangs your property, then that should be a good compromise. What about buying a cover for your car if you are not using it that often? Worst case scenario, you can always move house!

Edited by georgeyboy12345 on Monday 7th June 09:51

[Welshbeef]

Correctly trimming trees is fine.

Chopping down old trees just isn’t.