I think insurance will cover the damage. Have professionals come in and do it. One thing that can help in future is to cut back trees that are close to the house so they can't jump up in your roof. I hate raccoons, skunks and opossums... All was at too populous where I live.

Problem is most of the stuff that got damaged was stuff people who own houses collect over time... stuff unimportant enough to end up on a shelf rather than be used... but important enough to you it didn't get thrown out. And since I'm restoring a Motorcycle in that room (thankfully they never even climed on it, which I know because the light layer of dust that collected over the last month I didn't work on it is undisturbed) I've got lots of nuts and bolts I don't want to end up with the others I have for spares or other projects strewn all over the floors, boxes of nails and screws spilled, etc.

Besides... it gives me a chance and reason to toss out some of the stuff I haven't used in a long while. Beyond what was damaged.

If they had been in any other room... yeah, I'd agree and have professionals do it. THe rest of the lower level is furninshed and has carpet, this one room has a tile floor, and is used as a laundry room, has the furnace, water heater and everything most people would use a basement for. My lower level is fully exposed in the back and one side... but are half underground on the front and one side, meaning the double hung windows are above ground level, no wells.

Plus I do have probably 4 or 5 thousand dollars of tools in that room... ( yes I have one of those really big, really heavy mechanics toolboxes that's full) I'm just not comfortable having people in my house when someone's not there keeping an eye on them.

Had to make a huge leap of faith with the exterminators... because neither of us could be there all day, and they don't work late at night.

But mostly... this gives me an excuse to throw about half of that stuff out that I haven't needed or used in the last few years as I'm cleaning.

I do everything... plumbing, electrical work, auto restoration, welding, etc (except pulling wild animals with big teeth and claws out of houses) though its not what I do for a living, I was raised to be as self sufficient as I could be.. so people that do any of that understand the sorts of things people that do hang onto. Stuff too good to put in a shed outside.

Except the tools and some vehicle parts... everything of real value was elsewhere in the house. I got lucky they weren't in what most people would consider their living space.

Also odd that I'm practically smack in the middle of a town where most lots are 1/4 acre... a 1/2 acre lot is considered huge (mine is about 1/3 acre)... and it's a few miles to get out of town in any direction. And there are NO undevolped pots or land anywhere near. People around here pay nearly $500K to buy the lot and house to tear down a perfectly good house to build a McMansion....some of these houses being torn down are only 20 years old.....and the oldest ones were built in the late 50's.

Yet I see entire herds of deer in my yard practically on a daily basis. Yep... counted as many as 7 at a time. My back yard is practically an unofficial wildlife preserve I have so many of them. (no I don't feed ANY of them) Even have a groundhog that sits on a tree stump every day I see from my kitchen.

I've seen a Coyote once..and see a red fox every couple days prancing through.