How a Squirrel Gets Into a Newer Roof
A modern roof is not the deep timber eaves of an interwar house. The edge is a shallow fascia and a soffit with ventilation built into it, the loft is a trussed space with a membrane under the tiles, and there is no sagging slate to slip beneath. The openings that do exist were put there deliberately.
Soffit vents and roof boxes
Continuous vent strips, round soffit vents and over-fascia ventilators are all fitted so air can reach the roof space, which means each is an opening with a plastic grille across it. A grille that has cracked, been pushed out by a nesting bird or was never clipped home is something a squirrel can work at, and they gnaw plastic and softwood without difficulty. Where the roof edge steps out over a porch, a bay or a projecting box, the corners are another weak point. How squirrels get into a roof describes what to look for from the ground.
Getting up there
Squirrels climb render, downpipes and soil stacks with little effort and jump further than people credit. From a fence line into a small tree, onto a porch or a single-storey store, then across to the main roof is a short series of moves. A flat roof over an entrance or a ground-floor projection is the halfway landing that makes the rest straightforward.
Houses, Flats and Whose Roof It Is
In a house the loft is yours, and so as a rule is the decision to have the roof edge repaired. Above a low-rise block the roof space runs over several homes and belongs to the building rather than to any one of them, so the repair is arranged by the freeholder, managing agent or landlord. Either way the trapping is booked for the property the squirrels are using, and Pest Control Stonebridge covers who arranges what.
The Order the Work Happens In
Each step waits for the one before it, and going out of order is what lets squirrels back in.
- Check what you are actually hearing: squirrels are loud in daylight, especially early, while rodents are a night-time noise — if that is what it sounds like, rat control or mouse control is the booking
- Book the trapping service, saying when it began, where over the ceiling it sounds and whether anyone has watched something go in at the roof edge
- Carry on as normal indoors, leave the opening where it is, and stay out of the loft while the work is under way
- Let nobody close the roof up until it has been confirmed empty: a squirrel sealed in will chew a new way out, and young left behind in spring cannot leave at all
- Have the roof edge put right afterwards, dealing with every damaged vent or box along the same run rather than the one hole that was found
- Trim back whatever gives a route onto the roof, once the repair has been made
How long squirrel control takes depends on the roof and on how many squirrels are using it, and a roof running over several homes is rarely the same as a single house.
Getting the Roof Edge Repaired
The repair is a roofer's or carpenter's job: fitting a proper rodent-resistant vent in place of a broken one, refixing or renewing a soffit panel, making good the corner of a roof box, closing the junction where a flat roof meets the main wall. Line someone up early and tell them exactly where the squirrels were going in, so the work follows on from the trapping rather than months later. Read what a repair has to achieve before you brief a trade, so you can be specific about the vents.
Trees and branches
Where a tree gives a run at the roof, cutting it back once the repair is done makes the building harder to reach. Use a tree surgeon for anything sizeable, and check with Brent Council first, since a tree may be protected or stand where notice is needed before work. Trees in the communal landscaping or in the park are not yours to cut, so ask whoever looks after them.
When Squirrels Move Into a Roof
Late winter into spring, and again in summer, is when a female looks for a dry, undisturbed place to have young, and an unlit roof void answers that description. Ringing at the first sign of activity makes it likelier that only adults have to be dealt with. A roof that has been used once tends to be tried again while the opening is still there, which is much of why squirrels return to the same loft.
Releasing a Grey Squirrel Is an Offence
The grey squirrel is an invasive non-native species in this country. Once one has been caught it is against the law to release it into the wild or to allow it to escape, so carrying it down to the river and letting it go is not something anyone may lawfully do. The legal position on release sets out where that comes from, Squirrel Control Brent has the borough-wide picture, and the guide squirrels in Brent lofts goes further into signs and damage. Neighbouring Wembley covers the older lofts near the parks.
