Help please - Need an action plan for squirrels in the roof!

[WoolyMammoth55]

We have a lovely flat converted from a Victorian house in N4, north London. We've owned for 10 years and well before we bought (perhaps in the 70s) it had been extended at the back, somewhat shoddily. The extension is the bedroom and kitchen, and has a flat roof, which is a terrace for the flat upstairs.

Last year we heard some weird sounds from the ceiling but with Covid and baby 2 on the way we didn't get ourselves sorted to do anything constructive.

We've now got the scampering noises back and have seen squirrels going in and out behind the guttering at roof-height. We think they are nesting in there and are worried about damage.

I've spoken to an exterminator who will come and put poison down but won't seal up the guttering panels. He says we need a general builder for that. I am not keen on poison anyway - don't want decomposing squirrels littering our/neighbours properties.

The issue is that it seems that a reasonable amount of general building work is required - remove and replace all guttering and fascias, improve bond with wall by whatever means (?) and seal all access to the roof cavity, as well as confirming the seal is sound below the terrace upstairs.

Anyone know what type of builder we are looking for for this? Is it general building works? And if so who do we use in North London? I'm really concerned with current demand for extensions etc that we'll find no one available/interested in this kind of small job and won't get it sorted for months - by which time who knows what damage will be done...

HELP?! Thanks in advance.

Anyone? I'm really worried about them chomping through the electrics!
:(

This company do online consultations anywhere in the UK, think it was about £30 when they helped me with a rat problem, and they offer humane solutions to animal problems, they might be able to advise a good way to deter them, worth a try :) humanewildlifesolutions.co.uk/

I think you want a roofing firm.

Borrow a friends cat for a few days and pop it in the loft with the lights on, some food and water and a comfy place to sleep.

Wait a few days and get the cat down whilst the roofer fills in the holes. The squirrels won't hang around with a cat in there.

We had squirrels in our loft a few years ago and had to get a pest controller in, as they were waking us very early in the morning and we could hear gnawing - we subsequently had to get our electrical wiring checked too.

I can’t answer your question about builders but to say that the pest controller didn’t use poison but a trap that killed them instantly, together with a Wi-Fi camera, so he could monitor the trap remotely and come to collect and dispose of them.

I didn’t like the idea of killing them but there was little else that we could do, as it’s illegal to release them if caught alive because they are an introduced species. Also the hole that they were using to get in had been left open for swifts that had nested in the roof every year for decades - we heard a lot of commotion one day and think that a squirrel may have attacked/killed a swift, as they didn’t nest that year or since, although we now have a swift box covering the hole, so hopefully won’t get any more squirrels in there.

Our fascia’s and guttering were done by our double glazing person not a roofer . Ask for some recommendations on your local FB page .

I wouldn’t put a cat in there with them, apparently they get very vicious when they have young, so the cat may not come off well.

I had squirrels nesting in the side of my house. I called a specialist firm and they put down humane traps, worked really quickly and they came and collected the squirrels. They set the traps outside my house near where the squirrels were climbing up. Then once no more squirrels were being caught, I called a builder to fill in the hole they had made to get in.

Thanks all! This is helpful. I am going to look for builders first and then will book pest control the week before builders can come - does that sound right? Worried if I do pest control with no builder in sight that they'd come back before the holes are filled - but am I wrong about that?