Squatter squirrels destroyed my loft insulation

[SquirrelsAreStinky]

Hi,

Just about to put my house on the market but I need to get the loft sorted first.

We had a family of squirrels in our loft for a few months - long story but they had their babies up there and we had to wait for the babies to be big enough to leave the loft before they could be evicted.

During their time up there, they had a right old party and as part of their shenanigans, they ripped up our lagging/insulation. It therefore needs to be redone before I can put the house on the market.

The issue is I can't go in the loft because I am terrified shitless of spiders. And there are some big bastards up there (loft isn't boarded so I can't easily run away if Aragog up there starts heading towards me). DP normally takes care of anything loft or shed-related for me - he isn't well and is awaiting hospital treatment so I'm a bit buggered at the moment.

My question is who do I get to do the loft? Obviously I can find a person/company that does loft re-insulation - but presumably there's a ton of squirrel poo/urine in the loft?? 🤢 Do normal loft lagging people deal with this as well? Or do I have to get some kind of specialised cleaning company in first to deal with it? I've opened the hatch and can't smell anything obvious but there MUST be a squirrel toilet up there, surely?!

I have NC for this because I am thoroughly embarrassed about the potentially stinky state of the loft. And I am also very embarrassed about being too scared of spiders to get up there myself. I'm normally very hands-on but the sight of eight-legged creatures makes me run around shrieking (only a slight exaggeration).

You don't need to redo it to sell
Let the buyers do the work

Thanks @Digimoor - but what about the EPC? And the survey? Won't the fact the squirrels ripped up the insulation at the edges and crapped in the loft be a big problem for a buyer?

In all honesty, I'd be happy taking money off the price rather than getting it done because of the bloody hassle of getting it done (our situation is complicated) - but I'm worried about losing sales because of the loft.

DP managed to get up there once after the squirrels left and there doesn't seem to be any damage to woodwork etc. His condition has unfortunately got worse so he can't get back up there now.

I'm unsure how much the EPC actually checks - surely there must be some insulation left up there
If the loft isn't easy to access it's likely the survey won't bother and will just say access unavailable!

Is there insulation around the hatch because I bet they just poke their head in, I doubt they go up into lofts, for ours DH has to get ladder from garage, do they carry ladders with them

@Digimoor @User6495321 ooh OK, that's all interesting! We do still have insulation around the loft hatch - it's just ripped up elsewhere (the squirrels scrunched it all up to make a comfy nest!)

We also have lots of boxes/stuff gathered around the hatch where things have been stored up there, plus no boarding and a very small hatch/small landing so it's not particularly accessible.

Maybe I'll just leave it then. I've got autistic DC so getting workmen in for any reason is a major headache as DS can't cope.

I thought the EPC/surveyor guys would actually want to enter the loft for a proper poke round. We had the roof repaired outside where the squirrels ripped tiles off to get in - that's much easier than dealing with workmen coming inside the house. We don't even have a ladder here at the moment so unless they bring their own, there's no physical way to get into the loft!

Squirrels will shit and piss everywhere. Any competent surveyor will immediately spot them. Factor in £400-£1000 adjustment to cater for replacement of pissy insulation and blocking up ingress points.

@RollerCoaster2020 - we managed to evict the squirrels once their babies had grown and could leave the nest so they're definitely not living there now. Their access points have all been repaired so no signs of entry, and no more holes (the little bastards ripped bits of my roof off to get inside).

Yes, my concern is the state of the insulation which will inevitably be utterly disgusting! I don't understand how it doesn't stink - I can't smell anything at all, and neither can DP. (I'm autistic and have a really acute sense of smell usually but nothing....).

I don't actually mind knocking a bit off the purchase price for the new owners to deal with it - that's not the issue. It's just bloody difficult to get builders/workmen in because of the DC's difficulties and I don't know who would do it. I can't imagine general loft insulators would expect to deal with dirty, pissy insulation, would they?? I'm more worried that buyers will see the state of the insulation and pull out of the sale. It's only a little 2-bed so likely to be a first-time buyer who purchases.

@SquirrelsAreStinky Buyers won't see it unless it's immediately obvious from a quick peer up into the loft hatch. Maybe other viewers are more nosy than us (that's all we did), but generally they won't do any more than that. Some viewers are more thorough and do things like open cupboards and turn taps on to see the water pressure, but having a full scout around the loft isn't usual. I don't suppose you inspected the loft that closely when you were viewing the house?

I would just let it go and leave it be. The new owners might decide to replace the loft insulation anyway. I don't think even surveyors will spot it as they aren't allowed to move stuff (which must make their job harder but there you go).

I despise grey squirrels so much, legally they are supposed to be destroyed rather than released into the great yonder after they've been in houses.

Is your loft insulation up to the latest specifications? If not is there any chance of getting a grant to get it done?

There might be a grant, I'm sure there was mention of grants for loft insulation for CT bands A to D and EPC of D or less, something like that recently, probably about 6 months ago, some government thing but I haven't heard anything more about because we were thinking of having ours done under the scheme. Maybe it hasn't happened yet

Why don't you just explain the situation to a loft insulation guy and see if they will deal with the squirrelly old insulation for you too?

You should never leave squirrels alone in your loft to do their thing.

The urine will soak through the insulation and maybe into the plasterboard. If it makes it into the plasterboard and though it you will get brown stains on the ceiling, and replacing the plasterboard is a much bigger and more expensive job than just replacing insulation, because you are potentially talking about removing and replastering the entire ceiling.

Personally I would clean it up because I think it is immoral to sell a house to someone knowing it has these sorts of problems. A lot of people seem to think differently though - see rat infestation thread.

Surely squirrel shit itself will act as insulation, if they have done enough of it and spread it about evenly?
I would wait and see if a surveyor/ EPC man raises it as an issue. God knows what's in our loft.

As for spiders, I always wonder what they eat when in confined spaces like lofts, floor voids and cupboards. I wouldn't have thought that there are hoards a flies around for them to feed off.

I have squirrels in my loft. We are getting our roof redone as an indirect result. They have caused a lot of damage. Nothing to be embarrassed about though, they are persistent little fuckers and I also hate going in the loft. We had their entrance tiles fixed by a roofer and they managed to move them (again) and get back in. You can still sell your house. If I was selling my house I would expect a surveyor to spot how crap the roof is and tell the buyer. Having said that, our surveyor didn’t spot how crap ours was.

Local handyman? Pay them to go up and look for damage?