Squirrel control › Bury St Edmunds
Where the noise is heard and where the animal is are not always the same place, and in a terraced or extended property they can be surprisingly far apart.
Narrowing it down properly is the most useful hour anybody can spend on this, and it happens entirely from inside the house.
Why sound travels
Three things carry it further than people expect. Joists transmit impact along their length, so a landing at one end of a run can be heard at the other. Roof spaces are large open volumes that carry airborne sound freely. And in terraces and semis the roof space is frequently continuous, or divided by a party wall that stops short of the tiles.
The consequence is that ‘it is above the back bedroom’ is a starting point rather than an answer.
How to triangulate it
- Listen from more than one room. Same event, different rooms, on different days. Where is it loudest
- Listen from upstairs and from the landing. The landing often sits under the middle of the roof and gives a different reading
- Note which wall it is nearest. Entry points are at the roof edge, so activity concentrated near an outside wall is usually near the way in
- Note the direction of travel. Running noise that consistently goes one way at one time of day points at the entry
- Have somebody else listen from a different room at the same time, which is the single most effective method here
Matching the noise to the outside
Once you have an elevation, go and look at it. The value of the listening is that it halves or quarters the survey — instead of examining an entire roof line, you are examining one side of it, with a fair idea of which end.
Cross-check with the timing. Departure noise is at first light and return noise late afternoon. Standing outside the elevation you suspect at first light, for twenty minutes, converts a good guess into an answer.
The terraced complication
Bury St Edmunds has a great deal of terraced and semi-detached property, some of it old enough that the roof spaces were never properly divided. In those buildings the animal can be entering three doors along and resting above your bedroom, and no amount of work on your own roof edge will change that.
Signs that this is what is happening: noise that seems to come from beyond an internal wall; nothing at all visible on your own roof line after a careful survey; a neighbour reporting the same thing; or activity that continues after your own openings have been closed.
The extended-house complication
Where a property has been extended, the roof spaces above the different parts are often connected. An animal entering at an extension junction can be resting above the main house, which is why the noise and the entry can appear to be at opposite ends of the building. It is worth mentioning any extension when you call.
Questions
It sounds like it is inside the wall. Is that possible?
Sound travels down cavities and service voids readily. It is worth reporting, because a genuine wall route points at a different animal.
Can it really be next door's?
In a terrace or semi with a shared or partly divided roof space, yes, and it is common enough to be worth checking early.
Does it help to bang on the ceiling?
It will move the animal briefly and tells you very little. Careful listening from two rooms tells you a great deal more.
Squirrel Control Bury St Edmunds
Squirrel control in Bury St Edmunds is £280 fixed cost. Proofing work, where it is needed afterwards, is £180. Call 01502 630 122 and tell us what you have heard or seen.
For squirrel control in Bury St Edmunds, call 01502 630 122, or read the Bury St Edmunds squirrel control page.