The work is done and the roof is quiet. The question everybody asks next is how long it takes to be confident, and what would count as it coming back.
Here is what the year after a Cambridge job actually looks like.
The first week
Judge it on mornings. Early daylight is when activity would show, so a quiet afternoon proves considerably less than three quiet dawns. Give it several mornings before drawing any conclusion either way.
Some settling noise is normal in the first day or two — a roof space that has been occupied and disturbed does not go silent instantly, and material can shift.
The first month
- Quiet mornings, consistently
- No new debris appearing below the roof edge, once you have cleared what was there
- Nothing new in the gutter
- No fresh gnawing at the proofed points — worth one look from the ground with a camera at about four weeks
This is also the point to finish the inside jobs: replace contaminated insulation, have an electrician look at anything that was gnawed near a cable run, and put the loft back.
The first autumn
The real test, and it may be next autumn rather than this one. Dispersal brings a fresh cohort of young animals past the building every year from late August, and they assess it exactly as last year's did. A roof that is properly closed simply does not offer them anything.
Worth doing in September: one walk round with the camera at full zoom, checking the proofed points and the rest of the roof line. Ten minutes, once a year.
What would count as a return. Daylight noise, on several mornings, at the same end of the house — not a single odd sound in a windy week. Say when it started and whether it is the same part of the roof as before, because those two facts point at quite different explanations.
What can still change
The proofed openings are a permanent repair. What is not permanent is the rest of the building: mortar cracks, a verge unit lifts in a gale, a soffit joint opens, a tile slips, a tree grows back towards the roof. Those are the reasons for the annual look rather than a one-off inspection.
The garden side of it
Cut back anything overhanging the roof once the work is finished rather than before, keep climbing plants clear of the eaves and gutter, and move anything stacked against a wall that gives a first step up. None of it substitutes for the closed opening; all of it lengthens the odds.
Questions
How long until I can be confident?
A month of quiet mornings is a good sign. The following autumn is the real test, because that is when the pressure returns.
I heard something once. Is it back?
One sound in a windy week is not much. Several quiet mornings broken by consistent daylight noise is.
Should I check the roof myself each year?
From the ground with a camera, yes — ten minutes in September. Not from a ladder.
Squirrel Control Cambridge
Squirrel control in Cambridge 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 Cambridge, call 01502 630 122, or read the Cambridge squirrel control page.