The expensive Cambridge squirrel jobs are rarely expensive because of what the animal chewed. They are expensive because of what came in after it.
Water is the damage that multiplies, and the chain from a lifted tile to a collapsed ceiling is shorter than most people expect.
The chain
- A tile is lifted or slipped at the point of entry, or the felt beneath it is torn to get through
- Rain gets past the covering. A roof covering and its underlay are a two-layer system; breaching the second layer is what matters
- Insulation gets wet. Wet mineral wool stops insulating almost entirely and takes a long time to dry in an unventilated space
- Timber stays damp. Rafters, battens and joist ends in contact with wet insulation do not dry out either
- The ceiling below stains, then softens, then in the worst cases comes down
- Decay begins in timber that has been damp long enough, which is a structural repair rather than a decorating one
Why it goes unnoticed
None of the early stages is visible from inside the house. A breached underlay does not drip through immediately — the water is absorbed by insulation and held there, and the first thing anyone sees is a stain on a bedroom ceiling weeks or months later, by which point the timber above has been damp the whole time.
It is also seasonal in an unhelpful way. Entry happens in autumn; the wet weather that exploits it runs through the winter; the stain appears in the spring.
A damp patch on an upstairs ceiling after loft activity is not a decorating job. Something above it is admitting water and the insulation up there is almost certainly wet. Look before painting.
What it costs to put right
The individual repairs are ordinary trades work — a roofer to re-lay the covering and make good the underlay, insulation replaced, timber treated or spliced where decay has started, a ceiling patched or replaced, and redecoration. What makes it expensive is that it is four trades rather than one, and the sequence matters.
Set against £280 for the control work and £180 for proofing, the arithmetic is not close. The whole of this chain begins with an opening that was cheap to close.
What to check now
- Daylight visible anywhere in the roof space from the hatch
- Insulation that looks darker, flattened or compacted in one area
- Staining on the underside of the roof felt
- Any damp smell in the loft that was not there before
- Marks on upstairs ceilings, particularly near an outside wall
- Tiles sitting proud or out of line, from the ground
Questions
Will insurance cover it?
Check the policy rather than assume. Damage caused by vermin is commonly excluded, and where water damage is covered an insurer will usually ask whether the cause was dealt with promptly.
How quickly does timber decay?
Not in weeks, but sustained damp through a winter is enough to start it. Drying the space out is the priority once the covering is repaired.
Can wet insulation be dried?
In practice it is usually replaced. It dries very slowly in an unventilated roof and rarely recovers its performance.
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.