The outcome people expect from sealing an entry is that the animal goes away. The outcome that usually happens is a second opening, and it is worth knowing where to expect it.
Why there is a second one
A roof edge is not one detail repeated. It is a series of different components meeting at different points, and they do not all have the same strength. Close the weakest and the next weakest becomes the weakest. On a house of any age there are usually three or four candidates on the same elevation.
There is also the animal's own knowledge. A squirrel that has been using a roof space knows the site is good, knows the approach, and has a strong reason to persist. It is not evaluating the building from scratch; it is looking for another way into somewhere it already values.
Where the second one appears
- Within a few feet of the first, along the same eaves run. The commonest by a wide margin — the next soffit joint, the next bay
- At the nearest corner. Where the eaves turns onto the gable, which is usually the weakest point on any elevation
- At the verge above. If the animal is already at the gable end
- At the matching detail on the other side of the roof. Where the approach allows it
- At a junction with a lower roof, which offers a platform to work from
Timing is the tell. Activity resuming within days of a repair almost always means a second opening on the same elevation. Activity returning after several months is more likely a new animal finding an old route. Those two need different responses, so the date matters.
Why a partial repair can make things worse
Not because it damages anything, but because it moves the problem to a detail that may be harder to reach, harder to see, or closer to something that matters. A first entry at an open soffit joint is straightforward. The replacement, forced higher up the gable or into a junction behind a lower roof, is neither.
It also costs the household its best evidence. A used opening is marked, and the marking is what makes it findable. Closing it without dealing with the activity throws that away and starts the search again.
What to do about it properly
Survey the whole elevation rather than the one opening. That means the eaves run from end to end, both corners, the verge, any junction with a lower roof, and the matching details on the other elevations the approach reaches.
Then deal with the activity, confirm the space is clear, and close the openings together. Proofing at £180 is priced on the property rather than the hole, which is why closing three is not three times the work.
Felixstowe in particular
Exposed coastal elevations tend to have more than one weak point on the same roof, because wind works on the whole edge rather than one part of it. A verge that has lost mortar in a gale has usually lost it in more than one place, and a dry-verge run that has lifted one cap has often loosened others.
Questions
How soon would a second hole appear?
Often within a day or two of the first being closed, if the animal is still using the site.
Does closing one opening ever work?
Where it is genuinely the only one and the roof is clear, yes. That is what the survey establishes.
Is it cheaper to close them one at a time?
No. Proofing is priced on the property, and a whole-elevation job is one visit rather than three.
Squirrel Control Felixstowe
Squirrel control in Felixstowe 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 Felixstowe, call 01502 630 122, or read the Felixstowe squirrel control page.