Almost every squirrel job in Ipswich starts with a roof detail that was quietly failing for a year or two before anything moved in.
A short, deliberate look once a year catches nearly all of them, and it needs no equipment beyond a phone.
When
September, before the autumn dispersal and before the weather turns. On a dry morning or a clear evening, when the sun is low enough to rake across the roof and throw shadow into anything that is out of line.
The ten minutes
- Walk the whole perimeter. All four sides, including the ones nobody looks at — the gable against the boundary, the return behind the garage
- Sight along the line. From each corner, look along the eaves rather than at them. Anything out of line shows in profile
- Zoom in on every junction. Where a lower roof meets a wall, where a soffit meets a corner, either end of the ridge
- Photograph anything odd, and anything you photographed last year, so you can compare
- Look in the gutter from an upstairs window
- Look at the trees — what has grown towards the roof since last year
The checklist
- Eaves. Any gap where the roof overhangs the wall
- Verge. Cracked or missing mortar, a lifted dry-verge unit, a missing end cap
- Soffit and fascia. Open joints, soft or split boards, corners
- Roof-to-wall junctions. Flashing lifted, mortar gone
- Ridge. Loose or missing mortar at the ends
- Tiles. Anything slipped, lifted, cracked or sitting proud
- Vents and penetrations. Grilles missing or damaged
- Previously proofed points. Mesh intact, fixings sound, no fresh gnawing at the edges
Keep the photographs. A folder on a phone, one set a year, turns a vague impression into a comparison. Most of what matters here is change over time, and memory is not good at that.
The inside half
Five minutes at the loft hatch with a torch, in the same week. Daylight showing anywhere it should not; insulation disturbed, flattened or hollowed; droppings on top of clean material; nesting material; anything gnawed on visible cable runs; damp patches or staining on the underside of the roof felt.
From the hatch, without climbing in. Most Ipswich lofts are unboarded and the useful evidence is visible from the opening.
None of this is a ladder job. Everything on the outside list is legible at full zoom from the ground, and roof-height ladder work is by a wide margin the most dangerous part of this subject.
What to do with what you find
A cracked verge or an open soffit joint is a roofing repair worth doing on its own merits, quite apart from squirrels — the same gaps let in water and rot the boards around them. Doing it before anything moves in is a good deal cheaper than doing it afterwards.
Questions
Is once a year enough?
For most properties, yes, done in September. Add a look after any severe gale, which is what lifts verge units and slips tiles.
What if I cannot see the back roof?
A neighbour's upstairs window, or a phone on an extendable pole in video mode walked along the wall.
Do I need binoculars?
A phone camera at full zoom is generally enough. Binoculars are better for detail if you have them.
Squirrel Control Ipswich
Squirrel control in Ipswich 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 Ipswich, call 01502 630 122, or read the Ipswich squirrel control page.