Squirrels very rarely climb a bare two-storey wall. They arrive at roof level in stages, and in most Stowmarket properties the stages are the single-storey parts of the building itself.
The staging platforms
- Garages, particularly attached or boundary garages, whose roofs sit at about first-floor level
- Single-storey extensions, kitchen and utility additions across the back
- Conservatories, whose roofs are both a platform and a junction with the main wall
- Porches and canopies, small but exactly placed at the front door
- Bay window roofs, which are a step to a bedroom window and then to the eaves
- Outbuildings, log stores and bin stores against a wall
Why they matter twice over
A low roof is not only a route. It is also a junction — the point where the lower roof meets the higher wall is a made-up detail rather than a designed one, and it is where roofs leak and where animals get in. So an extension provides both the way up and, very often, the way in at the top of it.
The best view of any of this is from an upstairs window. Almost every low roof on a house can be looked down onto from a bedroom, which gives a complete view of the surface, the junction and any debris on it — at no risk at all.
What to look for on a low roof
- Debris. Nut shells, insulation fibre, nesting material, gnawed fragments — a flat or shallow roof catches and keeps all of it
- A worn line across moss or algae on a flat roof, showing a regular route
- Marking at the step-up point, where the animal leaves the lower roof for the wall or gutter above
- The junction itself. Flashing lifted or pulled away, mortar fillets cracked or missing, a gap where tiles meet the wall
- Anything stacked on the low roof or against it
How the animal gets onto the low roof
That is the earlier stage and it is usually a fence, a wall, a bin store or a shrub. Working the route backwards from the low roof generally finds it in a minute or two, and it is the stage most likely to be changeable — a fence panel meeting a garage, a bin against a wall, a shrub grown up beside a porch.
What can be changed
- Move anything stacked at the base of a low roof or against its wall
- Cut back shrubs and climbers that reach it
- Do not store things on a flat roof
- Repair the junction at the top of it, which is worth doing for the water regardless
- Accept the extension itself, and close the openings
Questions
Is a conservatory a particular risk?
The junction where it meets the house is a known weak point, and the roof is a platform at the right height. Both are worth surveying.
How do I inspect a flat roof safely?
From an upstairs window above it. That is a better view than standing on it would give.
Does a detached garage matter?
Only if something reaches from it to the house. On the boundary and close in, it usually does.
Squirrel Control Stowmarket
Squirrel control in Stowmarket 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 Stowmarket, call 01502 630 122, or read the Stowmarket squirrel control page.