What Damage Can Squirrels Cause Inside a Roof?

Why the Gnawing Never Stops

A squirrel’s incisors grow continuously throughout its life and have to be worn down. That means gnawing is not a means to an end, it is a constant biological requirement, and anything in the loft will do.

This is the difference between a squirrel and most other pests. A mouse gnaws to get through something; a squirrel gnaws because it is Tuesday.

Structural and Fabric Damage

Roof timbers, joists and rafters chewed at the edges. Fascia, soffit and bargeboards, often from outside inwards. Roofing felt torn and shredded, which then lets water in at the eaves. Plastic soil-vent pipe and vent terminals gnawed through.

Insulation is the most consistent one. It gets shredded for nesting, compacted into runs and used as a latrine, and once it is soiled it stops working and has to come out.

Water Damage, Which Is the Expensive One

A gnawed pipe or a torn felt underlay lets water into a ceiling void. The first anyone knows is usually a stain on a bedroom ceiling, weeks after it started.

Squirrels also displace tiles and lift felt around their entry point, which turns a small access hole into an ongoing leak. Repairing that is normally a roofer, and it costs considerably more than the £280 trapping service that stops it getting worse.

Contamination

A loft in use as a drey accumulates urine and droppings, which soaks into insulation and plasterboard and produces a smell that reaches the rooms below. Stored belongings in the loft are frequently ruined.

Once the animals are out, soiled insulation should be removed and replaced rather than left. It is unpleasant work, it is not expensive, and leaving it means living with the smell.

And the One That Is Not Cosmetic

Electrical cable. Squirrels strip the sheathing off cable runs in lofts and that is a genuine fire risk, not a theoretical one. It is the single strongest reason not to leave a known squirrel problem for a few months.

If you find gnawed cable, get an electrician to look at it once the animals are dealt with. Do not assume that because the lights still work the cable is sound.