Ways Squirrels Damage Your House and How to Prevent It

Squirrels can be adorable critters, but when they damage your roof, you might think of them as a scourge with fluffy tails. Squirrels can damage the outside of your house, including the roof and siding. Find out what kind of damage squirrels can do to your house and how to get rid of the pests.

Squirrel Damage to Your Siding

Squirrels are adept at climbing. They have sharp claws and agile bodies. As they climb the outside of your wall, their sharp nails may dig into your siding material. Wood and adobe are especially vulnerable to this kind of damage.

Squirrels usually have one goal — to get inside your house. They’ll chew on anything if they think it’s an obstacle to getting inside. They can easily chew holes in your siding or shutters. In fact, experts say their biting power is 7,500 pounds per square inch, so even aluminum siding won’t be a deterrent

Squirrel Damage to Your Roof

Squirrels can leap quite far, both straight up and across a divide, so they can easily reach your roof to do some damage.

Squirrels aren’t put off by the taste of asphalt. They’ll bite right into your asphalt shingles in their desire to get into your attic. With their powerful jaws, they can easily chew through the shingles and the underlying wood to make their way inside. They’ll usually focus on hard-to-reach parts of your roof to create their hole in peace. They’ll also gnaw on fascia, capping, and vents.

Going back to their sharp claws, they won’t necessarily damage shingles by scratching them. However, they can dig their claws in and work on pulling the shingles apart. Even clay tile and slate shingles are susceptible to this manner of squirrel attack.

Squirrel Damage Control

Your first order of business is to evict any squirrels that have invaded your house. Start by watching their habits. Try to catch them in the act of actually climbing onto your roof. They warn each other of danger, so try to be subtle in your reconnaissance. Most likely they’re climbing a tree and leaping across — they can leap nine feet over a divide.

Your first step, then is to get rid of their entry mode. You may need to cut back the tree branches more than nine feet to prevent their leap onto your roof. Next, find out if they’ve made their way inside your house. If so, you may need to contact an animal removal service if they’ve taken up residence. You could also set humane traps and release them far away from your property.

Finally, prevent their return by looking for the holes they made to get inside. Have those holes repaired so they can’t get back in if they return to your property. Likewise, seal all your soffits to prevent them from becoming entrances. An additional step is to install steel screens over your vents. Steel is too hard for them to bite through.

Squirrel Damage Prevention

The squirrels will come back. So, your next step is to ensure they can’t cause damage again, or to minimize it anyway. So, in addition to trimming the tree back, consider fitting it with a squirrel guard. This guard consists of a sheet of metal at least two feet wide. Attach it to the tree about six feet up. Secure the metal with wire and springs so the trunk has space to grow.

Likewise, make your attic unattractive for their inhabitation. You can install anti-squirrel strobe lights in your attic. They don’t like the flashing lights, so they’ll stay away. Finally, don’t let your yard be attractive to them. Remove bird feeders so they don’t see your yard as a buffet joint. You can also spray the yard and your roof with squirrel repellent.

Consider having a professional evaluation of your roof and siding in case the squirrels have caused more damage than you think. Done Right Home Improvements can help you.