Southfield is the sort of suburb people drive through without noticing: neat bungalows, bikes on the stoep and the Cape Flats line trains rolling through Southfield station. The pests here are just as low-key, a mouse in the ceiling or an ant trail by the kettle, and they tend to build up quietly before anyone calls.
Birds around Southfield
Starlings and pigeons tuck nests under loose roof tiles and into gutters each spring. Fitting bird-proofing at the eaves after the chicks have fledged keeps them from coming back the next year.
Most homes are freestanding brick houses from the mid-twentieth century onward, many extended with granny flats, enclosed stoeps and garages. Tiled and asbestos-cement roofs with timber trusses give mice and rats warm space in winter. Older kitchens with built-in wooden cupboards and gaps behind units are where cockroaches and fishmoths settle in.
Southfield sits right where the leafy Southern Suburbs give way to the sandier Cape Flats, so gardens drain fast in summer and stay soggy through a wet winter. The railway reserve is a ready-made corridor for rodents moving between suburbs. Mature trees in the older gardens hang over roofs and give roof rats an easy climb to the eaves.
Tell-tale signs
- Birds regularly perching in the same spots over doorways or walkways.
- Cooing, scratching or flapping in the roof space or behind the gutters early in the morning.
- Droppings building up on ledges, walls, windowsills or under solar panels.
- Tiny mites crawling on walls or bedding near a nest site.
- A sour smell around a roof area where birds have been nesting for a long time.
Worth knowing
When we survey a building, the first thing we look for is where the droppings land. That tells us the roost spot, which is often not where the owner thinks it is.
For landlords and body corporates, pigeon problems become a tenant complaint quickly. Proofing the common areas once beats cleaning them every week.
How we handle bird proofing in Southfield
We start by watching where the birds actually land and nest, because proofing the wrong ledge is a waste of money. Ledges and beams get bird spikes or tensioned wire systems that stop birds settling. Larger open areas such as courtyards, loading bays and light wells get bird netting fixed to a frame so birds cannot get in at all. Gaps under solar panels and roof tiles are closed with mesh or panel skirting so pigeons cannot nest underneath. Old nests and droppings are removed first, and if bird mites are present we treat the area as well.
Want the full step-by-step? See how our bird proofing service works.
Keeping them out afterwards
- Do not feed pigeons near your home or business. A reliable food source keeps them coming back.
- Deal with the first nest quickly. Pigeons that breed on a site get attached to it.
- Fit mesh skirting around new solar panels at installation, before birds discover the gap.
- Clean gutters before winter, and check for nesting material at the same time.
- Close off broken air vents, missing tiles and open eaves as soon as you notice them.
Pricing, honestly
The cost depends on how many areas need proofing, how high they are and how much access equipment is needed. Netting a large courtyard or a warehouse roof is a bigger job than spiking a few ledges. Clean-out of heavy droppings and any mite treatment are included in the free quote once we have done the site survey.
A few spikes on a low windowsill is a fine DIY job. Netting and solar panel proofing at height is not, both for safety and because poorly tensioned netting sags, traps birds and ends up looking messy. I would rather do it once and do it properly.
Questions we get asked in Southfield
Can you stop pigeons nesting under my solar panels?
Yes. We clean out the nests and fit mesh skirting around the panel edges so birds cannot get underneath.
Do you come out to Southfield for bird proofing?
Yes. Southfield is part of our regular Southern Suburbs route, along with Plumstead, Ottery, Diep River, Heathfield. Most bookings are done within about 48 hours, and after-hours visits can be arranged.
Why am I getting bites after the pigeons left?
That is often bird mites leaving an abandoned nest. They do not live on people, but they bite, and we treat the nest area to stop them.
Can you do commercial buildings?
Yes, a lot of our bird proofing is shops, warehouses and blocks of flats where droppings affect staff and customers.
Do ants in Southfield come from the garden or the house?
Usually the garden. They nest in sandy soil and trail indoors looking for food or water, so treating the nests outside works better than spraying inside.
Why do I hear scratching in my Southfield ceiling every winter?
It is usually mice or roof rats moving in from the garden and trees when it turns cold and wet. Sealing entry points and a short baiting programme in the roof normally sorts it out.
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