The Foreshore is office towers, hotels, the convention centre and the freeways, all built on land reclaimed from Table Bay. It is almost all commercial work here: food courts, hotel kitchens, parking garages and building basements.
Foreshore: what drives rodents here
Norway rats move through sewers, basements and refuse rooms, and they follow food waste from restaurants and hotels. Regular bait stations in basements and refuse areas are essential.
Big office blocks, hotels, apartment towers and the CTICC dominate, along with the station precinct, parking garages and service lanes. Basements, service ducts and refuse rooms link entire buildings, so rodents and cockroaches can travel floor to floor without being seen. Food courts and hotel kitchens need constant attention. Residential conversions add flats to the mix.
The whole area sits on flat reclaimed land between the city centre and the harbour, with the sea and the docks right next door. The South-Easter rips through the streets between the towers in summer. Old stormwater and sewer lines run underneath, and that is where most of the rodent pressure comes from.
Worth knowing
Landlords often get the call from tenants about noises in the ceiling. Proofing the roof is a one-time investment that saves repeated call-outs.
Grey squirrels were brought to Cape Town in the late 1800s and have spread across the Southern Suburbs since then.
Signs to look for
- Chewed electrical cables or damaged ceiling boards.
- Squirrels seen jumping from a tree onto the roof and disappearing under the tiles.
- Scratching and running in the ceiling in the early morning and late afternoon, rather than at night.
- Shredded insulation, leaves and twigs found in the roof space.
Squirrels in the roof chew cables, which is a fire risk, and they damage insulation and ceiling boards. Their urine and droppings can stain ceilings and cause smells. They also chew through irrigation pipes, damage fruit trees and dig up gardens. A squirrel that dies in the roof leaves an unpleasant smell for weeks.
Our process, step by step
We do not use poison for squirrels. Our approach is exclusion: we find every entry point and fit one-way exclusion devices so the squirrels can get out but not back in. Where it makes sense, live cage traps are used to remove squirrels from the roof. Once the roof is empty, we close the gaps with steel mesh and repair chewed areas so they cannot get back in. We also advise on trimming branches that give squirrels easy access to the roof.
Want the full step-by-step? See how our squirrel control service works.
Stopping a repeat visit
- Fit squirrel guards on bird feeders, or move them away from the house.
- Trim tree branches so they are at least two metres away from the roof.
- Do not feed squirrels in the garden, however cute they are.
- Pick up acorns and fallen fruit regularly if you have big trees close to the house.
- Check fascia boards and roof edges each year for chewed spots and repair them quickly.
Pricing, honestly
The cost depends on how many entry points there are, how high the roof is and how much repair and proofing is needed. A single gap is quick to deal with, but an older roof with many chewed areas takes longer. Trapping and follow-up visits are included in the free quote.
You can trim the trees and fix obvious gaps yourself, but sealing a roof with squirrels still inside is a mistake that leads to trapped animals and more damage. Getting them out humanely and proofing the whole roof line properly is a job worth getting professional help for.
Frequently asked questions
Can you treat our Foreshore restaurant kitchen after trading hours?
Yes. After-hours and weekend visits are available on request, and you get a post-treatment report for your records.
Can squirrels damage my roof?
Yes. They chew fascia boards, roof edges and cables, and they nest in insulation.
Do rats on the Foreshore come from the harbour?
Some do, but most come through the sewer and stormwater network under the reclaimed land. Basements and refuse rooms are the usual way in, so that's where we focus.
Do you come out to Foreshore for squirrel control?
Yes. Foreshore is part of our regular City Bowl & Atlantic Seaboard route, along with City Bowl, De Waterkant, Woodstock, Green Point. Most bookings are done within about 48 hours, and after-hours visits can be arranged.
What if there are babies in the roof?
We check for young before sealing, because sealing them in causes suffering, smells and more damage.
How do I know it is squirrels and not rats?
Squirrels are active during the day, especially early morning, while rats are mostly active at night.
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