Kensington has the feel of an old railway suburb, with modest homes on small plots, corner shops and warehouses never far away. Our work here is mostly rats, cockroaches and pigeons, and how bad each one gets depends a lot on how close you are to the industrial side.
Kensington: what drives rodents here
Norway rats travel from the railway reserve and warehouse yards into back gardens and under timber floors. Bait stations along the boundary wall and closed gaps around pipes do most of the work.
Rows of older semi-detached and free-standing houses make up most of the suburb, many with pitched corrugated roofs and backyard rooms built over time. Some are a hundred years old in parts, with timber floors over shallow voids. Factories, workshops and storage units nearby add bigger buildings with loading bays, where rats are never short of a meal.
From the technician
Grey squirrels were brought to Cape Town in the late 1800s and have spread across the Southern Suburbs since then.
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.
Tell-tale signs
- Squirrels seen jumping from a tree onto the roof and disappearing under the tiles.
- Shredded insulation, leaves and twigs found in the roof space.
- Chewed electrical cables or damaged ceiling boards.
- Chewed fascia boards, barge boards or roof edges with fresh wood exposed.
- Scratching and running in the ceiling in the early morning and late afternoon, rather than at night.
- Dug-up pot plants and bulbs, and nuts buried in garden beds.
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.
How the treatment works
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.
- Roof inspection
We check the roof space and outside roof line to find nests and every entry point.
- Exclusion or trapping
One-way exclusion devices or live traps are fitted so the squirrels leave the roof.
- Confirm it is empty
We check that no squirrels or babies are left inside before anything is sealed.
- Proofing
Entry points are sealed with steel mesh and repairs, so they cannot chew back in.
- Report
You get a report with details of the work done and any trees to trim.
Stopping a repeat visit
- Use metal mesh, not plastic, over roof vents and gaps.
- Check fascia boards and roof edges each year for chewed spots and repair them quickly.
- 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.
- Trim tree branches so they are at least two metres away from the roof.
How much will it cost?
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.
Squirrels in Cape Town breed mainly in late winter and spring, and again in summer, and that is when they look for sheltered nesting places such as roofs. Autumn is also busy, as they gather acorns and nuts from the oak trees.
Questions we get asked in Kensington
Do rats in Kensington come from the Ndabeni and Epping industrial areas?
Some do. Warehouses and railway land give rats food and shelter, and they move into homes nearby, so we bait along the boundaries and seal entry points.
Can squirrels damage my roof?
Yes. They chew fascia boards, roof edges and cables, and they nest in insulation.
How do I stop pigeons nesting under my solar panels?
Mesh around the edge of the panels stops pigeons getting underneath without damaging the system. We can fit it and clear out existing nests.
Do you come out to Kensington for squirrel control?
Yes. Kensington is part of our regular Northern Suburbs route, along with Maitland, Ndabeni, Pinelands, Epping. Most bookings are done within about 48 hours, and after-hours visits can be arranged.
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.
What if there are babies in the roof?
We check for young before sealing, because sealing them in causes suffering, smells and more damage.
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