Whether it is for a big vacation, a new vehicle, or even early retirement, the homeowner's mind is trained to save money. However, sudden, expensive issues around the house can still pop up and the sense of urgency can blur judgment.
Squirrel removal services are one such thing that can cause homeowners a panic attack. After discovering squirrels in your attic or the wall, you might be wondering how big of a hit your savings will take. Like all nuanced conversations about price, “It depends.” From the moment squirrels get into your attic, they become an ever-growing expense.
When providing removal services, we have found that the duration and number of squirrels in your attic are the biggest drivers of the amount of damage they can cause, from chewed wiring to chewed ductwork, the ultimate price of squirrels in your attic varies significantly. In this blog though, we focus exclusively on squirrel removal via “exclusion” (sealing the home or building of all entry points) and trapping/removal, assuming you remove the squirrels prior to them causing other damage.
All pricing information is based on Critter Stop’s intimate knowledge of the competitive landscape within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex market. Prices may vary significantly if you are in other geographic areas.
Important factors influencing the squirrel removal cost near you include your location, the complexity of your case, where the animal has nested, and how many home features you have around your house that they could target if you only seal their current entry point.
While local governments may provide some of these services free of cost, in most regions, including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, homeowners rely on private removal companies to get them removed successfully.
In our experience providing the service, the average cost for squirrel removal ranges from several hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on the approach and level of work needed. Getting rid of squirrels is not always easy. It can sometimes take weeks to get them removed from your property.
Many people turn to home remedies to evict these little creatures from their property, but it is worth remembering that the longer you wait, the harder it will become to get the job done. When discussing your options with a wildlife removal professional, don't be surprised if they suggest a combination of these popular squirrel removal methods:
The average cost for squirrel trapping & relocation is ~$300-$500, depending on the number of squirrels being trapped and relocated. While squirrels are clever creatures that are difficult to catch, it can still be done. When squirrel trapping is successful, the animals should be relocated following local laws and regulations, but still far enough away such that it is unlikely they will simply return to your home and continue causing problems.
While relocation often comes packaged with squirrel trapping, if you have successfully trapped squirrels yourself and just want relocation service, you will still have to pay for it.
While you can remove squirrels from your attic via trapping and relocating, this does not fix the root of your squirrel problem – you have entry points around your home that squirrels, and likely other rodents, are using to get in and out of your attic. Worse yet, once rodents get into your attic, their pheromones, biological markers, and urine markers will continue to attract other animals for years to come, unless you adequately destroy all of these scent particles!
Furthermore, if you just seal the couple of spots squirrels are using to get into your attic now, it will only be a matter of time before they create entry points on identical home features around your house.
Squirrels are similar to humans in this manner. If someone were to lock you out of your house, you would not go find a new place to live after discovering the front door was locked. You would try to get in through the back or side door, try to get in through the garage, and maybe even break a window to get in if that’s what it took. Squirrels are similarly persistent. For this reason, if you want a permanent solution, homeowners must seal all current and potential entry points around the house to avoid turning a couple-week squirrel removal process into a multi-month game of Whac-A-Mole around your house!
When going the exclusion route, it is advisable to install what is called a “one-way door,” which is just a cage with openings on both ends and a door that allows the critters to get out of your attic but not get back in. One open side is placed against your home while the other points outside.
If you want to just put a band-aid on your current problem, knowing you will likely need squirrel removal services again in a few months or a year, exclusion work can be as cheap as a few hundred bucks. However, if you truly want to keep the squirrels out of your attic and home and prevent squirrels from chewing wires or ductwork in your attic, quality exclusion work can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on how large the home is and how many home features require exclusion.
One additional cost worth the investment is sanitizing the attic once the home is sealed and squirrels can no longer get in. Sanitation will not only kill the squirrels’ scent, which would only continue to attract other animals, but it will also kill the germs and microbacteria left behind in the animals’ feces and urine. Sanitation generally costs ~$300 - $800, depending on the size and maneuverability of your attic.
Another factor that influences the cost is where the squirrels are causing a nuisance on your property. If you have squirrels nested outside your home, such as in your backyard or lawn, it will probably cost you less since you will probably only need trapping &relocation services.
However, if squirrels are in your attic or they have gained access to other parts of your home, it will cost you significantly more, as professionals will have to find and remove the animals, address current and potential entry points around your house that squirrels will continue to target, and provide sanitation services to address the germs and microbacteria squirrels leave behind, which can carry serious diseases.
If squirrels have nested in your backyard, it will cost ~$200 to $500 to get them removed, depending on the number of nests and number of squirrels to be trapped and relocated. Squirrels are attracted to backyards because of food sources such as bird feeders.
Similar to trapping in your backyard, the squirrel removal company will likely charge ~$200 to $500 for the squirrel trapping and then $100 - $400 to address any entry points around or under the shed that may lead to continual rehabitation.
Squirrels can sometimes get inside basements and create nests with any variety of clothing or furniture material down there. The dark and private nature of basements provides a safe environment for squirrels looking for protection from the elements and lurking predators.
While a squirrel removal company may be able to solve your problem with a simple $200-$500 trapping process, at least some exclusion work is probably necessary.
Removing squirrels from your roof and transferring them somewhere safe and far away will cost you $200 to $500. However, depending on how the squirrel removal company charges, the final bill could be much higher than this if you will be charged per animal that is trapped and relocated since squirrels are in abundance throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and neighboring squirrels typically move into territories that have been vacated by other squirrels, meaning if you have squirrels on your roof now, you will likely always have at least some squirrel activity on your roof in the future!
Squirrels like climbing, jumping, and exploring, so the roof of your house can be a fun place for them to live and play. Unfortunately, squirrels are always looking for a safe place to nest and raise their babies. So, they will eventually create or find ways inside, such as roof vents, a roof edge, gable vents, and wall vents to get into your house through the roof. As a result, protecting your home with exclusion work can benefit you for years to come, especially if you choose a company that will stand behind its work like Critter Stop, which offers customers throughout Dallas-Fort Worth (“DFW”) a lifetime guarantee on its animal removal services.
Squirrels in an attic space are the most common situation we come across in DFW. This is true for most wild animals, not just squirrels, to gain access and enjoy life undisturbed – until you notice them and decide to do something about it, that is. Squirrels hate cold temperatures, and the quiet, warm, dark environment of the attic attracts many wild animals to get inside so they have a safe place to have their babies.
As squirrel removal experts, we can be pretty sure that if squirrels are left in your attic for an extended period, it is only a matter of time before they chew through electrical wires or ductwork. Additionally, squirrel droppings and urine contaminate the attic insulation, making it unsanitary and requiring entirely removing and replacing it. While creating a healthy environment for you and your family is our top priority, your home will also benefit from greater energy efficiency, as animals in the attic compress and redistribute the insulation throughout the attic, making it much less efficient.
As you would probably expect, the cost can vary depending on the number of squirrels, the duration of their stay, and how difficult it is to access your attic. The largest driver of price though is the size and building style of your home. For most customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area though, the average cost will be ~$1,000 - $3,000 and should include exclusion and trapping.
A squirrel infestation in your home’s walls is undoubtedly a serious situation. These tiny creatures can do a surprising amount of squirrel damage and create an unsanitary situation in your home. Just this week (at the time of writing, November 2021), we visited a home that only discovered they had squirrels in their walls after they decided to replace their baseboards. They pulled off their old baseboards to find stored acorns in their wall. After creating a larger opening, they found ~4-5” of wire that had been chewed down to the copper only a few feet from the nest.
Additionally, while attics are usually large and well-ventilated, masking dead animal odor, at least to a degree, walls provide very little protection and can be much more difficult to pinpoint.
To get the squirrels removed from the wall, the cost and process will be the same as getting squirrels out of your attic – exclusion, trapping, and sanitation will probably cost ~$1,000 - $3,000 depending on the size and style of the home.
Squirrels may look innocent, but when they find their way inside your house, they can cause all kinds of problems. Squirrels give birth to two to three litters of four or six babies each year, which means your squirrel problem can multiply fast!
Homeowners often brush off the expenses they could be avoiding by investing in quality squirrel removal services backed by a guarantee from a well-regarded company. While spending $1,000 - $3,000 on a full removal may seem high, it is a fraction of what some of our customers ultimately spend once their problem gets so bad that they must replace, insulation, ductwork, etc.
You may feel like you are saving a good amount of money by not calling in an expert team for squirrel removal, but squirrels are persistent, multiply fast, and can cause significant damage in only a short amount of time. Inevitably, the longer your squirrel problem goes without proper attention, the more damage they will cause.
If you hear squirrels, Critter Stop can help you get your property squirrel-free. With reasonable prices for animal removal and a lifetime guarantee for qualifying customers, we are on our way to becoming Dallas-Fort Worth’s go-to animal removal company. If you were interested enough to read this far, what are you waiting for? Call us at (214) 234-2616 and get a free quote!
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