Birds or bees getting in behind fascias

The roofline has many places where a small animal can slip through. Where the wall head meets the overhang there is often a gap between the brickwork and the soffit that a bird or a bee can squeeze into. Warped or cracked soffit boards open gaps at the edges. Ends of boards where a fascia meets a return are open at the back. The space under the lowest row of tiles or slates, behind the fascia, is a ready-made cavity if there is no closure.

Sparrows, starlings and house martins use the eaves; bumblebees and tree bees may take to a hole in the soffit; wasps build in the roof void and bring their nests to the edge. You hear scratching, hear buzzing or see droppings and straw on the ground.

Inside, a nest can block ventilation, hold moisture against timber and draw in other pests. Outside, droppings and straw stain the wall below the entry hole, and a busy entrance often leaves a polished, greasy ring around the gap, which is a useful clue when you are working out which hole to look at. Check the ground beneath for feathers, twigs, wax or dead insects as well.

The standard fix at the eaves is a comb filler. This is a strip of rigid plastic with a toothed edge that fits under the bottom row of tiles or slates and over the fascia. It lets air through while stopping birds and insects entering. Where there is no tile support at the eaves, an eaves closure or a bird-proof strip does the same job.

For soffit gaps, the fix is usually to replace damaged boards, fit a small trim at the junction with the wall, or add a vented soffit panel with fine mesh. Vented soffits matter because the loft needs airflow, so closing the gap must not shut the ventilation. The airflow side is covered in our guide to soffit vents and roofline ventilation, and this page deals only with pests.

Open board ends can be capped or closed with a small piece of trim, and gaps behind gutters can be closed with a bracket-safe filler. Stuffing gaps with foam, rags or wire wool is a poor answer: foam breaks down and wire wool rusts.

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built, and some rarer species have extra protection. So do not remove or block a nest that is in use. Check before any closing-up, and wait until the young have left.

Bees are another matter. Honey bees swarm and nest in cavities, and a beekeeper can sometimes collect them. Bumblebee nests are small and short-lived, and are usually best left alone until they die back in autumn. Wasps are a pest-control job. Leave the nest alone until it is dealt with, because blocking an active wasp entrance can send them into the house.

The practical plan is to survey, identify what is using the gap and whether it is active, and schedule the closing work for a time the nest is empty. We note the entry points with photographs and agree a date that fits, rather than closing a gap blindly. If a roofline job is already booked, tell us about any activity before we start so the order of work can be changed.

Gaps are rarely the first fault. They tend to follow decay: soffit boards that have swollen and bowed, fascias that have rotted at the ends, brackets that have slipped. If a gutter has been overflowing for years, the timber behind it softens and a cavity opens up.

That is why a repair that fixes only the hole can fail within a season. If the boards are tired, patching them leaves the weak points elsewhere. Our guide to continuous-run gutters and the notes on gutter bracket spacing explain how a well-supported run protects the board behind it. Manufacturer guidance gives bracket spacings from 500 mm up to 900 mm depending on the system, with closer spacing where snow is heavy.

MyBuilder's 2026 guide says plastic boards are typically replaced every 10 to 20 years, so a pest problem on tired boards can be the cue to renew the whole section.

We start with the survey. Photographs of the eaves and the points of entry show what is happening, and we look at the loft side where we can. The quote that follows covers access, closures or comb fillers, board repairs, making good and waste, and our workmanship is guaranteed in writing for 10 years.

If wasps or bees need specialist handling, that comes first, and we close up once the nest is gone. For a general view of the service, see our guttering, soffits and fascias page.

Send a few photographs taken from the ground: the gap, the nearest corner and the wall below. Anything we remove is taken away with us, and the eaves are left tidy. Photographs also let us tell you in advance whether the entry looks like a rotten board, a missing closure or a gap left at construction, which changes both the repair and the order we do things in.