If you live in Toronto or the Greater Toronto Area, chances are you’ve either dealt with raccoons on your roof or know someone who has. At Classic Products Roofing Systems Inc., we get many calls, especially in spring and summer, from homeowners losing sleep over raccoons on their roof or in their attic.
For many GTA homeowners, the story is the same: repeated raccoon removal, damaged shingles, torn roof decking, ruined insulation and money spent year after year. So more homeowners are asking: can a metal roof help with raccoon problems?
To answer that, it helps to understand why raccoons go after roofs and attics in the first place.
Why do raccoons get into attics?
Raccoons are smart animals with strong nesting instincts, especially in spring and early summer. A mother raccoon looks for:
- Warm, dry shelter
- A safe place to raise her young
- A quiet, high spot away from predators
Unfortunately, an attic checks every box. Asphalt shingle roofs are especially easy targets. Over time, raccoons tear, pry and chew through shingles and roof parts until they reach the attic. Even after repairs, they often come back, because they remember where they got in.
How do raccoons get onto the roof?
Raccoons are excellent climbers. In Toronto neighbourhoods and older GTA communities, we often see them reach roofs by:
- Climbing nearby trees or overhanging branches
- Using porch or garage roofs as stepping stones
- Scaling downspouts and corner brickwork
- Working at weak roof edges or aging shingles
How should raccoons be removed from an attic?
Once raccoons have nested in an attic, removing them isn’t a DIY job, especially when young are present:
- A mother raccoon won’t leave until her young are old enough to follow her
- Removing them the wrong way can lead to aggressive behaviour or more damage
- Raccoon droppings can carry roundworm, a serious health risk
Call a humane wildlife control company, not a standard pest control service. Make sure the raccoons are out and the attic is cleaned up before any roof work starts.
How can a metal roof help keep raccoons out?
No roof can stop a raccoon from climbing onto it. However, interlocking metal roofs are much harder for raccoons to get through than asphalt:
- They can’t be chewed or torn the way asphalt shingles can.
- They lock together on all four sides, so there’s no loose edge to pry up.
- They go directly on the roof deck, with no strapping gaps for animals to nest in. Here’s why we never use strapping.
We’ve installed more than 5,000 metal roofs across Toronto, the GTA and Southern Ontario, many for homeowners who had struggled with raccoons.
“In over 35 years working with interlocking metal roofing systems, I have yet to return to a home because of raccoon damage after installation.”
— Armand Bourget, former Classic salesman
A Toronto homeowner’s experience
Judy M., a homeowner in Toronto, installed an interlocking aluminum roof after years of raccoon problems:
“After years of repairing damage done by raccoons we decided to replace our shingled roof with a metal one. We couldn’t be happier with our decision to go with Classic Products Roofing.”
Done with raccoon repairs?
We’ll measure, show you samples and give you a free, no-obligation quote. Call 866-969-7663.