After extensive, expensive repairs of the dormers in my attic a few years ago, new generations of squirrels have made it necessary to do it all over again. I have read the postings here on the subject, and would appreciate tips for making this reconstruction last longer, not squirrel recipes, amusing as they are. I will be using urethane trim, which I heard they dislike chewing, and wondered about some kind of paintable, bad-tasting material to replace the missing cedar shingles. My contracter says he can cut almost anything to shingle size to use as a replacement. I don't think it would look very nice to have hardware cloth cover the most vulnerable points, but if anyone has found this successful, I'll add that, too.

Once the squirrels are exterminated and excluded, I've heard that they are repelled by ammonia-saturated rags (although I imagine that volatile ammonia has to be renewed frequently).