A way to keep the squirrels from chewing wood:

Take (little dash) cayanne pepper and smear it on the wood. The squirrels will never touch it again. We did that for our wooden fence posts- they kept gnawing on them. The smell of the pepper scared them off, and the occasional squirrel who ignored the smell and ate the wood quickly learned that chewing on our fence in a big no no.

I know it sounds evil, but it's really not, and it really works. The only thing is after it rains you have to re-apply it since it washes off.

I don't mind squirrels even though they can be a pest sometime. I love to watch them eat infront of our window, I'm a rodent lover, and I think squirrels are adorable. They are a hoot to watch, there is one that goes crazy and does tumbles and backflips, and runs around the yard like a spaz- really nice entertainment. Ha- ha. I would LOVE to get that squirrel on video!!! We placed a squirrel feeder right infront of the backwindow, so the kitties can lay on the back of the couch and watch the squirrels- they loooooooooooooove that, especially little Samma Bin Laden.

Sorry to hear they are causing you grief chewing on everything, here we have to worry about deer not squirrels...