Dealing with mice right now? Mouse & Rat Control, by a team that does nothing else.
Rats are a bigger job than mice and a more urgent one. They gnaw cabling, lead pipework and timber, they can flood a loft by chewing through a pipe, and their urine and droppings carry a genuine health risk into a building. If you have heard something heavy moving above a ceiling at night, or seen a rat in the garden more than once, it is worth dealing with this week rather than next month.
The drains question
This is the part most treatments skip and the reason most of them come back. A cracked or displaced section of clay drain, or an unsealed redundant connection left behind by an old bathroom or kitchen, gives rats a direct route from the sewer into a cavity or an underfloor void. They arrive inside the building without ever crossing the garden.
You cannot bait your way out of that. The bait works, the rats die, and more follow the same route the following month. Where the evidence points at the drainage we say so and recommend a drain survey, because the repair is the treatment. Signs worth noting: activity that returns on a cycle, rats appearing in the middle of a property rather than at its edges, or an old property with no obvious external entry point.
How rats get in above ground
- Gaps of about 25mm. Roughly a fifty pence piece, and they will enlarge a smaller opening by gnawing.
- The roof line. Rats climb well. A slipped tile, an open verge, or the gap where a flat roof meets the main wall puts them straight into a loft.
- Air bricks and thresholds. Broken slats and worn door bottoms at ground level.
- Service penetrations. The holes cut for gas, waste and cabling, particularly where they pass through into a cavity.
What the garden is doing
Most rats that end up inside a building were living outside it first, and gardens usually supply the reason. Bird feeders, open compost, dog fouling, and the voids under decking, sheds and garden offices provide both food and harbourage within a few metres of the house.
Dealing with that is not a substitute for treatment, but it removes the reason the population is there at all. See rats in the garden.
How we treat
- Survey inside, outside and at roof level. Rats leave heavier, greasier smear marks than mice and their runs are easier to read once you know where to look.
- Treatment on the active runs. Tamper-resistant bait stations, or trapping where bait is not appropriate. Rats are wary of anything new in their environment, so it commonly takes a few days before they take bait at all. That is normal and it is why the follow-up matters.
- Drainage assessed as standard where the evidence suggests it.
- Proofing with metal plate, rodent mesh, mortar and brush strip. Foam and sealant do not survive a rat.
Two to four visits is typical. The follow-ups are what confirm activity has stopped rather than paused.
Telling rats from mice
Droppings are the clearest test. Mouse droppings are about the size of a grain of rice; rat droppings are considerably larger and tapered at the ends. Rats also sound heavier and slower overhead, sometimes audible as dragging or gnawing rather than the light quick scurrying of a mouse. It matters, because the two need different bait placement, different proofing and, in the case of rats, the drainage question. See signs of rats and scratching noises at night.
We are family run and fully insured, our technicians hold the RSPH Level 2 qualification, every treatment carries a written guarantee, and rodents are all we do. A free survey is available on request. For whole-property sealing, see super-proofing.