Proofing rats & mice

In Pests

Proofing rats & mice:
A large percentage of our rat and mouse jobs involve either flats, semi detached houses or terraced houses. This can make things difficult if the rat or mouse problem originates away from where the problem has been reported. Some people will not realise that rats or mice are traveling through their loft or cavity wall to a neighbouring property either next door or in a terrace house, could be down the road. In an ideal situation the perimeter of the building should be checked (you need to treat all attached structures so the perimeter of a building in the case of a terraced house may be quite large) for ingress points. Gaps of anything over 1 cm will allow mice to gain access. Once this has done then looking at drains needs to be carried out. These can be test baited, have a camera survey or have rodent sewer valves installed to prevent rats or mice gaining access to the building via the sewers. Rats and mice can also gain access at gutter level. Removing creepers and trees next to the roofs needs to be done and also checking that rats are not getting to the gutter level and then into the loft via drain pipes. Guards can be fitted to these if this is the case.

If not all of the above can be done (and in most cases it can’t) then the person with the problem can get PEST UK in to proof the building from the inside. This involves tracing all the gaps and holes and filling. We have a technician at PEST UK who specialises in this. It is a highly skilled job, not necessarily the doing of the job but knowing where the gaps and holes are liable to be. If an area is boxed off (which is normal in modern bathrooms and kitchens) then holes and gaps around pipes are often left which allow access by rodents. Poison bait treatments have their part to play but long term proofing may be the only solution.

For advice or a pest control treatment please phone PEST UK on 0330 100 2811. Alec Minter
Rats BPCA Advice
Mice BPCA