Stopping rats in an old terrace

isaadvice

Hey all, we bought an old terraced house last year and a few months in we heard a rat gnawing on something under the floor in the hallway.

We pulled up the carpet and got a whiff of "pet shop" and could see a few droppings - great!
We bought traps, pulled up a few boards and put them down and months later had only caught 1 baby.
We called out the council who came (on 3 occasions) and put down lots of different poisons but with no luck until a few weeks after the final visit (where he said some of the poison had been taken) when we noticed a smell. Luckily for us, the rat had died right under a floorboard we can lift so it was easy to remove and the smell vanished within an hour.

The council guy told us, being a terraced house over 130 years old, there will be runs and scent trails under all the houses and there is very little you can do about it as they are likely getting under someone elses house and then have a free run He advised we just keep putting poison down ourselves as it's cheaper (they charge £70 for 3 visits!).

We've been doing that and for a while none of the poison was taken, then suddenly it all went and now we have another smell, this time 10 times worse (probably because it's now summer) but we can't find it anywhere. As everyone always says, it's disgusting and no amount of air freshener is going to hide it.

We know they are not getting food from our house as there are no signs of entry or any missing food.
The neighbours one side have several young kids and dogs (who seem to permanently live in kennels in the garden?!), plus bird feeders and some sort of pond/water feature, so plenty of food there.

The neighbours also smoke and sometimes it smells like they have just lit up in our house - this comes from under the floorboards in the hallway again so I'm pretty sure under there it's riddled with tunnels/holes between the houses.

So basically, what do we do?

We have kinda resigned ourselves to just putting up with the odd noise of gnawing (a few seconds, a few times a week) as that is infinitely more bearable than the smell of a dead poisoned rat.

My questions/options are:

1. Is it wise to just ignore them? They have obviously been there for absolutely years and the house is still standing. The electrics probably need rewiring anyway so if/when the rats chew through something we can deal with it then. The council guy said they are usually quite happy to stay down there and aren't aware of a bountiful supply of food above their heads so don't tend to come up unless you invite them with gaps/cracks etc.
   
2. Is it wise to tape up all cracks (some are 1cm) in the floorboards or better yet cover them entirely with a thick non-breathable plastic sheet to prevent the draughts and smells coming up (dead rat smell which I understand will be lingering for a few months and then just the regular old neighbourino smoke). All floors are original suspended floorboards with underlay and carpet. I cant find a definitive answer as to a non-breathable membrane being good or bad for the underfloor in terms of moisture/ventilation/rotting wood etc.
   
3. Is there any point trying to prevent them from entering our underfloor? The only way in is from under either neighbouring wall so would involve pulling up the entire ground floor to find and deal with the holes in the brickwork. But even then, how do you stop a rat from just burrowing into the bare earth? The only thing I can think of is concreting it all in, but from my understanding that's not good for the underfloor structure as it won't be able to breathe/ventilate.
   Also, I hear rats can get through concrete if they really want to :eek:
   
4. Is selling up a bit extreme? This is our first home and we never planned to live here long term, just wanted to get on the ladder. We've had it just under a year and have a 3 year fix mortgage with ERC so don't think it's a good idea to sell. But with us both looking at new jobs further afield in the near future maybe it is worth considering, or renting out - it's a very studenty area but can't bring myself to be one of those beeping student landlords who don't give a sheet about conditions.

Please help! :mad:

keith969

isaadvice wrote: »

Also, I hear rats can get through concrete if they really want to :eek:

You'll be hearing their pneumatic drills if so

isaadvice

haha. We did hear some sawing earlier today, I think it was the neighbours but I suppose it could have been a rat doing some DIY.

Doozergirl

Bless you for having a sense of humour.

There is a big thread about rats and mice which other posts get merged into. I do feel for you but I wouldn't know what to do other than brick up all the gaps under the floor and in the roof space, which might be overkill.

bouicca21

In my experience the smell of dead mouse under the floor lasts 3 days. Rats being bigger presumably smell for longer.

I'd lay odds on the problem being made worse by the bird feeders - that is, if they are the type that allows food to dribble out on the ground.

I tried all sorts of things to get rid of mice in my last place, nothing worked permanently - there was always another generation from wherever the nest was situated.

I would seriously suggest that the only effective way of keeping rats under control is to buy or borrow a Jack RusselL terrier.