Rats!!! Help needed Asap

JIL

We had rats that seemed like they were in the walls, it turned out that they were getting in from the sewars via a hole in the down pipe at ground level,It was worn away underground and they came along the pipe and then up through the walls. They were then making their way up the inside of the downpipe, which was all behind internal brickwork.
Once we were able to repair the pipe the rat problem ended.

Kaye1

Call the council- they will offer a subsidised service and if they discover the rats are also on someone else's land, they will contact them too.

We had them under our garage- £55 until they were gone. That covered 3 site visits and all materials used. The man also explained what we need to do to stop them coming back and what to look out for.

Pop_Up_Pirate

We had one in the walls and we couldn't have set a trap (not that we would anyway) because we couldn't get into the walls to leave one or the rat couldn't get out to take the bait

We ended up smashing the panelling off the wall (we closed the door to the rest of the house first) and then shooed it outside.

Poor little thing. They only want to live, the same as we do.

Gloomendoom

Pop_Up_Pirate wrote: »

Poor little thing. They only want to live, the same as we do.

I haven't got a problem with them if they stay outside where they belong. However, if they come in my house, they die.

bertiewhite

How are the rats affecting your marriage, relationship or family though?

pogofish

Yes - please clarify your relationship to these rats?

Otherwise the "In My Home" forum is the place for this!

BoracicLint

I'm currently dealing with a rat infestation in my property. I wouldn't assume that your house is sealed, having found evidence of several rats scurrying around in the cavity walls of my kitchen extension I pulled up several paving slabs in the garden and discovered an impressive network of tunnels.

The council were useless, admitting they would only be able to put poison down which wouldn't help in preventing access to the property.

As has been said, the rats must be finding a way out of the sewers so this is the first place to look. I discovered rats had chewed through the victorian clay sewage pipe at a joint and then tunneled towards the foundations!

After repairing the sewer pipe, I dug a trench around the kitchen extension and found a golf ball sized hole about 1m below ground level! The rats had managed to eat through the breeze block and into the cavity where they have since made a nest in the insulation.

The strange thing is, the house has been empty for the last 18 months whilst I've been renovating so there is no food source nearby. It seems they just come in for shelter and warmth. I was able to kill 10 of them over 2 weeks by strategically placing traps around their tunnels, to catch them when they leave to feed.

The only real way to eradicate them is to stop them getting out of the sewer and then plug any access points in the property. Once I'm convinced there are no more in the walls, I plan to use steel wool and concrete to fill holes, as this should deter any attempts to tunnel through.

I wish you luck! I am hopefully close to solving my rat problem but there could be any number of entry points in the property I am yet to find!

mrs_lds

bertiewhite wrote: »

How are the rats affecting your marriage, relationship or family though?

Yes i have a MASSIVE phobia with rats/mice even a photo freaks me put and I would definitely leave home/hysband/kids if they were found in the house and check into a travel lodge. I could manage spiders and even handle a snake, but not they nasty creatures!

mrs_lds

Latest update my worst nighmare came to fruition. I was loading the roast potatoes in the oven and by my right food lay a dead rat peeping out of the plinth gap. I screamed blood curdling!! And grabbed my keys and ran out of the house. My wonderful husband disposed of the creature and encouraged me to come home after a few hours! I'm in a fragile state still.

meer53

I had a rats nest under the decking in my garden years ago. I have a gardener who keeps ferrets, one visit from the ferret saw them off pretty quickly ! The council had come out and out down poison but that didn't work. The ferret did.