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AIBU?

something moving under upstairs floorboards

57 replies

lou1221 · 24/10/2017 09:10

More of a word.

For the last two weeks we have heard (4 times) movement in the ceiling/floor board space. It is def not mice, the noise is too heavy for mice, there is no poo and it doesn't smell. We got the boards up at the weekend, put traps down, had a good look and there are no signs.

This morning I'm with the kids in the lounge and we all heard it, running and flapping sounds. Could it be a bird? How on earth could it have got between the floorboards?

I've contacted the council, pest control won't do anything if it's not visible.

OP posts:

Report

lou1221 · 24/10/2017 09:11

Wwyd not word, arghhh autocorrect

OP posts:

Dippydippydora · 24/10/2017 09:30

Mr brother once had a trapped squirrel

Timeforabiscuit · 24/10/2017 09:32

I second squirrels or rats, the council wont come out - but a private pest control will.

jay55 · 24/10/2017 09:34

Birds, bats...

lou1221 · 24/10/2017 09:46

I contacted rentokil on Friday, they won't come out unless there is sufficient evidence, bedding, poo etc.
We pulled up boards in bedroom, where we've heard the noise, nothing, on landing, nothing. No signs at all, but the noise definitely sounded 'flappy' this morning.

Going to have to pull up more boards. I'm petrified of rats, not slept properly since this has started.
The noise isn't permanent either it, does a circuit of the room and then is really quiet.

OP posts:

PelvicFloorClenchReminder · 24/10/2017 10:06

When I had rats in my attic it sounded just like a large crane fly hitting the ceiling, from underneath. It was only when there was no large crane fly that I started to worry.
Yours doesn't sound ratty to me (but I am no expert!)

onlyonaTuesday · 24/10/2017 10:44

We had this 5 years ago. It was rats!
We live in a terrace and they were going in everyone’s house through the attics and walls.
We could hear them moving about and we’re convinced we had mice so put some traps down with peanut butter in them.
When we checked them, the peanut butter had gone and so had the trap !!!
Pest control put poison down in every house on the row. It took weeks before we stopped hearing noises.
A few weeks later ndn had a new back door fitted and the work men found a load of dead rats in the cavity walls.

lou1221 · 24/10/2017 12:07

Only OMG! That is awful! I'm an end of terrace, but as far as I know they are all separate houses, I don't think floorboard space is connected, but... Arghh would kind of go with only hearing intermittently.

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ididyeah · 24/10/2017 12:15

I would look at local paper for a more local pest control firm; we had rats in the cavities coming through next but one neighbour's basement via sewer break. Local rat bloke was happy to talk it through over the phone and come out to have a proper look, fitted a 'rat flap' and not heard or seen one since.

onlyonaTuesday · 24/10/2017 17:05

@lou1221 they were getting about through the cavity walls.
Everyone was hearing something but not all the time

ZepellinBend · 24/10/2017 17:12

We had a rat going through the terrace houses too, also ran up the cavity walls and through the attics as I learnt speaking to the neighbours. I was the end terrace and put a load of stuff down in the attic but it was eventually my ndn that caught it in a trap. Makes me shudder thinking about it still.

lou1221 · 24/10/2017 17:46

My house was built in the 40's, no cavity walls, and the loft is walled, not sure about the joists though, whether they link to next door. What's strange is that the noise is intermittent, whatever it is does a circuit of the lounge ceiling, then stops, there's not been any noise or scratching other than what we've heard, and no poo or nest material found.

OP posts:

StealthNinjaMum · 24/10/2017 18:23

I know that mice can dislocate their bones and fit into the tiniest spaces. Maybe rats can squeeze into tiny holes too? I would ask your neighbours if they have heard anything.

onlyonaTuesday · 24/10/2017 18:28

We never had any poo or other sights apart from noise.

snorkmaiden68 · 24/10/2017 18:33

Used to live in a row of terraced houses and we all got rats in the attics. We could also see them in the garden so council came out and got rid of them. Turns out NDN was storing big bags of rice in their shed. That started with the horrible noises you are describing. I was 27 with a 7 year old and a baby. I didn't sleep! They gave me the horrors!!

BG2015 · 24/10/2017 18:34

My parents live in a terrace. Me and my 2 boys stayed there for 3 weeks after we sold our house (my parents were away) in 2015.

They had rats in the attics (me and my youngest son heard them one night) my parents didn’t tell me as I’m terrified of rats and mice. They were running through the whole terrace of about 8 houses.

The council came out and got rid of them. There was also a backstory to this as the woman who lived next to my parents was a hoarder. She had no working toilet, running water or electricity. The rats were coming from there.

She moved out whilst the council emptied her house - my dad snuck in to look, you don’t want to know what was in the bath!!! Safe to say she was using it as a toilet.

EdgarAllanPO · 24/10/2017 18:42

Oh BG that is just grim. That poor woman.
Op I hope it's not rats, fingers crossed it's a cute fluffy squirrel.

dragonwarrior · 24/10/2017 18:48

Rats eat through concrete. It doesn’t need to be a cavity wall gap, they make their own gap and we found out

dragonwarrior · 24/10/2017 18:51

And when we had them, no nesting, no poop. Pest control said they were eating elsewhere but none of the neighbours believed it could possibly be in their home.... pest control told us it was most definitely in the neighbours home and they just weren’t as observant. The noise they made woke me up in the night as I thought someone was breaking in.

BG2015 · 24/10/2017 19:30

The woman was definitely struggling with mental health.

It was very sad.

onlyonaTuesday · 25/10/2017 14:53

Any more noise op?

Nandoshoes · 25/10/2017 14:59

I'm now paranoid that I have rats. 😫😫😫😩😫

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hollie11 · 25/10/2017 15:02

Or maybe it's a ghost dog.....just in time for Halloween

smallmercys · 25/10/2017 15:07

Whatever it is if it is trapped it will soon die, which might make it harder for you to find it. Call back the pest control people now that you have found some poo, IYGWIM If you're hearing flapping then it's a bird and some poo will be easy to find and a little relocation will be for the greater good.

SandyDenny · 25/10/2017 16:01

I wouldn't bother with rentokil, try and find someone local by recommendation. Do you have a Facebook group you could ask for recommendations?

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