Rodent infestation, HELP!

[SoftKittyWarmKittyPurrPurr]

I'm extremely fed up and in tears. We moved into a council house in June and it's been a nightmare ever since. My children have seen mice, I've found constant mice droppings and now very large rat droppings too! I'm disabled and this isn't helping me at all.

The noise in the loft keeps waking me up at night. I've had an private independent pest control company who have excellent reviews come out and also recently my local council pest control (their wait time was 6 weeks so I ended up calling the independent one). They've both put bait down but it's not being eaten! Well the loft one was and for about 3 weeks I heard no activity up there but the last few days it's resumed.

I just stepped on a rat dropping (cur crying) in my hallway below the loft door and I'm in tears. What should have been a wonderful start in our new home has instead been a nightmare. I just called my independent pest control guy in tears and he's coming round in the morning!

I feel like I'm cursed, I'm so unhappy here now and want to leave badly but we have nowhere else to go. Oh also the council pest control guy told me this house has had a constant infestation and he was the person who attended here last. Also majority of room doors are gnawed at the bottom. Surely the council should have never let this property with an infestation still in place, its actually in my tenancy agreement from them so they've broken their own requirement. I do have the housing disrepair team dealing with this complaint. My GP has given me antibiotics and a cream because they get into our clothing and has caused us severe itchiness.

I stuff Steel Wool and sealed with Decorators Chalk around all skirting boards (solid), my independent pest control guy has stuff holes with steel wool & sealed with that foam thing but I don't understand why are they still here. Why are they not eating the poison and dying, I don't care about humane traps now as I'm absolutely fed up!
I got some sticky traps and I will get him to put them down tomorrow. I also got a plug in which is placed in the socket underneath the loft door but that doesn't work. Food is all packed away in sealed containers. I clean and wipe down all kitchen surfaces every morning before the kids wake up. Every single noise makes me jump!

What else can be done?

Can you get some peppermint essential oil, put on rags and leave it at spots they might use to access your home? They hate the smell. Or they are supposed to hate it.
I mean, that's not a proper solution and might not even work.
Contact your local Councillor and your MP. You should be able to do that online. This is so dreadful for you.

I second contacting your local councillor and your MP... Can Citizens Advice help?
Its disgusting that in this day and age families are living in Victorian conditions... Sending a huge hug 🤗 🤗 🤗

You need to go around the outside of the house and find out where they are getting in and get any holes or gaps in the brickwork filled otherwise all you are doing is treating the problem once they are inside. You need to stop them getting in. They will be climbing through the wall cavity to get into the loft and coming up through the floorboards if they are in the living space.

Have you considered a cat? The presence of one can deter rodents even if it isn't much of a mouser. If you do, make triple sure all the rat poison is out of the way.

They might be eating the poison and dying but new ones coming in from another source?

Also rats are notoriously hard to kill this way. We had someone come in and ( sorry its not nice buy you can have a sewer rat living in your kitchen) strangle it after two months. It ate the poison and had no effects

Has anyone checked the drains and pipes?

@bellinisurge & @Elderflower14 thank you I'm going to contact my local MP and councilor in the morning.

Get drains and pipes checked.
If you are in a semi/ terrace check the neighbours are working on it
Lots and lots of poison.
There are the electromagnetic detergent devices
Steel wool in holes
It is hideous.

@hiredandsqueak there are air-brick vents outside that the council pest control said they'd get covered with wire mesh but they haven't been back to do it. They're coming again on Monday and I'm gong to enquire about it.

@AsAnyFuleKno that was one of my first thoughts but unfortunately I cannot afford to get a cat at the moment because money is extremely tight. Was planning to buy one this month but the money had to be used on gas & electric topup plus food instead.

@PinkStickleBrick I did consider that and asked my independent pest control guy this and he said they may be using my house as walkway because I'm at the end terrace.

@HardLanding I asked the council pest control this as there is a drain right outside my drievway (before discovery of rats) and he said mice wouldn't come from there.

Everyone thank you for your responses, it's absolutely horrible. Three weeks ago my second daughter (13) ran into my bedroom screaming at 11pm because she saw a mouse in her room! I called our pest control guy who came out the following day and later on I stuffed her bedroom baseboard with steel wool & sealed with decorators chalk (I'd run out of both when doing her bedroom before and completely forgot to buy more to finish it. Unfortunately I suffer with very bad memory loss issues). So she slept with me for a week which didn't help my injured back and hips.

The council guy also checked kitchen baseboards , found a few holes he stuffed with steel wool.

I wish we were still our old flat I was trapped inside of instead of being here (due to my disability I use a wheelchair and the flat was on the top floor with no lift). It's been my biggest regret accepting this property. I should have had alarm bells ringing because it took three months for the property to be ready and safe to be viewed (housing officers words). I feel like a complete failure as a mother because the roof over our head I choose has been a disaster!

It's absolutely terrible and disgusting that my council just wanted to get rent money for this house that they let it in this condition. It's a lovely already adapted for my disability needs house but this infestation has completely ruined any happiness of me finally being able to go outside once again.

Yes you need to insist that the council blocks any gaps. It's ridiculous that the council haven't tried to establish how they are getting in if this is a longterm problem.

Remove all food sources, domestic waste and compost heaps.
Close off any access to water (any open water tanks in the loft?)
Close off any access points.
Get a cat, or ask a friend with a cat if you can have some cat fur and leave it at the access points.
Peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil.
You can poison them with car radiator anti freeze but make sure no other pets have drinking access to it.
When we had the same issue they were entering the air bricks and climbing inside the cavity walls.
Set plenty of bait traps and mechanical traps.

It takes time and they're clever but you can win.

@quiteathome we have an electric plug in but it's done absolutely nothing. The amount of steel wool & decorators chalk I've purchased over the last few months the guys in Screwfix & Toolstation know me so well now 😂

How do I got about getting drains and pipes checked?

I'm too scared to ask the neighbours because I'm new and it's shameful. I told one of the repairmen who was here on a job last week and he said the entire road has problem with infestation and apparently the people at the other end have it VERY VERY BAD! I can't imagine it because mine is terrible so I feel sorry for them.

In all honest I want to move home because even if they manage to get it sorted the area has a problem and we'll never feel comfortable here. I've done a new housing application today

@hiredandsqueak yes I'm going to demand it. I'm also gonna get pest control guy to put the sticky traps I have in the loft tomorrow. He keeps telling me to remain calm that it will take some time but its been months!

@saleorbouy yes that's exactly it, the council pest control said they're coming in, travelling up the cavity walls. Yesterday I was extremely annoyed and frustrated by the banging sounds in the walls I felt like taking a hammer to it and throwing in a bunch of poison, then seal up with concrete ha ha

Look at getting a rescue, rather than buying a cat, OP. There'll be an adoption fee but the cat will come spayed/neutered and jabbed. From your username, you sound like you'd appreciate a cat!

@saleorbouy I've never been in the loft, I'm terrified and don't have a husband here to do it. I could ask my brother but I scared to tell my family about it, because they are unhappy I choose this area to live in

@AsAnyFuleKno oh yes I love cats and have always wanted one. I'll look in rescue one, thanks

To get drains checked you can get someone to stick a camera down them. (Drain companies can do this your pest control company might do it)

We had rats in our roof when we moved in. (It was empty before we bought the house) and we had a drain problem.

I had a year of a private pest control chap, he used traps and a lot of poison. The council chap was useless.

Cleared the rubbish from the garden, there will still be rats around. I think we only had rats and no mice.

It was awful, but they did go.

Rats are creatures of habit as well so keep disrupting their areas helps a bit.

Huge sympathy. It does sound like you're doing all of the main things. Contact the ITV news person on twitter (Daniel something?) who has been doing exposes on inadequate social housing.
Contact local councillor for housing as well as MP.
Ask the council how to log this as a formal complaint- there will be an escalation process - follow it (ie they will have x days to reply to you.)
Wrote to chief executive of the council / housing association.
You sound very capable in your handling so effectively I would recommend making as much noise as possible otherwise invariably they ignore people.

@SoftKittyWarmKittyPurrPurr I really recommend peppermint oil, pure essential oil diluted in water and sprayed. Or/and put 4/5 drops neat onto cotton wool balls and scatter around.

You have my sympathy it's the most horrendous problem to have with your home. It feels like an invasion and it's disgusting and terrifying.

We used an independent pest controller as we own our home, the council services we could pay for were useless and slow.

The company used industrial strength controlled substances to poison them, they ate it and died in the walls and under the floorboards. When this happens the smell is absolutely horrific it smells like what you'd expect rotting bodies to smell like. But it does pass in about 2 weeks once they have all died.

The issue is finding the entry points and securing your home so no more can get in.

If you can find a nest then you need to leave it well alone so they don't realise they are being watched, just leave poison nearby. Nests usually contain bits of litter and torn up bits of plastic/paper.

Ours was an easy fix, there was a hole outside next to the kitchen wall where concrete had broken and they were going underground and finding a way in under the floor. We had it all refilled and blocked all points.

We did have the drains checked with a camera to ensure there are no holes where they can enter through the sewers. Thankfully all out piles were secure. It could have been a very expensive problem if we'd had to rip up all the garden patio to fix something underground.

If you have a good pest controller I promise it will get sorted. It was a long journey for us from finding the first droppings to feeling like our home was ours again, but 3 years on there hasn't been a single sign of a rodent in our house.

Pest Controller here...

It sounds like a drainage issue. A broken pipe underground allows rats to tunnel their way out. They then head towards warmth and the themal mass of a house is wonderful for them. Straight into the cavity and up into the loft, warm and dry for them.

You need a pest controller who does drain camera surveys. Don't just call a drain company, they look for leaks and blockages and don't always spot rat issues.

Once the breach had been found it can be fixed and the rats can no longer access your property.

As a council property this should all be done for you by your council. However, few councils have their own pest control department nowadays, and, whilst they sub the work out, they don't always have the best private pest control companies available either.

Being an end terrace could mean the problem is further along the run. If they are all council it is easier to treat and fix but you will need to get your neighbours permission/cooperation so please talk to your neighbours.

There is no reason anyone should have a rodent problem that keeps repeating. Just killing those visiting is not enough, the breach needs to be found and fixed.

Best of luck to you OP.

@mumto3boysHE are you based in London?

@peassandcarrots I think I may have to use another independent pest control because I don't understand why he never let me know there are rats in the loft (the council pest control guy told me during his visit only two weeks ago) and he keeps refusing to put down the sticky traps I bought but I'm going to demand he does.

@pandy2 & @quiteathome I will do, I already wrote a first draft to send on Monday to my local councillors & MP. I'll also look into the drainage checker

Please don’t put down the sticky traps. They are inhumane. You will then have a live rat stuck to the sticky trap. Or more than one. What are your plans to kill it when it is stuck on a sticky trap? Because you can’t just leave it there. And rats scream when they are stuck on sticky traps. Your pest control guy is complying with the current guidelines which is the correct thing to do. I appreciate how horrific it is to have your home infested with rats, however sticky traps are not the answer. They are for use in very specific situations such as putting the sticky traps down, catching the rats and immediately dispatching of them. I agree with the poster who has said the drains are most likely the problem.

And rats screaming is not a noise you want to hear, I can promise you.

Give the council one last chance to correct the infestation, and then go to the media. Get Telegraph or Metro or another news outlet to write an article:
“Disabled mother let down by council doing nothing about a rat infested flat”

• Ms kitty reports she even has antibiotics and creams from her GP to Manager her allergic reaction to the bold rodents nesting in her clothes.

Write a letter to your MP as well saying that reporter so and so is doing an article about your situation and this is their chance to be presented in the article as either someone who is helping or a useless lump.