Rats entering toilet

[Umbrio]

We heard scratching and squeaking under our lino in the bathroom and actually saw movement. There's a loose floorboard which rats must have climbed up under the lino through.

Luckily we got an appointment the next day for a man to come out from the council who confirmed we have rats in our waste pipe. He couldn't find any evidence of them anywhere else in the house not even the loft but I am absolutely beside myself now. I won't use the toilet as he said they could come up it.

Has anyone used one of those one way flap things to fit to the waste pipe which prevent them from getting up inside the waste pipe? I don't even know what sort of person I would get to fit something like that. No one would want to do that job! I can't go on not using the toilet though.

How can a rat under the floorboards and lino have got there through your toilet? Does he mean there's a hole in your wastepipe somewhere leading to under the floorboards?

THEY CAN GET UP THE TOILET?!!
I’m sorry but I think you might need to burn the house down 😱

(Not very helpful I realise)

They can come in through the toilet. That is why they make the one-way flap devices.

www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/shop/household-pests/pest-control-direct-rats-mice/drain-protection-products/multi-flap-mf3-rat-prevention-fitment-for-drains/

OP you need a plumber.

I’d try calling a pest control private firm. Also drainage firms will sometimes fit a rat flap. Best of luck!

Oh right, so they've come through the toilet, climbed out and then got under the floorboards?

I'm never going for a wee in the night again without putting the light on.

We had rats in our waste pipes. Caused loads of damage. We had one of the metal flaps fixed by a plumber but we had to get pest control out first to get rid of the rats. It was not a pleasant time!

Do you not need to put something heavy on your toilet seat at night? And always close the bathroom door too?

Oh gross gross gross gross gross I am so sorry OP that sounds awful. One of my worst fears and the reason I can never maintain my sleepiness for a middle of the night wee as I am always on high alert (I was hoping this thread might be debunking it). No advice, only sympathy - hope you get it sorted.

WTAF
I always pee in the dark in the night

We've got pest control straight onto it but we need to fix the issue of them entering the waste pipe. They are entering it from outside then climbing up it. I'm not sure of the logistics but they are remaining under the floorboards.

Once we've treated the issue then I'll get a plumber to fit one of those anti rat flap things. Not sure if it goes on the toilet or outside on the waste pipe. We are keeping the bathroom door and toilets closed. We have another toilet but I wont use that one either. My husband saw the lino moving again last night. This is horrific.

We had this problem and had a large population of rats living under our bathroom floor. The rat man said it’s actually quite hard for them to climb up into the toilet as it’s slippy 🤮
Anyway, you need to get rid of the rats first before you stop them getting in. If they can’t get out, they’ll die in the house and you’ll have a mighty stench and flies to deal with for several weeks. I’d pay privately if you can afford it, they sort things much faster than the council in ky experience.

Good luck, I know how stressful this is.

Ah cross post!

Omg. This is the stuff of nightmares!!

Omg it's strangely comforting that someone else has this problem. I rang a private firm but they couldn't come out til next week. Council pest man is back on Monday and he'll be lifting the manhole thing up outside and said he's going to have a look down there and leave poison.

We had rats come up from the sewer and make their home under the downstairs toilet floor (which was concrete and tiles) but they also lived under the house (old Victorian on suspended floorboards).

Our rat man fitted a rat thing out on the sewer drain- there's a rodding hole which should have one on but many places have them removed or missing. I did worry they'd come up the loo but they never did thankfully. So perhaps check that first. We got rid and haven't had an issue since. Also the water company will check your drains for free if you mention rats. They also came and put bait in our sewer after we had got rid of them to check they were no longer coming in.

Good luck.

Fantastic advice about the water company thank you, I'll ring them today. Glad you got the issue fixed.

I’ve had the metal flaps fitted as next door had rats and it’s a problem on our street re the sewers. I think a drainage company did it - can be quite expensive depending how deep your entry pipe is. But yes it isn’t fitted on the toilet it’s fitted on the main pipe ( so usually via a manhole cover).

make sure you get the metal ones. Some people offer plastic but they are useless as the rats can chew through ( and they fall off).

I have a phobia of rats so feel your pain!

My DM had rats. They live in sewers so easy for them to travel up through soil pipes. My DM has a flexible hose at the back of her toilet and they nibbled through that to gain entry to the house.

She paid for a chap from a private pest control company to fit some sort of flap in the drain outside. Waste can easily flow one way, but rats cant get through and also the flow of flood water is limited into property during back weather.

We had rats in our loft and you could hear them in the wall cavity climbing up and down.

Pest control came in and searched the perimeter of the house and put down poison in the loft. The problem continued so pest control advised getting a drain company in the put cameras down our drains to see what was happening.

Sure enough they discovered that there was a pipe where two joins has come apart very near the outside front wall of the house and rats had got through, dug around until they found the cavity and up to the loft they went.

We had to have the front garden dug up to fix the pipe them more poison in the loft to kill the ones who were now trapped in the house !!

House insurance wouldn't cover it as it was deemed 'poor build' so 2k later we were rat free.
Drain company also fitted a rat flap in the main sewer on our drive to ensure they couldn't get anywhere near our house.

It went on for weeks and was very stressful, if you don't deal with them quickly they'll become resident and breed.
Horrid things yuk !
Good luck.

We fitted a one away valve ourself and it is fine. We did it after noticing one day that the waste pipe between the loo and the external wall had a rat sized chunk bitten out of it....🤮

Photographic evidence

Yes the can. This happened to my aunt several years ago. My cousin was having a wee and one crawled up and out...

Turned out there was a crack in the main sewer off their property and they were getting in there and then into their waste pipe. They ended up moving in with us for a while while it was resolved.

Thank you all, these messages are all helping me feel less alone. Feels like my house must be dirty but it really isn't!

We had the front paved over in the summer so the diggers might have knocked the pipes as well.

So the plan is ring the water company today and see if they will put poison in the public sewers. My dad is going to lift some of the paving at the front to see if he can see any damage to the pipes. Pest man will be back on Monday to put more poison down and check outside pipes.

When we are sure they're gone we'll get a drainage company to fit rat blockers and make sure they're metal and repair any damage to the pipes. Then I'm having the hardest tiles you can imagine fitted to the bathroom. I never want to see something crawling under the lino again.

Hi. If it's any comfort they don't seem able to get out from the toilet.
I had pet rats and one escaped her cage through the night and god knows how ended up in the toilet.
I found her freezing cold and shivering in the water, she couldn't get out.

Just to say you want the anti rat devices fitted on outside sewers and on toilet waste pipes as well. We have both now.