To ask for your help/advice with this problem

[flowerandflower]

Posting here for traffic.

My DM lives in a country house and recently had rats in her attic and perhaps under the kitchen cupboards. She has had pest control in who have now said the rat infestation has cleared. This was about 2 weeks ago.

She came home today and her house is full of blue bottle flies especially near the attic flap, which I can only assume is because of decomposition. I am heartbroke for her, she feels really embarrased as she takes pride in her home. She is physically disabled so can't clear the attic herself. AIBU to ask for some advice? My DP could try and go up and clean it up but what products should be used, or should she get back in contact with pest control? She's mortified

Anyone? I just feel so so sad for her.

We had a dead mouse somewhere in our house, but only found out when I came downstairs one morning and the house was full of huge huge huge bluebottles. It was so disgusting, just awful. There must have been over 50 of them.
I opened all the windows and chased as many as I could out the house, to wake up and find another 20 or so the next morning.

I didn't find a solution in afraid, I just had to keep chasing them out the windows until about 4 days later they were all gone.

I didn't enjoy it!

Sorry, that's not very helpful, but I just wanted to let you and your poor mum know its happened to me too. It will pass!

Thanks. She said she's keeping the windows open but I'm worried about the state of the attic. Hoping pest control would help clear it. It's mostly insulation too. I'm crying lol, i just feel so upset because she is

I would send dp to do a thorough sweep of the areas where rats were seen in case there's a body. I would scrub down with hot soapy water and/or disinfectant spray. He could put some fly traps around as well. I guess you could buy those from a garden centre maybe? It's a grim job but it will make your mum feel better

Thanks we'll try that. He's 2 working ratting dogs but its too late for them! I think if pest control cant help we will hire a skip and DP will empty the attic and we will disinfect the house and put fly traps around

Don't send the dogs up there as you don't want them to eat poisoned rats. Horrid though it is, the flies are probably attracted to the dead bodies. This is horrible for your Mum, but as pp said, once the dead ones have dried out - which they will - the flies will go elsewhere.

It will be a dead rat the pest control missed. Just get pest guy back, they have a special spray that nukes the rotting corpse smell too. London rats must be blooming mutants or something: the dead one we found behind the bath was 3times the size of rats I saw back home in rural villages .

I'm not sure if pest control actually removed the rats? I thought they had just put poison down. Fingers crossed we can sort this for her Dp will help as much as he can.

Does anyone know what type of material to fill a hole outside which is presumably where they came in?

To fill the hole use steel wool and expanding foam. It hurts them to chewing on the steel, and the expanding foam secures it in place so they can’t get around it. They can compress their bodies down so they fit through very small holes, anything the same size or larger than a 5p they can get through - mice about the width of a normal pen. I feel so sorry for your mum, my new flat has a mouse problem so I sympathise with her embarrassment. We also got some plug in sound deterrents which have worked too.

@flowerandflower If you are so worried and "crying" over it why don't you go do it yourself instead of having your DP do it?
All about equility now remember