To have had it with this rodent problem

[Feckfeckfeck123]

I'm not sure how much more I can take. We have had a rodent problem on and off since last summer, with them getting into the single storey kitchen extension. We hear them in the roof space and there is also evidence of them getting inside the kitchen (some packets of cereal and pasta tampered with, biscuit and flour test). Called out pest control twice - private companies as council won't help due to Covid. PC put the usual poison down but weren't able to help identify the entry point(s), simply recommended we have a drain survey as it might be a defect in a drain that goes under the building. Spent £££s on a cctv drain survey but turns out drains are fine and the contractor suggested we recheck our roof. The roofer has identified some holes which MAY be the entry point but DH thinks we should have the whole roof redone. There are lots of small holes and raised tiles which can't be nailed down without causing breakage. We have spent close to 1k already and simply can't afford to keep forking out like this.

To make the problem worse, a rat died in the roof space or cavity wall and the smell has been unbearable for weeks. PC came to remove it but failed to locate it. Since last week I've found maggots in the kitchen, which I'm guessing is due to the hidden corpse. My kitchen is always really clean, food put away, no crumbs anywhere like the rest of the house. I have always ensured my house is immaculate. We have a small baby and whilst I should be spending my time enjoying the early months I'm at my wits end constantly worrying about them getting into the rest of the house.

WIBU to torch the place if the problem persists even after we get the roof done next week?

OMG! I'd have to move house. In fact that's one of the reasons we ARE moving, as I can't stand the little bastards! We seem to get mice regularly in an old 2ft thick wall, there is an area that they run through, where my husband puts bait every time I hear them scratching, but just knowing they're there, keeps me awake at nights. Just hope we don't have the same problem when we move house!

Brodifacuum and Difenaccum were the active ingredients in the professional use products recommended to me

If can get hold of it

I've no suggestions but here to sympathise. We've had mice before...and a recently attacked Easter egg seems to suggest a return. Would seriously make me think about moving. Never feel entirely comfortable in the house.

Do your DC's allergies extend to all dogs?

My brothers allergies can be terrible but don't seem to flare up around my mothers mini schnauzer. I can imagine her bearded devil loving a bit of rat catching so worth a shout if it wouldn't cause your DC discomfort

Sorry been really busy with baby and forgot to check back in with thread.

@WaltzingToWalsingham it seems a good idea! The rats in roof seem to come and go, and it's nearly always at night. I haven't heard any activity since one died up there so I'm not sure if hiring a terrier would be any point unless it can help locate the dead rat! I am up north, but if activity resumes I'll look into a local company.

@JumpLeadsForTwo 27?? horrific. I feel quite guilty, my neighbour told me her cellar and bathroom stink of dead rat so I think some have gone to die there. Oops.

@ThighIdentityCrisis thanks, I will order some. I'm thinking of regularly baiting the manhole in my garden since the council isn't bothering. The only issue is if they get in the house to die.

@ShowMeTheSugar it seems he is allergic to most cats and dogs. We looked after a friend's birds for a couple of weeks and they also made him itch poor kid loves animals but can't be around them for long without feeling poorly.

Well the smell has been terribly today. I'm really, really hoping it's not another dead rat. Got rid of a dozen maggots this morning [vom] bloody nightmare! Those suggesting I move. I wish we could, it's just not possible for a few years.

Traps are the way to go. Get past control to set loads in the loft and where your food has been nibbled.

Move all food into wall mounted cupboards. Empty bins every night.

I had dead mouse in bathroom (I forgot about snap trap and was away for weekend). Omg the flies and the smell. I can only imagine a rat

we live in an old farmhouse and had noises under the floor in the kitchen (raised wooden floor) so we called a professional company. They saw an area at a pipe where it was getting in and blocked it and laid poison and a couple of days later came back to check.
He and dh lifted a couple of the floor boards and sweet Jesus there was a HUGE rat dead in there and there was the makings of a nest so he reckoned she was perhaps planning on making a home under our kitchen! It was horrific. I was in work so thankfully didn't come face to face with it but dh said even the guy was like 'oh, that's a big one!'
We have a cat and a dog....
But they can't get to them if they're in the walls or under the floor
We blocked up the hole and did a thorough search all around the rest of the house for potential entry and thank god so far so good over the past 18 mths or so
It's a nightmare OP and you have my sympathy

I had a mouse problem in one house I lived in so I set traps and bought ultrasonic pest deterrents which plug in. The plug ins cost about £20 so might be worth a try, if they don't work for the rats they will stop flies and spiders coming in.

I agree. All types of traps. Snap traps. Wax traps. Everywhere. Only way to stop them is kill them then dispose of the body. We had lots of rats in the house last year when the restaurants closed. Wax traps worked best for us but need a strong stomach as you'll come into the room in the morning to a squealing stuck fat which you then need to kill.

We had mice coming in though an older vent. We blocked it but they had made nests. Honestly we use snap traps. I didn’t want dead mice in the walls. The mice where in spaces the cats couldn’t always get to so we used the traps for 2/3 weeks and problem solved. Only works if you can locate where they are coming in from though.

@Hankunamatata the kitchen ceiling is fully cladded and there is no way to gain access from inside the kitchen. Bins emptied every night, floor and all worktops wiped down. One cupboard door didn't close properly and that's where the sneaky shits had got in but it's sorted now. And nearly all food is in glass or plastic containers. I'm sure they can get into cupboards if they really wanted!

We have used many traps. Snap ones, sticky boards. In fact they are still behind the kickboards and fridge. We caught the tail of one once but other than that nothing. Biscuit test proved they were in the kitchen but avoiding the traps.

We had a rat in the cavity wall of garage and bedroom above. DH set traps but what seemed to work was a plug in sonic device which emits a sound at a frequency humans can’t hear but rodents can and they avoid it. Really cheap device. Definitely worth trying.

God best of luck OP, in our last house I got 11 mice out (alive, pot over them then wood under and take them out). Traps resulted in catching them alive and squealing which was awful and couldn't bring ourselves to do the poison thing. Having cats brings the opposite problem, they catch them and leave them at the door, plus if you've ever seen how they play with them, it makes you feel for the mouse! Best of best of luck and yes, I personally would consider moving if it comes to that!!!!

Most likely they're coming in through an unsealed pipe that wasn't sealed off properly when the extension was built. Pest control told me roof is generally an exit point not an entry point. In other words unless the pipe is sealed properly they'll keep coming back. Now it's getting warmer they won't bother coming in so much over summer as they go in the roof for warmth.

pestologyltd.co.uk/how-rats-get-into-buildings/

I feel your pain OP. Ever since we had our extension built we've had a rodent problem in the ceiling and wall cavities. Never seen them so not certain if it's mice or rats but they make so much noise sometimes I fear it could be the latter. We regularly put down poison under the floorboards upstairs and they eventually die. Then we get the putrid smell then a couple of weeks later the flies. It's a continuous circle and we've never been able to get rid of them permanently. It's been going on for years with us and the only plus is that they've never entered our living space.

Are you a detached property, if not then it's entirely possible the rats are getting in next door travelling through the cavity into the roof space.
If they are in the cavity then it's easy for them to get out into the roof space or out especially into kitchen. It's possibly where pipes go from appliance such as washer or dishwasher through wall as if the internal wall has not been closed properly then the rats get behind units.
I take it pest control has checked this

You need to find their entrance point. Putting down poison will kill some, but others are likely to take their place and in the meantime, you are left with disgusting smells caused by rotting rats in inaccessible places. Extensions frequently leave old redundant pipes which are common entrance points.
We used the company already mentioned, fingers crossed no more problems.

I will order the ultrasonic repellent devices, was always told they don't work but many of you are claiming they do. I've reached that point I will try anything!

@Fgs1 yes most pest problems generally start below ground level in the drainage system. The cctv drain survey didn't reveal any defects or unsealed pipes, they checked under the kitchen sink and outside of the property too.

@starisnotanumber yes PC checked the pipework for washing machine etc. Ours is a terraced but the kitchen extension has been there years from before we moved in a couple of years ago and doesn't join onto next door's property. However there is a gully drain directly at the back of our kitchen which is in the neighbours garden. Drainage contractor reckons the rodents may be using that pipe to climb up and get into our roof. Roofer has offered to seal it off with chicken wire so only rainwater can continue flowing. I'm hoping the issue gets resolved!

I think the trick with the ultrasonic things is to move them around the house every few days. Otherwise the rodents get used to the noise.

With mice I've always used snappy traps. Much better than the prospect of using poison and one dying somewhere out of reach and stinking the place out.

Get a terrierman in. As soon as you can get allergic kids away. Tell them you'd prefer ferrets, they generally work for tea and or beer and they know their stuff.

May the force be with you. Can't stand the damned things but at least I can shoot them without blowing holes in my ceiling.

Have you ever tried an electric rat trap? You can get them for about £30 on Amazon. I use them to get rid of mice. I tried humane traps but they didn’t work and I didn’t want to use poison because of the smell and I didn’t want the poisoned mice to go outside and be eaten by another animal.

What I meant about the washer pipework is that the drainage pipes go from appliance through the wall to outside from inside.
Often builders make good the bricks you can see with cement but the bit you can't see behind the appliance they just knock a half brick out so if the rats are in the cavity they can easily get behind the units and get into the kitchen. This can't be seen because it's behind the kitchen unit backs

While the kitchen extension is not directly attached to next door the brickwork will be tied in to the existing property so rats can move around from adjoining properties.
Has anyone carried out a smoke test on drains or to the affected gully.
This is putting a smelly smoke device similar to a firework in gully behind the water at the bottom or in manhole and seeing if the smoke appears in your kitchen..
Just for info if the gully is on another property and serves yours or if a problem is found on a pipe that serves more than one house then it's the water authority who are responsible for its repair and maintenance and should be done free of charge.
Used to work in pest control

Very interesting and helpful post @Starisnotanumber thank you. The side of wall which our washing machine/dishwasher/sink are situated is a single brick construction, very old but it's a solid wall insulated and meets the regs etc. With no cavity I don't think they could be getting in from there?

No, no smoke test done. It wasn't mentioned at all so unaware it was even a thing. But I will keep it in mind if problem persists and we have to call out a drainage contractor/PC again. Thank you, didn't know that water authority is responsible! The problematic gully is in next door's garden but serves us, the suspected pipe used by rats to climb being attached to our property. Drain company checked next door's drains at no extra cost due to them being linked. Everything was fine there other than lots of droppings and rat activity evident down the manhole.

What to check now is around doors and windows making sure that there are no small gaps even the size of a pencil will allow rats to enter property under windowsills could be possible
Rat activity in drains is common used to be controlled by sewer baiting which is putting the fast killing type of poidiin in drains to get rid of rats.
The poison that can be used on the surface is a type that is a slow killing poison that's why the rats can get away from source and die elsewhere often by a hot water pipe or heating pipe. They are only animals so want to keep warm before they die.
When you say wall is solid is that a 1 brick wall with a battened plasterboard inside.
If rats get in they may be behind this.
What's the floor if it's suspended wooden they may be getting in underground especially if there is garden against wall check for small holes nearby.
Sorry if I'm being technical if you don't get what I'm saying just let me know