Decking (now the weather's warming up)

[dizzydo]

I am very very tempted to have my small patio decked but have heard such horror stories about rodents living underneath them where it is dry and warm etc., Can I please have some views of people who have had it done, do you love it, do you have probs with mice/rats etc. etc.
TIA

yep had the rat man round to put poison under the deck last summer - he said decks are rat heaven. Not to put you off like...

We've had ours for years and never had a problem with rodents - but we had a cat who was a very good hunter until recently - she died a few weeks ago.....

I think it also depends on the layout - ours is level with the rest of the garden (like a patio would be) but if you had a raised deck there would probably be more scope for rodents to get underneath...

We've had decking for the past 3 years and although there is an area underneath we haven't yet been aware of any rodents living there. We have a good hunting cat ( at the loss of your cat KTeePee) and he never seems to hang around there as though he can see/smell anything...

We had decking laid last year. It is great. Not had any problems with it re rodents, slipping, cleaning it, etc.

gosh. dont think we have any rats . cat sees off all the mice

Ooer, we are about to have a deck and we don't have a cat...

I read a piece by Darmuit(?)Gavin saying that it is quite an inhospitable place for rodents if it's built correctly i.e. gaps between the boards so the rain can get through and black plastic underneath to kill off everything.