Slugs in the house! What to do.

[eastwest]

Have just moved into a new (old) house and have been noticing slug trails in the back downstairs room. What can we do to stop them?
Extra info> In this room:

• there are sliding doors onto a north-facing patio & garden
• there is carpet on the floor
• damp and timber survey showed the floorboards are damp and need replacing (still trying to get them to come and do it...) - this due to needing more airbricks apparently
• we eat family meals in this room, so crumbs etc drop onto the floor

Wondering how they are likely to be getting in, and if us eating in here is making them more likely to come in... Or is it more likely that they're coming up from below, due to the damp/lack of venitlation situation. Or can they be coming in through the sliding doors?

Follow the trails and then you can find the entry point and put a salt barrier down

They won't be interested in your crumbs. They eat plants.

I've just spotted trails going all the way up my house to the roof. Wtf they're doing up there I don't know.

cure the damp.

Don't use a damp-proofing company. You might need to take up some floorboards and have a look.

Depending how old your house is, it was probably built with about enough airbricks. If it is now actually damp, some probable causes are:

Paving built up against outside walls, bridging the damp course and/or sloping so that rain runs towards the house

Paving built against house blocking airbricks

Faulty gutters allowing water to fall beside the house and splash onto walls

faulty plumbing or broken drains causing leaks to make the ground wet under the floor

None of these will be cured by injecting chemicals or applying a waterproof render to the walls.

Your old airbricks may also be clogged with a hundred years of cobwebs and dust, so clean them out while the boards are up, but that's probably not the main cause.

Have you got a water meter?

Thanks, that's useful. We don't seem to have a water meter (been looking , cannot find) the house itself is not damp in the walls, more the floors and the company suggested new air bricks and new floors rather than damp course or render. We have everything on your list except faulty gutters. Paved patio slopes towards house. Would it be better to have that area gravel or sonething for drainage?

We had a drain survey & there is a crack in the gulley.

Burn the house down

you could have a French drain put in between the house and the patio, but better to just dig it up and do it properly. Finished level 9" below dpc, slope away from house. You can have gravel if you like it, but it must still be lowered and sloped.