Saw a Rat in garage when viewing home

[Flowerpowerr1]

Hi all! Currently home viewing to buy my first home, we found a house we really liked so went to view it, we’ve put an offer on the house but when the agent showed us the garage it was very full and cluttered I just looked briefly but after we left my husband said he saw a dead rat lying on the floor! I said it’s fine it’s normal it’s a garage it probably made it’s way through somewhere🤣 but now looking at the video I recorded around the house the downstairs WC has its air vent blocked off like they’ve covered it with something? I’ve just noticed this now and it’s making me feel uneasy why would someone do that?

Weve covered some air vents in our house because i am scared if spiders and it seems to have stopped so many coming in.

Is there gas central heating?

Mice and rats are everywhere in the UK, everywhere. You can get a rodent control person to smoke bomb the house before you move in, you can get a cat. They are cute and extremely scary to rodents.
A cardboard square over a vent wouldn’t stop a mouse and definitely wouldn’t even slow down a rat.

Have you had a survey done? Depending on the level, they may look at the blocked vent. However, I wouldn't worry about the odd dead rodent in a garage. I lived in my own house for 13 years and only had one dead rat found in the garden.

When viewing the house we went on to buy, there was a huge dead squirrel on the path in the garden. My husband was going to ask if it came with asking price, as he’s a clown !
could you ask that ? 😉

You could end up with a garden full of pesky squirrels that spend all their time burying their nuts then dig up all the pots and flower beds to find them, then start eating the flower buds before they open, well actually they don't eat them, they have a nibble, decide they don't like it then discard it, on repeat. So I would look out for squirrels also while you are viewing. And then late in the summer they climb up the sunflowers and pinch the heads and drag them around the garden if they get them off.

You don't block air vents to prevent damp. You HAVE air vents to prevent damp 🤣Honestly, the advice on here sometimes!

I love it when sellers are too lazy to even tidy away the dead vermin before showing a place. It puts so many people off and less competition means a better price! But I usually move in with cats so the rodents flee the place within a day.

@slippedonabanana I know right! And I still offered more on the property and I’m currently the one with the highest offer and the vendor is still not happy! She said she wanted a “quick sale” which we could’ve done too but oh well her loss she can live in her house with her mice 😂

@paddlinglikecrazy omg haha that’s a good one actually I would’ve never thought of that one 🤣

We did too. A fox strolled in, ran up 3 flights of stairs to the attic, crapped on the floor then down the stairs and out again. We did have a rat in me kitchen, got a reputable ratman in and there was no further issue.

If you like it, don't be put off by that

Houses get rats and mice, the come in from the cold, you see more if anyone is doing building works and dust rule a their nests.

The council come round cheaper than the private ones.

Dont be out off by curable issues.

I’d doubt it’s the air vent.

Could come in anywhere they can squish under doors.

So are you now pulling out of a house you loved so much you put in a higher offer because there was 1 dead mouse in a garage? The vendor probably didn’t see it, a local cat probably killed it. Mice arent that hard to get rid of and they are everywhere. I’d certainly ask the vendors if they’ve had them but I can’t imagine giving up a house I loved over it. You could move into another house you liked and get mice, foxes and all sorts. We didn’t have any first couple of years and then one year got a fox den in the garden and mice in the shoe cupboard.

I once found a decapitated rat in my garage - scared the hell out of me. But our house backed onto a railway line (where I imagine lots live) and our cat was an excellent hunter.

Toilet under the stairs with no window! Don’t buy this property.

Air vent is obviously blocked off because if a draft especially with the wind we've even having. Other alternative would be wasps flying in, we had this in my home growing up and blocked it.

Rat/mouse is more of a concern. They don't just crawl in and die lol they diencos they are killed usually.

Find it a bit odd you videoed around the house though, wouldn't be too happy with someone doing that to be fair!

We get all sorts of wildlife and vermin, its because we live near the unused railway line and fields at the bottom of the road, We get the odd rat near the outbuilding but that is at least 100ft from the house, mice in the garage but that is detached so not too near the house. Foxes and the parade of squirrels that come over the road from the railway line each morning to ruin the flowers and pots, they seem to be creatures of habit.

Would it be possible to put a window in the downstairs toilet if it was on an outside wall or does it join onto the garage, is the garage part of the house, I would be more concerned if it was an integral garage.

Read all your posts, OP, but not sure whether it's the rat/mouse or the blocked air vent that is troubling you. If it's rats, well, all properties are bound to get mice at some point, especially if you live near fields or a large park. Just get a good rat catcher in to put down bait and block any entrances.

I would want to know more about the blocked air vent, particularly if it's an old, Victorian property, as the air vents serve a specific purpose and shouldn't be blocked (they can be covered with fine mesh that stops rodents getting in but still allows the air to circulate). If it's an old property that's been renovated, I would go back again and check whether there are visible air vents in all the rooms and ask whether any have been removed/blocked as part of the renovation. If they have, you'll eventually find you have problems with damp and mould.

If your offer gets accepted then definitely get a full survey - you can mention the blocked off air vent and they can then be on the look out for anything odd. I wouldn't personally worry about mice, you can just get pest control in once you've moved and in the grand scheme of houses, that's a cheap job! I'd rather have a mouse problem to deal with than a dodgy roof or damp, or subsidence - houses all have the odd thing you need to sort out and if you love them then it's worth it, just budget accordingly and get a good survey done. Also, if they left it there it makes me think its not a problem, people hide problems and are hyper vigilant about them, they'd have been on a mouse hunt before you arrived if they were worried about it!

Mice really are everywhere. It doesn’t sound like you’ll be going ahead with this purchase but really don’t think that dead mice are something to worry about that much. It could have been left there by a cat, or just hanging out in a warm space. The only effective way to stop mice getting in through small spaces is an expanding foam, or a totally non-chewable cover.

My cat brings mice in a lot and eats them loudly. He woke me up at 3am the other day. But we have none inside our house for any other reason!

We covered our air vent in our en suite recently because the wind was keeping me awake. Now uncovered.

Rats / mice - ask for another viewing, look very closely in corners, under things and if there’s an issue you’ll definitely find droppings. Double check the loft.

On the positive side, we get lots of rats and mice in our barn and stables if left alone, and a feral cat sorts out the problem pronto, no animal cruelty required and you get the pleasure of rescuing an animal that no one else wants and usually end up being quite friendly too.