Composite decking and rats?

[sheeplikessleep]

We’ve just finished our house extension and renovation and now planning the garden.

We have a window, sliding door and picture window at the back of the house, so looking to build a patio to step out on from sliding doors.

Id prefer slabs, but there is currently about 40cm step down. Our current builder has said slabs would be expensive to create enough height to step out on, decking would be cheaper (obv money is more limited now with it all having gone on the house!)

The only thing putting me off decking is rats. Builder says composite gaps are much smaller, can build wire mesh in as well.

Am I mad to be considering decking? I don’t want to be stressed eating out there and bits of food dropping down. Or am I overthinking?

Be good to hear other experiences. Thanks

Mice yeah, they can squeeze in to any tiny hole. I would avoid.

Can't you just put a step down from the sliding doors onto the patio?

We have patio under the decking so there's never been any rats. However, I'd get the builder to do a concrete slab then patio slabs in your situation.

We wanted the patio to be at the same height really (and then a step down to garden).

Yeah he said it would be megabucks to get all of the hardcore into the garden to get a 40cm increase in height. Just wondering how risky decking is and if there’s a cheaper way to mitigate the rats.

I'd ask for a second opinion

I've had decking in many houses and have never seen a rat. I think it's a bit of an urban legend?

They definitely do get under decking and when people put the log stores/sheds etc on wood bases, not concrete. Happened to neighbours, we had ratty visitors. When the log stores came out there was a huge nest under it

Composite is far more difficult for them, and doesn't rot, providing those easy access points.

If you can get it meshed inside, I can't see there being a problem. Maybe do some research.

Mice you never escape, but they don't carry leptospirosis or weils disease so I am let them live their mousy lives out in the garden. I'd have an issue if they went into the house, mind you!

Watch out for a height increase of the patio of over 30cm. That would need planning approval. Also don't bridge the damp proof course, and beware rain bouncing up to make the glass mucky, get dirt in the door mechanisms etc.

Could you get a cat? We have decking, no rats but we own a cat.

We get mice from our neighbours decking, rather than rats.
The thing that puts me off decking the most is the amount of maintenance that seems to go into it with the wood protection and treatments and replacing rotten parts etc.

We do have two but they are lazy buggers and don’t go out much!

Yep looking at composite decking to avoid maintenance

Next door neighbour has decking and I have watched a rat emerge repeatedly from their garden and come into mine. I am doing my garden up next year and would rather pay more than get decking.

We had decking when we moved into our house.
Our neighbours told us that they'd had pest control out several times due to a rat problem. They had said it was most likely they were nesting under our decking. Then we had several dead ones appear in various places in the garden, killed by neighbours cats. The final straw came one day when I was sitting on the decking enjoying a coffee in the sunshine and a baby rat ran between my feet!
Decking was ripped out the following year and replaced with a patio!

Ewww to all of these rat stories, I’m totally put off but still not sure a raised paving patio is financially viable for us 😬 to get all of the hardcore to form the base.

Decking also rots and needs quite a bit of looking after. We replaced ours with patio - best investment ever

We have patio under the decking so there's never been any rats.

Not sure if it's the same but we took the decking up in this garden because the terriers were going nuts trying to get under there - indicating mice or rats.

When it came up, two large rats shot out.

That decking was on top of a patio. We cleaned the patio up and still have it - it was in perfect condition under the decking.

House at the back of my neighbour had a decking area built. We all got rats running through to nest in there.

We’ve had composite decking years and no rats. We had pest control for mice (not related to decking) and the guy was saying mice and rats under decking isn’t really anymore of an issue to any other grade area which is similar so sheds, behind bins etc