Rats in our loft - neighbours drains

[BollockstoThis1]

We own our house and adjoining neighbour had some building work done in recent years. Anyway to cut a long story short we have rats in our loft area and we have also heard them in the cavity wall areas etc.

We ourselves haven’t seen them but have heard them frequently and loudly. We have had several private pest controllers out and they have put poison down, the rats go mad and loud afterwards, then it quietens down (I go mad quietly worrying that the slightest noise is them back then they always do come back). This has been going on for a month and our adjoining neighbour's have also used one of the same pest controllers and put own poison down. One of the pest controllers thinks they are most likely coming from a damaged drain on neighbours side (he has advised him of this). Neighbour has started to make some half baked DIY attempts to make his property secure (but his garden is a total mess with discarded building Materials absolutely everywhere-which won’t be helping matters). This week we found out he had two dead rats in the lane on the other side of his house and a couple running about in the same area during the day (younger rats and not running fast). We have spent £’s on this so far but its not sustainable and we are more bothered by them than the neighbours who claim to not hear them.

Should we persevere with weekly rat poison from pest controller and or buy some ourselves and use it for ever more or what happens if we inform environmental health (what powers do they actually have). This will no doubt cause agro and I don’t want any trouble from him so far he has been okish over this but he can be volatile and would hate to get on the wrong side of him. But equally I am not sure how much more of this living in fear of the rats I can take.

Oh how awful. I nearly had a nervous breakdown over a rat problem we inherited when buying our current property.

In the end it was owing to a collapsed drain in the sewer pipe ( we are end terrace of 4). It was our water company that identified it, I had to really persevere with them, they fixed it but weren’t quick.

There was also a hole behind one of the rainwater drains which a civil engineer fixed.

Apparently nearly all home rat infestations can be traced back to drains. If you go for a drain survey try and get one that specialises in rat detection.

We still had professional pest control putting down poison til the source was fixed. The first time I rung them they asked if I had just added an extension? We hadn’t, but it seems to common cause owing to uncapped drain pipes.

Good luck.

Thanks @SuperFi or anyone else if the pest controller we have both had round thinks the most likely source is pointing to the neighbours drains. It seems likely they and possibly we only to do our part and to rule things out would we both need a drain survey, what type of company should we use and in this instance any idea who pays for this if the problem seems to be on there side and they either refuse or are in denial maybe little point in us paying to have our drains surveyed in isolation. Or would we have to involve environmental health and could they insist on them doing this given its gone on for over a month now?

Could you get a cat?

Funnily enough my neighbours also claimed they didn’t hear the rats, I think they had just got used to it and were terrified of spending any money. I would have threatened them with Environmental Health if they had prevented access to getting stuff fixed though.

If they are running around outside in the day, that is sign of a bad infestation, already an environmental health hazard, perhaps you could call them anonymously?

A Ratter dog would be better
Whippets and Jack Russells are hard on rats
Poisons are awful- Other animals why eat the carcasses can be poisoned.

Stop up all entry points with proper rat proof materials.

Also compost bins and people feeding birds attracts rats.

If you Google Rat Detection Drain survey it should give you some options they will know about the rules regarding access. If it is a shared waste pipe I think they can access from your end and travel further up with their cameras.

In our case, because it was a communal collapsed sewer it fell to the water company to fix.

Yes good idea x

Thanks @SuperFi the rat man told us he thinks just a couple running about is a good sign as its not normal behaviour to be risking themselves by being out during the day, as too many risks and the dead ones seemed like young ones which he said was also a good sign. But goodness only knows (so much contrary information online).

I feel like anonymously contacting environmental health but haven’t done so, so far.

Neither we or any of our immediate neighbours feed the birds or have compost bins.

Its really awful I can’t relax in my own home and I obsessing and stressed over all this.

We have dog but he’s an elderly dog.

If they are running about during the day and slow/sluggish it’s likely the poison affecting them. We had rats and used a mix of traps and poison. Also set up a basic ring type camera so could see if there were any others around. Just set camera up on the ground so could see where they were coming from.

Have your local water company adopted the drains in your gardens ? if so pester them for a drain survey

Thanks @StrongTea this fits with what the pest man said.

They seem to be coming up from drains and entering at the side of our neighbours house (which isn’t visible from our side). From there they are coming into our loft and moving around inside the wall cavities (both of which are dark and not visible) also I am absolutely petrified. I just need this resolved before I go mad and before any major damage happens. Maybe an anonymous call to environmental health is in order now.

Contact your council environmental health, I think they can write and suggest action.