Rodents, mice and rats can be in the attic. Rodents can be under the house. Rodents can be in the basement. They can also be in the crawlspace. Rodents can be anywhere. We’ve had tough rodent jobs where multiple companies came out, and the rodents were underneath the house and every company before us missed it. It’s not just attics. Rodent problems can be anywhere, including the crawlspace. They can even be in old plumbing that was left behind.
Rodent Problems Are Not Always Where You Expect
A lot of people think that if they have rats or mice, the problem must be in the attic. That’s not always the case. We’ve seen rodent problems underneath houses, inside crawlspaces, in basements, around plumbing and in other areas that can be very difficult to find.
Some of the hardest rodent jobs are the ones where multiple companies have already been out and nobody has been able to figure out where the rodents are getting in. Every rodent job is different.
Most Rodent Jobs Are Solved by a Process of Elimination
Most rodent jobs are solved by a process of elimination. If you’ve been doing this for 20 years and you walk up to a job site, you could normally see what the most problematic areas are. What is most likely to be the culprit?
You start looking at the entries where you could see evidence from grease marks, dark marks, oil marks and trails that they’re using for traveling. You can also see things that might be an issue in the future. Once you solve the initial repairs, sometimes it’s better to go overboard and fix more than what’s needed to help prevent future problems.
Sometimes the Last Repair Is the One That Solves the Job
If you have a really big infestation of rodents, sometimes you can do 20 repairs and the last one or two — that’s what solves the job. That’s why rodent jobs can take thinking outside the box.
You can’t always look at a house and assume the obvious entrance is the only entrance. Sometimes the problem is in an area that isn’t immediately visible.
Some of the Hardest Rodent Jobs Involve Plumbing
The harder jobs to solve normally end up being plumbing jobs. These are often overlooked by normal companies. One rodent job can sometimes be solved by one plumbing vent if it is sewer rats, versus doing all the other repairs. That doesn’t mean they won’t find a new entrance.
If they’re outside of your house, sewer rats can sometimes be their own separate problem. This is why every job is different when dealing with rodents. You have to figure out where they’re coming from, how they’re getting into the house and what areas they’re using to travel.
Rodent Control Is a Step-by-Step Process
A process of elimination is the best way to go about it. It’s a step-by-step process. You look at the evidence. You look for the entries. You look for the trails and signs of activity. You identify the most likely areas. Then you make the repairs and continue eliminating possible entry points until you solve the problem.
Sometimes that means making more repairs than you originally expected. Sometimes the repair that finally solves the problem is the one you didn’t expect. That’s what makes difficult rodent jobs different from the easy ones.
Don’t Clean Up Before the Repairs Are Done
You never want to do any of the cleanup or any of the disinfecting until the repairs have been done. You can do it and it might help out or have some effect, but you can’t really clean up or finish a rat job properly until the repairs have been done. If you clean everything up before you’ve stopped the rodents from getting inside, you can end up doing the same cleanup again. The repairs need to be part of the solution.
Every rodent job is different. Rats and mice don’t always use the same entry points, and they don’t always stay in the places homeowners expect them to be. The harder rodent jobs take experience, patience and a process of elimination to figure out what is actually happening.