Riverside County, Riverside Rat Control Situation:
David, Read your entire website with interest as we recently purchased a home in the Palm Springs area and the inspection of it passed but did not mention any rats/mice. However within the first week of moving in we heard the distinct scratching of feet in our attic. I have since been up there and we do have droppings and signs that they have been there for a while. Our plan is to seal the entry points, lay traps and then have the attic insulation removed, attic sanitized and new insulation put in. See questions below if you would be so kind as to assist. To this point, we have no droppings in the living area, no outside obvious entry points (we walked the premises with a professional extermination company that handles rodents) and now moving to the roof to get a roofing company to come in and close all entry points, seal caps etc. Garbage is in the garage in sealed containers, we have no trees close to the house and no citrus at all on the property. Reason for this email is that the only company you show in this area is in Riverside and I wonder if you have any recommendations for a firm in the Coachella Valley. If so, could you please send me the contact name and phone number as we will be following your recommendations to the letter. QUESTIONS: Assuming we get all the entry points closed and sealed properly, should we use the extermination company as you show to do the re-insulation of the attic? We have been quoted on the service that they will trap and remove, then using HEPA vacuums and in proper gear will remove all insulation in bags for safe destruction and then they use a bleach/water combination to sanitize. Obvious next step is to re-insulate the attic. Your thoughts on the process and the bleach/water solution? Recognizing that we have no contacts within this industry, what questions should we be asking the firms we are talking to so as to avoid getting ripped off or worse...not eliminating the issues and problems? Last question: roof is most likely the entry points. Am I going down the right path to get a roofing company to seal these points from the outside and ask that they use steel within the closure? Really appreciate the reply as Canadians that just bought the home, we don't have quite the issue back where we are from. Thanks, Tim
Riverside Rat Control Tip of The Week
How To Deal With A Rat On The Roof
Also known as a homeowner's furry little nightmare, rats are a kind of household pest no one wants to have in their roof. These pests can keep you up at night with their scurrying sound, contaminate your environment with their feces and nesting materials, and spread all kinds of diseases.
Unlike having rats in other parts of your home, their presence in your roof can be quite difficult to deal with. The roof is a difficult place to reach and inspect. If you have to remove them from your roof, you will have to either hire a professional to help you or carry out a difficult process by yourself.
If you feel you can deal with the rats in your roof without the help of a wildlife removal agent, there are certain things you need to put in place before going ahead to remove them. First, you need to find a way to put away all the things attracting them into your home. The major things that attract rats are the availability of food and a hiding place. To make your home unattractive to them, you need to keep all the food in your home in a place that is inaccessible by the rats and keep your house clean. When you do this, they will find it difficult to stay in your home and will not find their way into your roof.
The best way to handle rats in the roof is to set multiple snap traps in the roof, bait them with attractive baits, and place them in different locations on the roof. These traps will help trap as many as possible humanely. If you are considering using poison to help kill the rats in your roof, you will be causing yourself more troubles. Having shared this, you need to use only snap traps when it comes to removing rats from your roof.
