What Lives Under a Willesden Floor
Lift a floorboard in most Willesden houses and you will find a void between the joists and the ground below, ventilated by air bricks in the outside wall. It keeps the timber dry. It also gives mice a dark, sheltered network that runs under every room.
How the void connects everything
In a terrace, the floor void often runs up to the party wall, and gaps around old pipework and cables let mice pass between neighbouring houses. In a conversion, the void of the ground-floor flat sits directly beneath the kitchen of the flat above, with boxed-in pipes running up through both. A mouse in one is a mouse that can reach the other.
Signs to look for in a Willesden home
- Scratching under the floorboards in the evening, especially near the kitchen
- Droppings behind the fridge or inside the cupboard under the sink
- Nibbled packets in a larder cupboard built against the chimney breast
- Draught or cold spots at the skirting where the floor meets an outside wall
Air bricks and gaps
Air bricks need to stay open for the floor to breathe, but a broken or missing grille is an open door. The same goes for gaps where a newer boiler flue, cable or waste pipe was pushed through the wall without being sealed. These are exactly the small holes our rodent proofing service — £180 for up to one hour — is designed for once the mice have been treated.
Rats as well
Where there is scratching under the floor but no gaps outside, the drains are the likely route. Willesden's Victorian drainage is often well past its best, and a rat that gets into the void from a broken pipe needs a different fix.
