Where Brent's Rats Come From
The brown rat is the only rat you are likely to meet in London. It needs food, water and shelter, and a house offers all three. Working out which route it used matters more than anything else, because a treatment that ignores the way in is a treatment you may be paying for twice.
Up through the drains
Rats live in the public sewer. A cracked pipe, a displaced joint or an old connection left open under a kitchen extension lets them into the ground beneath a house, and from there into floor voids and wall cavities. It is the most common explanation in the Victorian and Edwardian streets of Kilburn, Willesden, Harlesden and Kensal Green, and it is why activity under a floor with no visible hole outside so often turns out to be a drainage fault.
In from gardens, sheds and railway land
In Kingsbury, Queensbury, Preston and Sudbury the gardens are bigger and the route is usually above ground. Rats burrow under decking, shed bases and compost bins, feed on bird food and fallen fruit, and find a gap around a pipe or an old air brick. Brent is crossed by railway lines and the Grand Union Canal, and gardens backing onto either see more of them.
Signs of rats
- Dark, tapered droppings roughly 1–2cm long, often in small groups
- Greasy smear marks along skirting boards, pipes and the edges of holes
- Gnawing on wood, plastic, food packaging or cables
- Scratching in ceilings, walls or under the floor, mostly at night
- Burrows a few centimetres across in soil, under paving or beside a shed
- A stale, ammonia-like smell in cupboards or under the stairs
Stopping them coming back
Treatment deals with the rats that are there. If they are coming from a drain, the drain needs repairing or fitting with a one-way rat blocker by a drainage contractor, and a CCTV drain survey is usually how that fault is found. Small gaps around pipes, doors and air bricks can be sealed with our rodent proofing service.
