A borough of terraces, mansion blocks and towers
Fulham's tightly packed Victorian terraces sit close to the river; Hammersmith and Barons Court add dense mansion blocks to the mix; White City has newer residential towers built over the old exhibition site. Rats exploit each differently, and the fix depends on which one you're dealing with.
Old drain runs under Fulham's terraces
The Victorian terraces stretching from the King's Road end of Fulham down towards the river sit on drainage laid well over a century ago, much of it now cracked or shifted at the joints. Faults like these let rats climb up out of the sewer into a floor void, and the tell is usually indoors, scratching under the boards, a smell near the stairs, droppings behind a kickboard, with nothing visible outside, much as it does near Hammersmith, where dense streets and mansion blocks near the river.
Gardens backing onto the river and railway
Where Fulham's terraced gardens back onto the river or the railway lines running through the borough, rats can arrive along the embankment or the line itself rather than from any fault in the drains. Overgrown ground beside a railway gives them cover for the last stretch into a garden.
Mansion blocks and newer developments
In the mansion blocks around Hammersmith and Barons Court, and the newer developments at White City, rats more often use communal basement stores and shared service ducting than any fault in an individual flat's own pipework, which can make the source harder to pin down without checking the whole building.
Dealing with them, step by step
- Confirm the animal, and note where and when you see or hear it
- Take away easy food: bird feeders, split bin bags, pet bowls left down overnight
- Book treatment rather than laying poison where children, pets or wildlife could find it
- Leave any holes you have found open for now, so no rat is sealed inside a wall
- Once activity has stopped, close the route: proofing above ground, a repair below it
Closing the route afterwards
A treatment visit deals with the rats present at the time, but it does nothing about the gap that let them in, much as it does near Hammersmith, where dense streets and mansion blocks near the river. At ground level and above, the fix is sealing pipework gaps and any damaged airbricks with rat-proof materials, true near Barons Court too, where mansion blocks and terraced streets between Hammersmith and West Kensington. Below ground, guesswork isn't necessary, a camera survey can pinpoint the actual fault in the drain, as anyone near Shepherd's Bush will recognise, where ex-council estates and Victorian terraces near the Green and Westfield. Our rodent proofing service deals with the accessible gaps above ground.
Booking rat control in Hammersmith and Fulham
Rat control anywhere in Hammersmith and Fulham is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house, and because around Hammersmith, where dense streets and mansion blocks near the river, mentioning that when you book rat control points us towards the likely route in, with the rest of the detail on the Hammersmith and Fulham rat control page.
