Basement conversions and old drains
Digging out a new basement under a Kensington or Chelsea terraced house disturbs drainage that has often sat undisturbed for well over a century. A displaced pipe or a joint knocked loose during excavation gives rats already living in the sewer network a fresh route up into the new void, sometimes weeks after the builders have moved on to the next stage.
Mansion blocks and shared risers
In the mansion blocks around Earl's Court and Kensington, rats travel along the service risers and bin store routes that link one flat to another, so a problem reported on the ground floor can just as easily start with the building's refuse arrangements as with anything inside a single kitchen.
Holland Park and the garden squares
Around Holland Park and the private communal gardens threaded through Chelsea and Kensington, rats can arrive from planting and compost heaps as readily as from a drain fault, and a detached or semi-detached house backing directly onto shared grounds has more than one boundary to consider.
Getting rid of them: the order that works
- 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
That last step is the one most often skipped once the noise stops, and it is the one that decides whether rats reappear a few months later.
Keeping them out once they have gone
Above ground, closing gaps around old service risers, worn thresholds and loose basement airbrick covers matters most in the borough's converted terraces and mansion blocks. Where a basement has recently been dug out, the fresh pipework and drainage connections are usually where the real gaps are. Our rodent proofing service covers this above-ground work.
Booking rat control in Kensington and Chelsea
Rat control anywhere in Kensington and Chelsea is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house, and because around Kensington, where grand white stucco terraces and mansion blocks around the High Street and the museums, mentioning that when you book rat control points us towards the likely route in, with the rest of the detail on the Kensington and Chelsea rat control page.
