Wimbledon: old drains under the larger houses
Older drains beneath the large Victorian houses near Wimbledon Common are a frequent cause of rats appearing indoors, since pipework laid well over a century ago can shift or crack as the ground settles around mature tree roots nearby.
Mitcham and Morden: garden and shed routes
Further south, in the suburban semis and terraces around Mitcham Common and the comfortable 1930s housing spreading out from Morden's town centre, a rat is just as likely to have come from a shed base or a compost heap as from a fault in the drains.
Colliers Wood's converted units
Around Colliers Wood, converted ex-industrial units and new-build flats sit close to older terraced streets, and rats disturbed by conversion work in one building can move into neighbouring properties before a new tenant has even moved in.
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
Whether rats come back hinges on that last step, one that's easy to overlook once the house falls quiet again, whether that's near Raynes Park, where suburban semis and terraces around the station, or elsewhere in the borough.
Keeping them out once they have gone
Around Wimbledon's older houses, that often means sealing gaps where pipework passes through cellar walls and worn airbricks. On the suburban semis further south, gaps around garage doors and utility pipework are the routes worth checking. Our rodent proofing service covers this above-ground work.
Booking rat control in Merton
Rat control anywhere in Merton is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house, and because around Wimbledon, where large Victorian houses and villas near the Common, mentioning that when you book rat control points us towards the likely route in, with the rest of the detail on the Merton rat control page.
