Old drains under Tooting and Balham
The dense terraces of Tooting and Balham sit on drainage laid long before the buildings above it, and a cracked or shifted pipe run gives rats a way from the sewer into a floor void with no obvious hole outside. Streets backing directly onto the railway see this more than most, since embankment vegetation gives rats cover right up to the rear fence.
Ex-council estates near the common
Wandsworth's ex-GLC estates close to Wandsworth Common carry shared bin stores and service ducts between blocks, and a rat established in one of those can move between several blocks before residents connect the sightings to a single source.
Garden routes in Earlsfield
Earlsfield's terraced gardens, squeezed between Wandsworth and Tooting close to the railway, give rats an outdoor route as well as an indoor one - a compost heap, a shed, or loose decking against a fence can be the actual starting point rather than the drains below.
What to do first
- Confirm it's a rat and note where and when you've seen or heard it
- Remove easy food: bird feeders, loose bin bags, pet food left out overnight
- Book treatment rather than laying poison where children, pets or foxes could find it
- Leave any hole you've found open for now, so nothing is sealed inside a wall
- Once activity has stopped, get the actual route closed rather than assuming it's over
Closing the route for good
Treatment clears the rats present; the gap they used stays until dealt with. Above ground that means sealing pipework gaps, damaged airbricks and worn back-door thresholds with materials a rat cannot chew - our rodent proofing service covers those points. Where a drain is the route, a CCTV survey and repair below ground is the only lasting fix.
Booking rat control in Wandsworth
Rat control anywhere in Wandsworth is £190 for a flat and £240 for a house, and because around Wandsworth, where victorian terraces around the town centre, mentioning that when you book rat control points us towards the likely route in, with the rest of the detail on the Wandsworth rat control page.
