Rats!  A swear word that comes out of an inspector's mouth every time.  I haven’t found anyone that has heard they have little furry creatures in their crawlspace or attic and was happy about it.  

Let’s start with rats in the attic.  It is common but harder to deal with them than in the crawl. They like it up there because it's like tunneling through a huge pillow and they can get all around peacefully.  One of the largest problems with those little guys is their feces. They poop and pee everywhere and on everything and that can cause smells and it's just not good to ingest.  If it's really horrible then the best option is to remove the insulation with the pee on it and put fresh stuff up there. Finding out how they got in and sealing it up so they can’t get back up to the pillowy playground again.

The crawlspace is the most common as there are many easy spaces for them to crawl into from the outside and come and go as they please.  You would be amazed at how small of a space those little guys can squeeze their bodies through if they want to get somewhere.  If your floor in the crawl is insulated, it is an amazing place for rats to hang out.  Cleaning the feces up and then keeping them out is the best fix for there as well. Steel wool is a great option for small holes around plumbing pipes as our furry friends don’t like sticking their noses against it and will stay away.  

It will seem like a gross mess to clean up and a lot of work but a shop vac, some steel wool, and a bit of insulation if needed will take care of them.  An exterminator can also come and assist in letting you know where they are coming in from and to help move them from their current home to a new one. 

Everything that comes up can be taken care of and the more we know how to fix the problem the less of an issue they seem.

 

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