Rats can easily find opportunities to enter your home and become unwanted guests. They are disease-carriers and can extensively damage your home and property.
You can avoid a rat infestation if you don’t let them enter your home in the first place.
But, rodents can be in your home through those very small openings. And you will usually only realize you have a rat issue when you can hear them in your attic or inside the walls.
Sometimes, you can discover a rat problem if they have chewed and damaged electric wiring and pipes.
But, it can truly be alarming to walk into your kitchen or pantry and find rats raiding your food storage. You can easily conclude you have rats at home if you see rat droppings in drawers, cabinets, and other places.
After you determine the issue, you must seal off any entry points in your home first and trap the rodents.
If the issue is too serious for you to deal with on your own, contact
an Austin pest control company. The following are common entry points to
check:
Wall Cracks
Check your home’s exterior and
look for any possible entry points. Use steel wool or waterproof sealant for
blocking bigger entry points. Smaller holes can be filled with caulk.
Roof Holes
If you think rats have invaded your attic, have your roof checked for holes. Usually, small gaps made by the room corner intersection can be entry points for rats.
Also, rats can
chew ridge cap plugs. Use a waterproof sealant to block any openings.
Vents
A lot of vents can have big enough openings for rats to squeeze through.
These rodents can also squeeze through any gaps left around the vent opening, so seal these gaps.
Use metal
screening to cover vents securely.
Pipes
Pipes run your house which means they need to pass through walls. Over time, these pipes can have holes that can become highways for rats.
These pests eat around the pipes to make the holes
bigger until they can climb through. Pipes that are not properly sealed or
insulated are common entry points for rats.
Chimney
As rats are looking for food and warmth, they can enter your home through the chimney.
If you notice them there,
have the chimney professionally cleaned to get rid of possible nesting
materials.
Attic
Attics that have casual insulation may not be able to effectively seal openings where your house meets the roof. Such openings are ideal corner gaps for rat entry.
To fix this problem, you need to have a sealing project. After all, this
project will also help you save on heating bills.
Foundation
Cracks