Roof Rat & Mouse Control in Austell, GA

Rodents in your Austell home

Rodents come at an older Austell home from two directions. Roof rats are slim, dark climbers that come out at night. They travel along tree limbs, fences and utility lines, and they'll climb straight up brick or siding. Once they're on the roof they get into the attic through a gable vent, an eave gap or a spot where a pipe goes through. House mice work the ground floor. They come in through crawlspace vents, gaps under old doors and holes around plumbing in the foundation.

The creek corridor and the older, tree-shaded blocks give rats plenty of cover and food. And because our winters are mild, they don't slow down much in the cold. Inside, they chew wiring and boxes, nest in insulation, and leave droppings and urine everywhere they go. In the Southeast, roof rats are also linked to murine (flea-borne) typhus. Bait by itself doesn't solve it, because it does nothing about the gaps. What works is sealing every way in with metal, then trapping out the ones already inside.

Rats, squirrels or mice?

Time of day tells you most of it. Roof rats are active at night, so you'll hear them overhead or in the walls after dark. Squirrels are loudest early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Mice stay low and leave small droppings in drawers, under sinks and along baseboards. Rat droppings are bigger, about the size of a raisin. Knowing which one you have tells the pro where to look for the entry.

Up high and down low on older homes

Austell's older houses tend to have openings at both ends. At the top: gable vents with torn screen, soffit gaps, the place where a porch roof joins the house, and pipes and wires that go through the eave. At the bottom: crawlspace vents with missing covers, gaps under old doors, and holes around plumbing. Seal only the roof and the mice keep coming in from below. Seal only the bottom and the rats keep using the attic. The whole house has to be checked.

Cutting the trees back isn't enough

It's good advice to trim limbs back from the roof, and it does take away an easy path. But roof rats climb brick, siding and downspouts without trouble. On an older Austell house with open gaps, trimming alone won't keep them out. It helps, but sealing is what solves the problem.

Why bait alone doesn't work

Bait kills some rats, but it leaves every opening in the house open, so new ones keep coming. A poisoned rat also tends to die inside a wall or under the floor, and the smell can last about two weeks. Pest-control companies are set up for bugs. Rats and mice that are actually getting into the house are a job for someone who does exclusion.

How a rodent job goes

The pro inspects the whole house, roof to crawlspace, and marks every opening. Each one is closed with metal: steel mesh, hardware cloth, flashing and vent guards. Then traps go into the attic and crawlspace, and the pro comes back to check them and remove what's caught until the activity stops. Bad infestations take longer, and the technician should give you an estimate up front. Droppings and nesting material are cleaned up at the end.

Mice need small gaps closed

A mouse can get through a gap about the width of a pencil, so mouse work comes down to the small stuff: gaps around pipes under sinks, the bottom of the garage door, cracks in the foundation, crawlspace vents. On an older house there can be a lot of these. The pro closes them with metal and fills packed steel wool around pipes, because mice chew through foam and caulk.