Dealing with Rats in flat roof - Please help

[lmanning]

Hi

I have a regular visitor this time of year and throughout the Winter. Somehow rats are able to get into my flat roof of my kitchen. I have closed off all visible entrances from the roof itself and am aware they can get into pretty tight spaces.

A plumber said that sometime the waste pipes can be damaged and they can get up through the cavity wall from the sewer. I think he may be right, although there appears to be no bad smells which I thought there may be with this type of damage.

Is the only way to have a camera survey done of the pipework to see any possible access point or damage?

Would cavity wall insulation help stop the buggers climbing up or just give them more bedding for their nests.

I have made an access point to the flat roof that I can put a trap in and caught a number of the sods over last few years, but I really don't like putting my head up into the void where a rat me be........

Also one year I put poison up there and when the rat died the smell was awful. So ideally looking for preventative measures and ways of checking the true access point for the little critters.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Council was pretty useless.

 

[Nige F]

Ask on the plumbing forum I think one of the Chris`s mentioned having an endoscope for void inspections ........cheaper than a drain camera survey

 

[breezer]

there are two things, which you are already doing.

stop them getting in , use rat traps, if it helps we have a rat trap in the garden still get one now and then

 

[lmanning]

Breezer mate

I am not stopping them getting in. Thats the point. Need to find out where they are getting in. Sure I can kill them, but I want to try and prevnt them getting in.

Especially as I have seen how they can chew on wiring and how this cancause problems