Professional rat control throughout Reading and all across the Berkshire area 

 
Do you have a problem with rats? With an estimated 120 million rats now living in the UK there is no wonder that rats are our Number 1 pest in areas like Woodley, Winnersh and Wokingham. 
 
Rats are vermin and they spread disease, taking any opportunity that they can to scavenge food and find somewhere warm to nest in. Whether a small domestic property, a large block of flats or a commercial building, rats have a constant presence throughout the area and they will repeatedly infest our homes and businesses. 
 

Rat removal in Reading from a local company 

What damage do rats cause? 
 
Rats, whether they are living in the garage, outbuildings or inside your garden shed can cause serious damage and financial loss by gnawing through live electrical wiring, resulting in fires and failure of freezers and household appliances.  
 
Rats will also contaminate stored food stuffs with their urine and faeces which increases financial losses and presents a risk to human health. 

How to spot a rat problem in your property 

Rats have front teeth that keep on growing out from the root deep in the animals gum, rats will constantly gnaw on surfaces and objects to keep their teeth sharp and worn down
 
As well as chewing on softer items like electrical cables, you can find gnaw marks on hard plastic products and even items such as wooden or aluminum door frames. 
 
Rats also have greasy fur which attracts dirt, where they travel on safe routes, they rub their bodies and leave a tell-tale streak, so look for smear marks on horizontal and vertical surfaces where the rats move, you may also see strands of rat hair caught on rough or sharp edges on these routes. 
Rat infestations are not confined to the ground floor as they are adept climbers able to scale vertical walls, they will often use the inside of cavity walls as a route to the upper storeys and in the winter months they are commonly found living in the loft, burrowing into the insulation to keep warm. 
 
Another noticeable sign that there are rats in your house will be their droppings which are around 12mm in length and taper to a point at both ends, these give off a noticeably stale odour and rats leave around 40 droppings a day. In confined places like lofts, sheds, under floorboards and outbuildings along with the faeces, rat urine gives off a strong sharp odour and this can be overpowering. 

Signs of a rat infestation: 

Gnawing on wooden items like roof joists and skirting boards 
Droppings – these will appear as dark brown to black and elongated in shape with rounded ends, from 6mm to 10 mm in length 
A sharp smell of urine especially in confined spaces like the under stairs cupboard 
Smear marks from where dirt has transferred from the rat’s greasy fur onto surfaces; often found on heavily used travel routes 
Rat hairs that have been caught on edges and around holes in brickwork 
Damaged food packaging or missing items 
Sounds in the walls, under the floor and in the loft area at night 
If you have dogs or cats, they may take a sudden and intense interest in part of the house, sniffing or sitting and staring at a point for hours 
 
Good housekeeping and hygiene will successfully limit the number of rats that can live in and around the area.  
 
Outdoor pest control will eradicate a rat problem and combined with regular pest inspections that form a monitoring plan coupled with physical proofing, these actions will prevent further infestations and problems with rats. 

Whats the difference between a rat and a mouse? 

Many people tell us that they’ve seen a rat in the kitchen and think the worst, all they saw was something large whizz across the floor and disappear behind the fridge, what they might have seen is a mouse and the treatments differ depending on the species of rodent. 
 
There are two types of mice; field mice and house mice and with the former you should not put rodenticide down as these animals live primarily outside and they form the base of the food chain for raptors – barn owls, kestrels and other birds of prey. Using poison on these is killing off our wildlife so we have put together a guide to rodents – rat or mouse? 
 
Check out our guide by following this link: 

Rats living in the drains and how IPM can resolve your rat problem  

Here at All Aspects Pest Control we don’t just use poison to resolve your rat problem, we prefer to fully investigate the issue searching for the entrance point and understanding exactly how the rats are getting inside your property. 
 
The use of rodenticide is a guaranteed way of eliminating rat problems in Wokingham and Woodley, but, not one that is going to be permanent, you will kill off the resident population but without understanding how they can get in, they will be back, 
 
We find that the only way to ensure total, long lasting rat control is to carry out a detailed survey of the entire structure; not just the affected part of the property but all of the building, for example, if you live in part of a terraced block of houses, rats can enter further down the block and appear in your part using voids such as cavity walls and lofts to travel around the structure. 
No amount of rodenticide is going to stop rats’ long term in a situation like this, what is required is a combination of surveying and proofing up holes, gaps and any potential entrances to ensure that the building is secure. We don’t just stop there, climbing plants may need to be removed, drains may need to be surveyed and even changes made to the wider environment maybe required to get you rat free. 
 
This is called Integrated Pest Management and this is our preferred method of working, IPM is proven to be more effective than merely the use of poison in the control of all rodents, especially rats, and we carryout drain surveys and minor repairs as part of the standard service – no extra charges and no hiking up the price! 
 

Do you have a problem with rats running around your property? 

How do I know if I’ve got a rat in the garden? 
 
Rats are elusive by nature and it may be sometime before you realise that you’ve got a rat problem, you may see something brown darting through the borders or find that items stored in sheds have been damaged and holes appearing in the garden. These are all signs of rats being present, in sheds and outdoor storage look for droppings, a strong smell of urine and even nests made up of grass and shredded plastic bags. 
 
What can I do to make my garden rat free? 
 
Rats need three things to be present; food, water and somewhere to live: harbourage. When it comes to preventing rats taking up residence in the garden look at doing the following 

How to prevent rats and reduce the chance of an infestation 

Stop feeding the birds – this will attract rats to eat up spilt seeds 
Keep the garden tidy – this reduces the cover that rats want to move around in 
Stop composting kitchen waste – we often find that rats are digging up under compost bins and eating the kitchen waste 
Remove items that may contain rainwater – unlike mice rats require a constant supply of drinking water 
Change the environment – if an old shed or outbuilding contains rats then demolish it and replace with either a new shed or do away with it completely if you can 
Pick up dog faeces daily – these will be eaten by rats if there is a shortage of food from elsewhere 
Control them – use a pest controller who carries out IPM to look at the problem, here at All Aspects Pest Control we carryout demolition of outbuildings, decking and sheds on a weekly basis. As licensed waste carriers all our waste is removed to a local recycling centre and documented to that fact. 

Frequently asked questions about rats 

rat

How do rats get inside my house from the drains?  

Rats are adapted to live underground and in the aquatic environment; if ever you see a rat swimming they use their powerful back legs and their tail to push themselves through the water. Rats often get into houses via the sewer, they will exploit any breaks or redundant sections to access the exterior of the drainage pipes. 
These pipes pass through the walls of the property underground, as they need space to flex in and as you can't just load concrete or bricks on top they pass through a built opening that passes through the cavity wall. If the rats can't get out of the 'system' then all is good but once a rat finds a way through a broken pipe or through the walls of an inspection pit then they will follow the pipeline; in it's void area and enter the cavity wall. 
rat

I know rats are dirty but do they spread diseases?  

Yes, rats carry a host of harmful bacteria and viruses, some of which can be life threatening, they can spread these through bodily fluids and excretions – urine, faeces, hair, and saliva. As rats can travel through a gap no bigger than a 50 pence piece its easy for them to make entrance from the sewers to your kitchen. Rat infestations must be taken seriously, and this is especially important for commercial food premises whether manufacturing, warehousing or selling foodstuffs. 
 
 
Click on this link to visit the CDC website for more information 
CDC
rat

We have rats in the loft, are they causing damage up there?  

Rats will gnaw on items either soft or hard to mark their territory and they can do a lot of damage to both the structure of the building and any stored items in the loft. 
Rats will also urinate everywhere they go, some people say that they don't have a bladder but that's not true - rats urinate as a means of marking where their territory. 
Likewise rats will defecate everywhere, going to the toilet around 40 times a day and together the urine and feaces make a very unpleasant smell - soft items like clothing can be ruined through their toilet habits. 
Rats certainly cause damage, gnawing on electrical cables and now the introduction of plastic water pipes means a rat infestation can become a very expensive problem. 
Rats in a house in Bray 
 
"We've been rodent problems for quite a while, and went through the usual motions of council, planting poison, rinse and repeat. Needing more of a permanent solution, i spoke to a friend who recommended All Aspects Pest Control. They are extremely thorough, and by the 3rd visit, they isolated the problem, and we've not had rodents since. Highly recommend this company for all manner of pest issues. Their experience and dependability has proven to be nothing short of amazing :)"