Rat Control in Kent
Bait alone is not a rat job. Finding how they are getting in and closing it is the part that stops it happening again.
Signs
How To Tell It Is Rats
Droppings are the giveaway - dark, roughly the size and shape of a grain of rice, usually in a cluster along a route rather than scattered. Smudge marks along skirting and low on walls are grease off the coat where the same route gets used night after night. Gnaw marks on skirting, door bottoms and stored packaging are coarser than a mouse's - rats need a bigger gap and will enlarge one rather than squeeze through it.
Noise is usually overhead or behind a wall in the evening and early morning - a heavier, more deliberate sound than mice, which tends to be a quick scuttle. Outside, a burrow at the base of a shed, a compost heap, decking or a garden wall is as common a first sign as anything found indoors, particularly near a run of drains or a garden that backs onto open ground.
Every visit
What Every Visit Includes, Whichever Service
Free quotes, no call-out fee, and evening and weekend appointments at no extra cost. Same-day where we can, next-day for most things. Every technician is fully trained and insured, and the team has been doing this across Kent for over ten years.
Every job is guaranteed: if the problem is still active after the treatment has had time to work, we come back and there is no second call-out fee. It does not cover a new infestation arriving from a source nobody has closed.
The job
What The Treatment Involves
The survey looks outward as well as inward - the drains, the airbricks, the base of external walls, the shed and the garden boundary - because that is usually where the answer is, not just where the droppings are. Bait is placed in tamper-resistant stations where there are children or pets on site, and the visit includes finding the entry point rather than only dealing with what is already inside.
Proofing is the part that actually stops it coming back: mesh at airbricks, closing gaps around pipework, capping a redundant drain. A treatment without it is usually a repeat booking within the year - rats are persistent about a route that has worked once.
Drains are worth saying separately. A rat run through a defective drain run is a drainage job as much as a pest job, and where that is what is happening we say so rather than treating the symptom on the surface indefinitely.
What we cover
Every Other Service
Wasp Nest Removal
Nests in eaves, lofts, cavities, sheds and hedges. Treated same or next day for one fixed price.
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Mice Control
A mouse gets through a gap the width of a pencil. Treatment plus proofing, not one without the other.
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Bed Bug Control
Beds, frames, headboards and the room around them. Always more than one visit — nothing kills unhatched eggs.
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Flea Control
Carpets, upholstery and pet bedding. Works properly only alongside current treatment from your vet.
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Ant Control
Gel bait taken back to the nest rather than a spray that kills the ones you can see and nothing else.
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Cockroach Control
German and Oriental cockroaches in kitchens, flats and food premises. Discreet and documented.
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Moth Removal
Carpet and clothes moths in wool carpets, rugs, wardrobes and under furniture that never gets moved.
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Carpet Beetle
Often mistaken for moth damage. The larvae — "woolly bears" — do the eating, and they hide in the underlay.
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Squirrel Control
Grey squirrels in lofts and roof spaces, where they chew cables and lift insulation. Legally handled.
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Commercial Pest Control
Pubs, shops, kitchens, schools, care homes, warehouses and farms. Out of hours, with the paperwork.
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Pest Control
Not sure which of these you have got? Start here, or send a photo and we will tell you.
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What It Costs
Rat control starts from £260. What it actually comes to depends on the extent - one kitchen is not the same job as a garden with an active burrow and a compromised drain run, and a commercial premises is quoted separately again. The figure is agreed with you before anything is booked, there is no call-out fee for coming to look, and if it changes on the day something has gone wrong.
Going further
Advice Worth Reading First
What Happens On A First Visit
Nobody enjoys booking this. Here is exactly what it involves, so there are no surprises on the day.
Read more ›What It Costs, And What Changes It
One published price, and an honest account of why everything else is quoted instead of listed.
Read more ›Pests In A Rented Home: Who Is Responsible?
General information rather than legal advice, and the short answer is that it usually turns on how they got in.
Read more ›Pest Control And Your Food Hygiene Rating
The treatment is half of it. The paperwork is the half that gets scored.
Read more ›Preparing For A Treatment
Some of this genuinely changes the result. Some of it just saves time. Both are worth doing.
Read more ›Which Trade Does What
We would rather tell you it is somebody else’s job than take the money and leave you with it.
Read more ›One-Off Treatment Or A Contract?
Contracts suit some premises and are a waste of money for others. Here is the honest test.
Read more ›Wildlife Law, And What Cannot Be Treated
Some of the things people ring about are protected, and a firm that offers to deal with them anyway is offering to break the law on your behalf.
Read more ›Pests When Buying Or Selling A House
It comes up more often than people expect, usually at the worst possible moment in the chain.
Read more ›Pest Control In A Flat Or A Block
The hardest part is rarely the pest. It is that the part of the building causing it is not yours.
Read more ›Rat Control — Common Questions
How much is rat control?
From £260, depending on the extent of the job. Quoted free and agreed before any work starts.
How fast do rats breed?
Fast enough that a small problem in spring is often a large one by autumn if it is left. That is the main argument for dealing with it early rather than waiting to see.
Will bait alone sort it?
Not for long. Bait deals with what is there now; closing the way in is what stops it happening again, and that is included in the visit.
I have seen a rat outside, not in the house.
Still worth a look. A burrow by a shed or a boundary fence is often the stage before one finds its way indoors, and dealing with it outside is usually the smaller job.
Is it safe with children and pets in the house?
The products are safe when applied correctly, and tamper-resistant stations are used wherever there are children or pets on site. Say so when you book.
One Last Thing
If you know what you have got, the survey confirms it and the price is agreed before anything is booked. If you are not sure whether it is rats or mice, ring and describe it - droppings, noise, time of day - and we will usually be able to tell you before we arrive.
Get A Free Quote
Tell us your postcode and what you are seeing. We will come back with a time and a fixed price before anything is booked.
Local Experts You Can Trust
Fast, effective, affordable pest control for homes and businesses across the whole of Kent. Fully qualified technicians, fixed prices, every service guaranteed.