How to get rid of rats in the roof

The entry point matters more than the bait

This is the thing people get the wrong way round. Clearing the rats currently in your roof is the easy part; stopping the next lot is what actually ends the problem.

If you've had rats three times in two years, you don't have a rat problem - you have an unsealed building with a rat population nearby.

Where they get in

• A tree branch overhanging the roof - the single most common route
• Gaps at the eaves or soffit
• Lifted or damaged roofing sheets and ridge capping
• Where pipes or cables enter the building
• Broken or missing air bricks and subfloor vents

Trim the branches

Rats aren't climbing your walls; they're walking along a branch and stepping onto the roof. Cutting overhanging growth back from the roofline is free, takes an afternoon, and does more than any amount of bait.

Rats or mice, and does it matter?

It changes the approach. Droppings are the quickest check: mouse droppings are around 3-6mm and look like dark grains of rice, rat droppings are 12-18mm and much thicker. Noise helps too - mice are light and scratchy, rats are heavy enough that you can hear individual footfalls.

Something much heavier again, with thumping and a low growl, is a possum, and that's a different job entirely.

Check the insulation afterwards

Rats nest in insulation and foul it. Once the population is dealt with, it's worth looking at what's up there - badly contaminated insulation doesn't recover and is both a smell and a health issue.