What To Do Before We Arrive

Four things to find out

These matter more than anything you tidy.

• Where the droppings are. Every location, not just the worst one. Check the back of base cupboards, under the sink, behind the cooker and fridge, on top of skirting boards, in drawers, in the airing cupboard, in the garage and in the loft.
• Where you hear them, and when. Which room, whether it is above the ceiling, in the wall or under the floor, and what time of night.
• What has been gnawed, and where. Packaging, a cupboard corner, cable, pipework. It marks the route.
• Whether it is current. Clean one area completely, note the date, and check it two or three days later. Fresh droppings on a clean surface is worth more than any amount of old evidence.

Photograph anything you are unsure about and send it over. Droppings photographed next to a coin for scale settle the mouse-or-rat question immediately.

Photographs on this page are for illustration purposes only.

Half an hour of preparation

• Clear the base cupboards in the kitchen and utility, at least the ones with droppings in them, so the back corners and the pipe entries can be seen.
• Pull out what pulls out — the fridge, the washing machine — if you can do it safely.
• Make the loft accessible. A clear hatch, a light that works, and boards not stacked over the hatch.
• Move stored boxes off the wall in the garage and the loft so the perimeter can be inspected.
• Put dry goods and pet food into rigid containers now, and lift the pet bowls overnight.
• Note where the pets will be during the visit.

Things not to do

• Do not seal every hole you can find. Sealing a building with mice inside keeps them inside and loses the information about where they were getting in. Note them; leave them.
• Do not put down shop-bought poison first. It can be a risk to pets and to wildlife, and a mouse that dies inside a cavity is a smell you will live with for weeks. Tell us if you already have — it changes what we do.
• Do not dry-sweep or vacuum droppings. Damp them first with disinfectant and lift them with kitchen paper.
• Do not throw out the whole kitchen. Sort by packaging; there is an article on exactly what goes.
• Do not deep-clean the routes away before the visit. Smear marks and droppings along an edge are the map. Clean the food areas by all means; leave the skirting and the back of the cupboard for us to look at.

On the day, and after

The survey comes first and takes a while. Expect the technician to spend time at floor level and in the least interesting parts of the house, because that is where the evidence is.

Afterwards you will be told what was found, where the entry points are, what was treated and what proofing is done or outstanding. Keep checking a clean area every few days so you know whether activity is falling, and ring us with what you are seeing rather than waiting for a follow-up.

Ring 01908 465226 and tell us those four things.

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Other Mice Questions

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