Stop Rats Entering Your Home Through the Drains
Research indicates that over 50% of rat infestations in the UK originate from defects in the drainage system. Rats are excellent swimmers; they can tread water for days and hold their breath for up to three minutes, allowing them to swim up through toilet U-bends. However, they usually enter through “Breach Points” – cracks or displaced joints in the pipework under your house.
Discover how sewer defects allow rats to breach your property lines, and the permanent engineering solutions to lock them out.
Hearing scratching noises beneath your floorboards, behind plasterboard walls, or worse, spotting a rodent inside your bathroom is a deeply distressing experience. Many homeowners immediately call a traditional pest control company when they suspect a rat infestation. However, while traps and poisons might temporarily thin the population, they do not fix the structural entryway.
The truth is, over 90% of internal rat infestations in residential properties originate directly from the underground drainage system.
Why Poison is Not the Solution
Many homeowners immediately call a pest controller to lay poison. While this kills the rats currently in your house, it does not close the front door.
As long as the defect in your drain remains open, the “scent trails” left by previous rats will invite new rodents into your home within weeks. To solve the problem permanently, you must repair the structural defect.
Sewer networks provide rats with the perfect subterranean highway: they offer warmth, endless water, protection from predators, and direct transit lines beneath every street. If a rat manages to break out of a pipe and enter your home, it means you have a structural drainage defect.
Operating out of our head office on Clarendon Road in Watford, Arma-Rod provides specialised, permanent rodent-proofing solutions across Watford, St Albans, Bushey, Radlett, Harpenden, and the wider Hertfordshire area. Here is our guide on how they get in and how to lock them out for good.
How Do Rats Breach Your Drainage System?
Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are incredibly agile, powerful swimmers capable of treading water for up to three days and holding their breath underwater for several minutes. They possess highly flexible skeletons, allowing them to squeeze through any gap no larger than the size of a 20p coin.
How We Stop Rats at the Source
Arma-Rod delivers a permanent solution to stop rats at the source.
We use specialist CCTV cameras to inspect your sub-surface pipework. We identify entry points such as gnaw marks, displaced joints, or open redundant pipes where rats are squeezing through.
We repair the breach without digging up your floors using Structural Patch Lining. We inflate a resin sleeve inside the drain, creating a rock-hard “pipe within a pipe” that seals the hole and is impossible for rats to chew through.
Finally, we install a stainless steel Non-Return Valve (Rat Flap). This device lets wastewater flow out but locks shut against incoming rats, creating an impenetrable physical barrier.
Warning Signs of Rats in Drains
- Noises: Scratching or scuttling sounds in wall cavities or ceilings, typically at night.
- Smells: A stale, ammonia-like smell (rat urine) or the smell of a decaying animal in a void.
- Subsidence: Small holes or dips appearing in your garden or driveway (where rats are burrowing out of the pipe).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can rats really swim up my toilet?
Yes. Rats are excellent swimmers and can hold their breath for up to 3 minutes. The U-bend in your toilet is no obstacle for them. Installing a rat flap prevents this.
How do I know if the rats are coming from the drains or the roof?
While rats in the loft might suggest a roof entry, they often climb up cavity walls from the drainage network below. A CCTV drain survey is the only way to definitively rule out the sewers as the point of entry.
Do you kill the rats?
We focus on structural prevention rather than extermination. While we do not lay poisons or traps, by permanently sealing the drainage defects and installing non-return valves, we trap the rats out of your property so they can no longer enter.
Do you offer emergency response for rats?
Yes, we offer emergency CCTV drainage surveys and repairs across Hertfordshire and London to quickly identify and seal the breach point, restoring your peace of mind.